South Africas first Dolby Atmos & Spatial Audio mastering service.
Des Grey Mastering is the first dedicated studio providing Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio mastering services in Johannesburg, South Africa. Utilising a calibrated 7.1.4 immersive monitoring array and a proprietary analog-hybrid signal chain, the studio specialises in the object-based spatial translation. All Atmos mastering workflows are engineered to ensure cross-platform compatibility and binaural headphone optimisation for global streaming distribution.
The Immersive Experience
South Africas first dedicated Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio mastering service.
Dolby Atmos expands your music far beyond the boundaries of a traditional two-channel mix, placing the listener directly inside a 3D soundfield defined by genuine depth, width, and height. By positioning individual elements fluidly across space, Atmos unveils subtle detail, emotional impact, and spatial clarity that stereo simply cannot replicate.
Whether translated for spatial headphones, smart speakers, or full surround environments, this format represents the single biggest leap forward in consumer listening.
Mastering & Translation Operating out of a dedicated, acoustically calibrated Atmos suite, we handle immersive mastering with the same surgical precision as our analog stereo chain. We build stunning 3D soundscapes directly from your stereo stems or master your completed Dolby Atmos ADM mixes for seamless translation across all major streaming platforms.
Dolby Atmos is an object-based 3D audio format that expands music beyond standard two-channel stereo. Instead of panning audio strictly left and right, tracks can be placed as individual sonic objects anywhere in a three-dimensional space—above, behind, or around the listener.
Dolby Atmos mixing involves taking raw multitracks and panning elements across 3D space to construct an immersive bed and object layout. Dolby Atmos mastering takes that completed spatial mix (or stem set), polishes the overall tonal balance, ensures proper low-end management, aligns dynamic range across an entire project, and checks for seamless binaural translation on headphones.
You can supply either:
An ADM BWF file: A finished 3D master export from a Dolby Atmos mix session.
Stereo Stems: Isolated sub-mixes (e.g., Lead Vocal, Backing Vocals, Drums, Bass, Synths, FX)
Dolby Atmos masters are delivered as binaural-encoded audio files.These can be auditioned through standard headphones, or as an mp4 file for home theater setup, studio environments or cars equipped with an Atmos.
No. Stereo remains the primary reference master for standard playback, radio, physical media (Vinyl), and platforms that do not support spatial audio. Dolby Atmos serves as an additional immersive deliverable alongside your stereo master for supporting platforms like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music.
Dolby Atmos uses Spatial Audio / Binaural HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) processing to simulate 3D room speaker setups inside standard stereo headphones. Listeners get a sense of width, height, and depth without needing a physical multi-speaker setup.
When preparing stems for Atmos, keep master bus compression and hard-limiting on individual stems minimal or bypassed. The spatial format requires higher headroom and dynamic breathing room compared to hyper-compressed stereo mixes.
1. Start with Your Final Stereo Mix
- Export your final 2-track stereo master (24-bit / 48kHz WAV).
- This is our reference — the feel we’ll expand into Atmos.
- If we are creating a Stereo Master you can skip this step.
2. Stem Export Settings
- Format: wav
- Sample Rate: Native Sample Rate
- Bit Depth: 24bit
- Timing: All stems consolidated from the same start; full length with reverb/delay tails.
- Processing: Print tone-defining group processing (EQ, compression, saturation, modulation, reverbs, delays). Exclude the stereo mastering chain.
3. What to Export | Wet files !
- Drums | All kit elements plus rooms/FX that are part of the sound.
- Bass | Approved blend (DI/Amp/Fuzz/synth) printed as one stem.
- Guitars | Rhythms grouped; feature solos may be separate
- Keys/Synths | Separate if they serve distinct roles.
- Main Vocal | Include production FX that define the vibe.
- Backing Vocal | Stacks grouped as approved
- FX / Ear Candy | Risers, impacts, vinyl crackle separate
- Reverb / Delay Returns | Separate Exports
