Continuing the series on spatial mixing approaches in practice, this post focuses on the Dolby Atmos workflow I used for Alter Me and Caught In Dreams, and on the practical steps taken to prepare ADM exports and playback in the IEM Cube.
For the Dolby Atmos productions, I decided to work in Cubase and Nuendo, as the Dolby Atmos Renderer is already fully integrated into both environments. This allowed for a streamlined workflow without the need for external rendering tools[1].
After completing the stereo mixes of Alter Me and Caught In Dreams to an advanced stage, the sessions were converted into Dolby Atmos projects. Cubase provides an automated conversion process in which all existing tracks are initially routed into a standard bed configuration.
For my workflow, I used the standard bed primarily for reverberation. I also used an Ambisonics bus with the Room Encoder and the FDN Reverb as a reverb send. Since the standard bed in Dolby Atmos is limited to a maximum configuration of 7.1.2, I deliberately avoided placing direct sound sources in this bed. Instead, I created a so-called object bed. In this setup, 11 objects were placed at the exact positions of the loudspeakers (used in the production studio), which in my case was the 7.1.4 configuration at the IEM production studio.
Routing signals into this object bed allowed me to address individual loudspeakers, provided that the loudspeaker positions were correctly defined. While this spatial correspondence was largely accurate in the production studio, minor deviations remained due to differences between the virtual speaker layout and the physical setup (higher elevated top speakers for example).
Subgroup structure and processing
In addition to object-based routing, extensive use of subgroups was made. Instrument groups such as drums, guitars, and vocals were routed into dedicated multichannel buses. For example, the drum signals were routed into a 7.1.4 drum bus, allowing for internal panning decisions as well as group-based processing.
Within these subgroup buses, summing and tonal shaping were carried out using multichannel-capable plugins, primarily from the FabFilter suite. Compared to the Ambisonics workflow, this approach provided greater flexibility for summing and corrective processing at the group level, while the overall structural logic of the routing remained similar.
Signals involving pronounced movement or spatial automation were routed directly to objects. In cases where a sound source only changed position briefly within a song, the track was often routed into the object bed and automated using the track’s multipanner rather than being continuously treated as a Dolby Atmos object.
LFE handling
The Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel was deliberately not used in this workflow. Although the LFE channel is definitely part of standard Dolby Atmos workflow, it is often not used in music production. By excluding the LFE channel, the separation between the standard bed and the object bed remained clear, as any signal intended to address the LFE channel must be routed in the bed. This decision helped maintain a clean and predictable routing structure.
Export and playback preparation for IEM CUBE
At the end of the production process, an ADM file was rendered directly from Cubase. For playback preparation in the Cube, several approaches were tested with the goal of ensuring a stable and reliable setup for the final presentation of this project.
The ADM file was imported into Nuendo and up-rendered to a 9.1.6 configuration. At the time of production, I was not aware that the production studio system (their Nuendo version) also supported a 9.1.6 setup. In retrospect, creating the object bed directly in 9.1.6 would have been the more precise solution.
The up-rendered 9.1.6 mix was then exported as a channel-based 16-channel WAV file. This file was routed manually and directly to the corresponding loudspeakers in the Cube, ensuring full control over playback and eliminating potential uncertainties related to rendering or decoding behavior.
References:
[1] “Getting Started in Dolby Atmos with Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo,” accessed February 8, 2026, https://professionalsupport.dolby.com/s/article/Getting-Started-in-Dolby-Atmos-with-Steinberg-Cubase-and-Nuendo?language=en_US.
