En route to a three-dimensional music experience

Dolby Atmos for Music and other 3D audio formats have reached the consumer market. Since 2020, it is easily possible to enjoy 3D audio at home through speakers and headphones. It's been a long road: sound recording began in mono over 100 years ago, we switched to stereo in 1955, and rear channels first came into play with the quadrophonic format in 1970. At the beginning of the new millennium, SACD and DVD were established along with the 5.1 surround standard. Today we can deliver almost any of the current 3D audio formats.

Completely immersed in sound

Surround sound at home

Localisation in a three-dimensional space

Streaming in 3D

Vintage: Quadrophonic playback was already modern in the 1970s

Dolby Atmos, Immersive Audio, Sony 360 Reality Audio, Surround 5.1, Quadrophonic

In control rooms 1 and 2, we can listen to Dolby Atmos and other immersive mixes over our 9.1.4 speaker setup. In addition, we create mixes for binaural headphone playback. The mixes can also be made for motion picture. A Sennheiser AMBEO soundbar in a separate room serves as another reference. Emil Berliner Studios can create impressive 3D audio from any source material. However, the general rule is: the more tracks your source has, the more possibilities.

“There are no words to describe the immersive, overpowering experience of being a conductor, leading a performance of Mahler’s towering ‘Symphony of a Thousand.’ But now, technology is advancing to bring that experience closer to our ears, our minds, and our souls. Share with me this monumental, live performance with my beloved Los Angeles Philharmonic, remastered in Dolby Atmos audio technology for the first time on Apple Music alongside my collection of Deutsche Grammophon recordings with the LA Phil, in rich, remarkable 3D sound.” (Gustavo Dudamel)


EBS DC-Upmix from stereo

To be able to create convincing 3D audio from a stereo source, we have developed our own upmix tool, which we call EBS DC-Upmix for Stereo (DC = downmix-compatible). For these 3D mixes, we do not add reverb, delay or EQ to the audio, nor do we take anything away: it's magic! With DC-Upmix we offer our customers from classical, jazz, pop and other genres an excellent solution to offer content that was not originally designed for immersive formats in 3D. Within the scope of possibilities, a stereo upmix is the simplest option. However, at the same time it is extremely time-efficient.

As a great feature, our 3D audio mixes can be designed so that a downmix to stereo is again identical to the original stereo.

EBS DC-Upmix from surround 5.1

The possibilities for 3D audio are even greater, if a 5.1 mix is available as a source. Our specially developed DC-Upmix tool comes into play here as well. Formats such as Dolby Atmos 9.1.4 or 7.1.4 can be selected as the target format. Naturally, we also create settings for binaural headphone playback. As a special feature, our 3D audio mixes can be designed so that a downmix to 5.1 is again identical to the original file.

EBS DC-Upmix from Stems

Our EBS DC-Upmix tool supports multitrack audio. Impressive 3D audio mixes can be created quickly and efficiently on the basis of stems. Another special application could be if both the finished, mastered stereo file as well as stems are available. With EBS DC-Upmix, we can create spatial effects comparable to a 3D mix from multitrack.

3D audio mixing from multitrack

Needless to say, we also mix multitrack sources for 3D audio. If a recording is available in multitrack, it can be turned into an impressive mix that fully explores the format's possibilities. This might mean a greater time commitment compared to upmixing, but it leads to the best possible results that meet even the highest expectations.

Recent releases in 3D-Audio & immersive