Dolby want to bring immersive sound to the clubbing and concert experience

Dolby Atmos is the company’s flagship product: an immersive surround-sound experience that has elevated the theatrical experience for movie-goers to the point that I’m pretty sure there was an actual T-Rex in the room, and that if I didn’t move, he couldn’t see me.

Now the company has started to move into the clubbing and concert space, with Atmos for Music making its way into various venues in America and abroad.

Sound Bar in Chicago was the first American venue to be fitted with the system, which is made up of 30 speakers and 22 audio channels. The club is only a 1,000 capacity venue, so you can imagine how thunderous ‘Push The Button’ would sound coming from it.

Dolby first trialled the system at London’s Ministry of Sound in late 2015, and has been tinkering with placement and the like ever since. What separates ‘Atmos’ from tradition surround-sound is that individual speakers can be triggered with single sounds, giving endless options when crafting spatial 3D audio.

“We have seen how Dolby Atmos transforms the cinema and home theatre,” Bob Borchers, chief marketing officer and senior vice-president of Dolby Laboratories, said of the technology, “and we are confident that it will leave a lasting impact on the music industry, making live music and clubbing more engaging and immersive.”

TechRadar made a video explaining the more technical aspects of the system, which is below – although your shitty computer speakers might not do it justice.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.