Viennese sound engineer:

Why the tech industry is so keen on 3D surround sound

Mischa Janisch from Sunshine Mastering

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Dolby Atmos has already established itself in cinemas. In music, big names such as the Rolling Stones are increasingly relying on three-dimensional surround sound. Apple offers more royalties if artists have songs mixed in this format. The Viennese studio Sunshine Mastering has made a name for itself as a pioneer in this field in Austria. "The advantage of 3D audio is the opportunity for the listener to be enveloped by the music," explains Mischa Janisch, producer and engineer.

The Sunshine co-owner and four-time Amadeus winner ("Best Sound") has, for example, prepared the "Opernring Blues" by Viennese rapper Bibiza or the Slovenian entry for this year's Malmö Song Contest, Raiven's "Veronika", in Dolby Atmos. "You're right in the middle of the action and not sitting in front of it," Janisch tells APA, describing the difference between the still young format and stereo. "You can sit in the music and let it happen all around you."

Details that previously remained hidden
Mixing music for multiple channels was frowned upon when surround sound first emerged. That has long since changed; you only have to listen to "The Dark Side Of The Moon" in Dolby Atmos to be convinced by the surround sound, even when you're not watching a movie. "With stereo, everything takes place on one level, so you have to work a lot with volume," explains Janisch. "With Dolby Atmos, you can tell a story with positioning and movement." Even if you know a piece well, with Atmos you can hear new details that were previously hidden. "Because they are cleared out and given a new place."

For him, it is important to understand the format "not as a technology, but as a form of artistic expression", Janisch emphasizes. "You can use it to realize a vision. I try to be creative when mixing, to find something in the song that I can tell or amplify with Dolby Atmos." After all, it's not about a cheap effect, but about new creative possibilities "that have not yet been fully exploited", as the producer knows. "Atmos has so far been more of a product that you put on the back. The collaborative process with the artists is still a bit lacking. Immersive audio is not yet considered in the production of the songs themselves."

Why Netflix was an early adopter of Atmos
Of course, surround sound sounds best when you have the right number of speakers. But unlike other formats, Atmos adapts to the playback conditions, i.e. the number of speakers. "That's why Netflix switched to Atmos very early on, because it saves them having to offer different mixes such as stereo or 5.1 mixes," says Janisch. The sound engineer knows exactly what to look out for: "Music that thrives on power can fall apart if you break it down into too many details with too much 3D sound. But detailed music, where there are many elements that don't all serve to create a wall of sound in the Phil Spector sense, is very well suited to Atmos."

Dolby Atmos has been available for cinema since 2012, while Sunshine Mastering was the pioneer for music in Austria. They came to this via the producer of Milky Chance. Before Apple integrated the new format, the company asked the German band if they could also deliver the song "Colorado" in Atmos. Janisch took on the task of mixing - and Apple ultimately introduced Dolby Atmos for its services in German-speaking countries with the song. "So we were involved from the very beginning, equipping and converting the studio accordingly in an overnight operation," said the "sound wizard".