Protools ATMOS - Reverb "How To" Questions

[ric982]

I'm on the path to setting up an ATMOS mix room (not up and running yet), and I'm confused about how reverbs get setup. Sorry in advance if this is all described somewhere that I should have read already.

My configuration target is:
Protools Ultimate -> Dolby ATMOS Bridge -> DAPS

Assume I have Stratus 3D for a reverb.

As a simple example for a bed, do you use the ATMOS panner on each audio track (mono or stereo) and these become 7.1.2 on the output side? These outputs are bused to an aux track that you send the output to the bed output channels and also send to a reverb send track? If you just had a 7.1.2 reverb, you could send the reverb output back to the bed channels as well, but Stratus 3D has a control to work in 7.1.4 mode? Does the reverb send track generate a 7.1.4 output? How does Pro Tools deal with that with its 7.1.2 limitation and where do you send the output to get it to the renderer?

As as simple example for object tracks, I've read in Dolby ATMOS Music Learning Module 9.2, Tips, "Use the FMP feature (Follow Main Pan) in Pro Tools when sending an Object to a surround reverb to maintain natural panning in the reverb return." Do the object audio tracks go through the ATMOS panner, generate panner metadata that is sent over internet to the renderer, but the panner leaves the audio mono (or stereo)? You then send each object track to its associated output channel(s) and also send each object (with FMP) to a single reverb send track with the reverb? For stratus 3D working in 7.1.4 mode, same questions as above, how does Pro Tools deal with 7.1.4 output and where do you send the output to get it to the renderer.

[ric982]

Ok -I found the answers in the Stratus 3D manual.
Should have looked there first.

[dr sound]

Three of the best Immersive Reverbs are:
Exponential Audio Status 3D and Symphony 3D
along with Liquidsonics Cinematic Rooms Professional.

[ric982]

Thanks Marti.

I had heard about Stratus 3D and Cinematic Rooms Professional from Alan Sallabank's ATMOS tutorial part 5 on Pro Tools Expert and bumped into Symphony 3D while looking into Status 3D.

FWIW - Stratus 3D and Symphony 3D sell for $499 and $599 individually, but I was lucky to catch the iZotope Everything Bundle (including these two) on sale for $999. Go figure. So I should be set for reverbs. Been interested in iZotope stuff for a while, but hadn't bought anything until now. I'm excited to hear these reverbs in action once I can get things up and running.

(P.S. No connections to RSPE or iZotope).

[BScout]

Well, if you just spent $1k for those reverbs and work on a Mac, you may have wasted it. Seems izotope has no roadmap to continue even compatibility on those two reverbs (despite currently selling them.) They won't even load on an M1 type processor currently (and iZotope has laid out a road map for the rest of their software.)

[Rich Breen]

Ugh - So far it's looking like a bummer that Michael sold EA to them; doesn't seem like Izo has any interest in developing them further; I hope that's not the case as I still really like them, and they do sound a lot different from the Liquidsonic verbs, but I've been slowly replacing all my EA verbs with Liquid in my templates because of this.

[ric982]

Originally Posted by BScout

Well, if you just spent $1k for those reverbs and work on a Mac, you may have wasted it. Seems izotope has no roadmap to continue even compatibility on those two reverbs (despite currently selling them.) They won't even load on an M1 type processor currently (and iZotope has laid out a road map for the rest of their software.)

I'm not on a Mac yet, but that's the only place DAPS will run. And I won't be buying a Mac till the Mac Mini M1 Max/Pro versions are out, but that's where I'm headed (maybe 1Q22?).

The $1K wasn't just for the two reverbs - it was for every plugin in iZoetope's catalog (including Stratus 3D, Symphony 3D, Nimbus, and R4).

Looking on iZotope's web site, this sounds a bit more optimistic...

https://support.izotope.com/hc/en-us...-Apple-silicon

It says all their latest plug-ins are running on Rosetta2 and Big Sur now. 1Q22 plan for native M1 for everything except the reverbs and elsewhere says they are working on Monterey support. I'd have a hard time believing that iZotope is making a statement that they will never have an M1 native reverb - its more likely that they don't have a committed delivery date for when the reverbs would be available - maybe because they are tied up getting their in-house plugins updated to native first and will worry about the Exponential stuff after. You could be right that the reverbs are dead end, but I'd probably take bets against that (actually I just put a $1K bet on it).

This doesn't seem much different than Pro Tools running on Rosetta2 and Big Sur (mostly... - stuff still popping out in spurts), I would expect AVID to support native M1 and Monterey at some point. I'm also waiting for an M1 Dante solution. Audinate announced an early 2022 DVS M1 delivery. And Focusrite has stated their PCIeR card is incompatible with M1. I've heard rumors that they won't be doing another PCIe card, but perhaps they will come out with a TB3 to Dante dongle at some point. I'll live with DVS in the short (or long) term.

There are lots of balls in the air right now....

BScout, did you try iZotope's latest versions on M1 and Big Sur? What were you running on when you had the 'wouldn't load' problem?

[ric982]

So I just chatted with iZotope's customer support and here's a close transcript of the conversation....

Me:
I see Stratus 3D and Symphony 3D are supported on M1 Rosetta2 (good). Take this as a request to support these on M1 native when you get around to it. Would be nice if your M1 compatibility page said "Date TBD" rather than "Not Planned".

Agent:
We hope to update these ASAP. We are actively working to make all our products natively compatible with m1. We don't have an exact date on hand at the moment, and I don't want to provide you with incorrect information -. But we do intend to update our products to M1 natively and are working to get those updates out right now.

Me:
I saw the dates for most of your plugins. Are you saying that the two I mentioned are planned for native even though it says NOT PLANNED.

Agent:
Some plugins have taken priority over others in the process of getting everything updated to M1. It is in our roadmap to ensure all our plugins will be updated natively for M1 support. However, the plugins you mentioned do not have a concrete date of release at the moment. So they are planned. I will take your feedback to my team to se if we can change the wording on that. My apologies for the confusion.

Me:
No problem - that's how I interpreted your page, but was trying to confirm I guessed correctly. I'm Ok with a soft date. Thanks!

[dr sound]

Originally Posted by ric982

So I just chatted with iZotope's customer support and here's a close transcript of the conversation....

Me:
I see Stratus 3D and Symphony 3D are supported on M1 Rosetta2 (good). Take this as a request to support these on M1 native when you get around to it. Would be nice if your M1 compatibility page said "Date TBD" rather than "Not Planned".

Agent:
We hope to update these ASAP. We are actively working to make all our products natively compatible with m1. We don't have an exact date on hand at the moment, and I don't want to provide you with incorrect information -. But we do intend to update our products to M1 natively and are working to get those updates out right now.

Me:
I saw the dates for most of your plugins. Are you saying that the two I mentioned are planned for native even though it says NOT PLANNED.

Agent:
Some plugins have taken priority over others in the process of getting everything updated to M1. It is in our roadmap to ensure all our plugins will be updated natively for M1 support. However, the plugins you mentioned do not have a concrete date of release at the moment. So they are planned. I will take your feedback to my team to se if we can change the wording on that. My apologies for the confusion.

Me:
No problem - that's how I interpreted your page, but was trying to confirm I guessed correctly. I'm Ok with a soft date. Thanks!

This is an accurate updated response. They have a lot of products that need to be dealt with first for M1 Support.

[gives]

Originally Posted by dr sound

This is an accurate updated response. They have a lot of products that need to be dealt with first for M1 Support.

That's great Marti!! Glad I was wrong-:)
Glad I am on an older Mac Pro until the new ones arrive. To be honest with Catalina, the Atmos room seems to be hardly using any horsepower at all which is great. Sort of a shock, but in a good way for my workflow and composing/sound design work.
G