How to export Stems?

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Chances are you have a song or an album, that has already been mixed and mastered in stereo, which is great. Unfortunately stereo mixes and masters, being only two channel files containing all of the instruments mixed together aren’t sufficient for a proper Dolby Atmos mix. Some people use up-mixing plugins to create surround versions of their songs, but that is not proper Dolby Atmos mixing and it will never sound as good as a properly done Dolby Atmos mix, that is created from the original multitracks or stems exported from the stereo mixing session. In fact most of the spatial audio mixes, that people hate and think, that spatial audio is worse than stereo is because the stereo file has been up-mixed just to be able to release a “spatial audio” version.

On the other end of the scale, while we can create Dolby Atmos mixes from the original multitrack files it is a lot longer process since the song needs to be mixed just like a stereo mix does to create the desired “sound” of the song while at the same time it also needs to me mixed into an immersive format such as Dolby Atmos. Therefore if the stereo mix has already been done we are already half way there and it is a much easier process to export Stems from the stereo mix session. At the same time by providing us the final master file as well we can match the length and tone or “sound” of the original stereo mix and master while creating the Dolby Atmos version. 

Having multiple mono and/or stereo stems we can pan those stems anywhere in 360 degree space to create an immersive mix where every instrument sounds just like it should, but instead of being panned just between left and right speakers, we can pan it anywhere we want around the listener. The more stems there are, the more creative freedom we have while mixing in Dolby Atmos and the more immersive the outcome will be.

The definition of what exactly Stems are is not standardized since it is a term used for many different scenarios, but basically it means a group of tracks mixed, processed or exported together as a mono, stereo or multichannel file. For the sake of achieving the best results the following is our own definition and files should be delivered in this manner for Dolby Atmos Music Mixing to achieve the best results.

Let’s take a drum recording for example to illustrate all the possible Stems that can be delivered.

From the above examples it is also more obvious, that the more stems we have the more control we have over our Spatial Mix, but it also requires more time to prepare these tracks and to make creative decisions about placement or further processing the objects to create the best possible spatial representation of the song. These are some of the reasons for the price difference depending on the number of stems you provide.

Depending on the way the stereo mix was created it may or may not make sense to export each stem with Mix Bus processing included. It is important to note that while there is much talk of keeping the integrity of the original stereo mix even while mixing in Dolby Atmos, some of the stereo processing applied are intended to make the song it’s best in stereo and because of the limitations faced by stereo mixers, that are not present when mixing in Dolby Atmos. One example would be EQ-ing or Side Chain Compression for the sake of squeezing multiple instruments into a limited stereo field so they don’t mask each other or fight for the same space. In Dolby Atmos the solution might be as simple as panning one of the instruments wider or to the rear or above the listener and therefore more instruments are able to have their original dynamic range and full bandwidth without compromising the mix. Often Dolby Atmos mix engineers will put back what was carved out at the stereo mixing to make the Dolby Atmos mix as full sounding or even fuller than the stereo version is.

Choose how many stems you'd like to provide for the mixing session by clicking on the button below.