Dolby Atmos hardware requirement for Production/Mastering suite

[paulo m]

Originally Posted by Mishabou

So bottom line, if one uses a dedicated HT RMU, the PT Ultimate rig must use 2 x HDX cards because this is the only way to have 128 outputs, correct ?

I have a nMP with PT Ultimate (thunderbolt Native), AX32 with Digilink (same interface as MTRX, i bought it before Avid team up with DAD). I also have a spare nMP with Rednet PCIe Dante that i was thinking of using as a dedicated HT RMU. If i understand correctly, i will need 2 x HDX card and an additional Digilink card for my AX32 for it to work, correct ?

If you want a dedicated RMU, you need to buy it from an authorized Dolby reseller, it will be either a specific PC (Dell) or MAC unit (not sure which machine/model at the moment) with either 128 channels of MADI (RME HDSPe MADI+sync card) or Dante card (Focusrite). You can´t use any other computer you already have, even if it meets the minimum requirements. It comes bundled with the Atmos Mastering Suite and 3 licence seats for the Production Suite.

To feed that RMU machine, you need an interface that can provide 128 channels of either MADI or Dante at 24/48 K, plus LTC from PT, for which you will need a Sync HD also.

If using PT, you need two HDX cards to feed your interface. Since DAD started manufacturing the MTRX for AVID, they don´t sell AX32 units with Digilink ports anymore as they did before. So no addon Digilink cards either for AX32 for previous owners. Recently, DAD started manufacturing Digilink addon cards for the MTRX, that fit on any of the available 8 expansion slots of the MTRX, which comes from factory with two 32 channel Digilink ports only.

This doesn´t mean any certification from Dolby, you´re free to buy the system without being certified. But if you want to be certified, that´s the system you need to have!

In my opinion and for those that don´t need Atmos HT certification, Dolby should provide minimum computer requirements and I/O and sell the Mastering Suite as software only. That would allow people to buy whatever computer and interface that best matched their workflow and budget, without the need to go to hardware/software bundles from a bunch of dealers that are going to cost more.
Dolby´s opinion is different, they think that buying from an authorized dealer will help you with the whole process of implementation and workflow of Atmos HT.
I don´t necessarily agree on that, but what it counts here is what they think, not my opinion. It´s their business and they are here to make money. If it suits your business, great, if don´t, well, it´s time to seek for options. Sadly, there´s not too much choice, unless you live/work in Asia, where MPEG-H is ahead. In US and Europe, Atmos is so far, ahead of all other immersive formats, not because they are better than others, just because they are Dolby and have a formidable selling and marketing machine, with the support of the usual suspects. Having said that, I respect Dolby and their contributions to sound tech over the years, I just don´t like monopolies, that is.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by paulo m

If you want a dedicated RMU, you need to buy it from an authorized Dolby reseller, it will be either a specific PC (Dell) or MAC unit (not sure which machine/model at the moment) with either 128 channels of MADI (RME HDSPe MADI+sync card) or Dante card (Focusrite). You can´t use any other computer you already have, even if it meets the minimum requirements. It comes bundled with the Atmos Mastering Suite and 3 licence seats for the Production Suite.

Is that really the case? You can buy the HT Mastering Suite software by itself. Are you saying that even if you do that, there is something within the Dell and Mac computers that Dolby call an RMU that prevent the Mastering Suite software from running?

https://vintageking.com/dolby-atmos-...suite-software

[paulo m]

Originally Posted by LDS

Is that really the case? You can buy the HT Mastering Suite software by itself. Are you saying that even if you do that, there is something within the Dell and Mac computers that Dolby call an RMU that prevent the Mastering Suite software from running?

https://vintageking.com/dolby-atmos-...suite-software

What I´m saying is that the Mastering Suite needs to run on a qualified Win or MAC machine that is only sold by the Dolby approved dealer. If you read the whole VK page, you´ll get that. The title of the product page is a bit misleading...

Have a read here:

https://www.rspeaudio.com/Dolby-Atmo...ing-system.htm

Please bear in mind, that what I´m saying is based on my knowledge at the moment as a user like you, things can change at any time. I suggest that you post at the Dolby developer forum for more accurate info:

https://developerkb.dolby.com/support/discussions

[LDS]

Originally Posted by paulo m

What I´m saying is that the Mastering Suite needs to run on a qualified Win or MAC machine that is only sold by the Dolby approved dealer. If you read the whole VK page, you´ll get that. The title of the product page is a bit misleading...

Have a read here:

https://www.rspeaudio.com/Dolby-Atmo...ing-system.htm

Please bear in mind, that what I´m saying is based on my knowledge at the moment as a user like you, things can change at any time. I suggest that you post at the Dolby developer forum for more accurate info:

https://developerkb.dolby.com/support/discussions

Sure, but in that same vein, you can't run the current version of Pro Tools using a 5,1 Mac Pro running a HDX card and an old blue digidesign interface because Avid say they aren't "qualified". In reality, it works absolutely fine.

"Qualified" and "supported" don't correlate to required to run in that regard. With that in mind, I am less interested in what Dolby and their retailers tell us... and more interested in whether or not people have actually tried running the mastering suite on other systems, and whether they succeeded or failed. The Dolby RMU is just an off the shelf Dell after all, and the audio hardware are just other standard, readily available components. If you flick to page 16 of the Mastering Suite manual, you will see completely different requirements to run the mastering suite than what Vintage King or RSPE are telling us. If you flick to page 19, it even tells you the very model of Dell!

[Mishabou]

There's nothing ''special'' about the hardware HT RMU (PC or Mac) sold by Dolby's authorized reseller. Especially now that the nMP is compatible.

Anyways, i just got the mastering suite and installed it on my nMP with Rednet Dante PCIe in an Atto chassie. Had everything up and running in less than 30 minutes.

I will take the rig to a certified room next week and swap it with their HT RMU to confirm that it is 100% up to specs, but so far so good.

[paulo m]

Originally Posted by LDS

Sure, but in that same vein, you can't run the current version of Pro Tools using a 5,1 Mac Pro running a HDX card and an old blue digidesign interface because Avid say they aren't "qualified". In reality, it works absolutely fine.

"Qualified" and "supported" don't correlate to required to run in that regard. With that in mind, I am less interested in what Dolby and their retailers tell us... and more interested in whether or not people have actually tried running the mastering suite on other systems, and whether they succeeded or failed. The Dolby RMU is just an off the shelf Dell after all, and the audio hardware are just other standard, readily available components. If you flick to page 16 of the Mastering Suite manual, you will see completely different requirements to run the mastering suite than what Vintage King or RSPE are telling us. If you flick to page 19, it even tells you the very model of Dell!

I fully agree with you. The RMU as you say is an off the shelf Dell or MAC running Dante or MADI interfaces. Unfortunately I´m not in a position to try the Mastering Suite on different systems, I´ve only tried the Production Suite
so far. Maybe others here, more experienced on the matter, can have their saying, although I suspect that probably all people that run an HT RMU went for the "qualified systems" from a dealer. I might be wrong though.

[paulo m]

Originally Posted by Mishabou

There's nothing ''special'' about the hardware HT RMU (PC or Mac) sold by Dolby's authorized reseller. Especially now that the nMP is compatible.

Anyways, i just got the mastering suite and installed it on my nMP with Rednet Dante PCIe in an Atto chassie. Had everything up and running in less than 30 minutes.

I will take the rig to a certified room next week and swap it with their HT RMU to confirm that it is 100% up to specs, but so far so good.

Sorry for the dumb question, what do you mean by nMP?

Also,how to you get LTC to it from PT?

[bewk]

"nMP" is an acronym for New Mac Pro that was adopted when the "trash can" Mac Pros were released. I guess we'll need a new one now that there's a "new-new" Mac Pro here.

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by paulo m

Sorry for the dumb question, what do you mean by nMP?

Also,how to you get LTC to it from PT?

LTC with the MADI setup uses the Sync HD; LTC out port to Sync IN on the MADI TCO option card (2 MDI cards + TCO required). For the nMP setup, a Sonnet chassis is required for the PCIe cards.

For Dante setup, Dante sends the audio, and LTC is sent out of the Sync HD and into the Mac RMU via a separate Dante audio interface that has analog inputs. I theory, you cold probably use one of there guys: LINK.

As another theoretical option, you could stripe a track of LTC into Pro Tools, assign it to one of the outputs, and in the RMU, you choose LTC over audio, and assign that input for incoming LTC signal. But that way is kind of a PITA if you switch between different frame rates.

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by LDS

If you flick to page 16 of the Mastering Suite manual, you will see completely different requirements to run the mastering suite than what Vintage King or RSPE are telling us. If you flick to page 19, it even tells you the very model of Dell!

It looks like Vintage King's web page is just outdated. The specs for an RMU computer have been revised several times over the past year or two. Updates to the rendering software have allowed more flexible configurations.

Keep in mind that Dolby is more like an intellectual property company, and less a hardware manufacturer. They don't have the ability to tech support everyone's systems, which is why they have dealers trained to set up the RMU. The dealer will support the RMU and make sure it's being implemented in a room that is properly set up for using it. Dolby doesn't want to get drowned with tech support calls.

Will the Mastering Suite work on other configurations? Yes. First thing I did after I got my RMU was try it on an i7 desktop PC. I runs, but occasionally drops out of record. The RMU uses a massive amount of processing and demands a lot on the disks. So my advice if you want an RMU, is to stick with Dolby's suggested specs. And you can't buy the Mastering Suite from a dealer without the hardware, so that point is irrelevant for now.