Orbit Playback Approach

If you've used other Atmos monitoring tools, you may notice that Orbit is a bit different — especially in binaural mode. This isn't a bug; it's a deliberate design choice. This page explains Orbit's monitoring philosophy and why it takes a speaker-first approach to spatial audio.

How Orbit Approaches Spatial Monitoring

Orbit takes a speaker-first view of spatial monitoring:

• ADM beds and objects are interpreted and mapped into a 7.1.4 speaker layout.
• Those speaker feeds are what you monitor directly in 7.1.4 mode.
• Headphone and stereo outputs are derived from the same speaker feeds.

This approach mirrors a calibrated studio workflow and keeps the monitoring chain anchored to a room-based reference.

Speaker-Based Virtualisation Explained

When you choose binaural monitoring, Orbit does not render each object directly to headphones. Instead, it:

1. Builds the speaker feeds for a 7.1.4 room.
2. Applies headphone rendering to those speaker feeds.

In practice, this means that object interactions and summing occur at the speaker stage first, just as they would in a physical room.

See ITU-R BS.2076 for the reference coordinate system used by ADM: https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BS.2076

High-Resolution HRTF Processing

Orbit's binaural engine uses a 1944-point HRTF measurement grid — a dense spatial map that captures how sound arrives at your ears from virtually any direction. When objects move through space, Orbit interpolates smoothly between these measurement points, creating fluid transitions rather than audible stepping.

The result is binaural playback that feels natural and continuous, just as if you were sitting in a real studio with speakers around you. Moving objects glide through the soundfield without artifacts, and the spatial image remains stable and precise.

We think it sounds just as good as per-object HRTF rendering — but without the computational overhead.

How This Differs from Object-Based Binaural Rendering

There are two common binaural monitoring philosophies:

Object-centric binaural rendering

• Each object is rendered directly to headphones using an HRTF.
• Beds are often treated as separate objects or virtual sources.
• This can emphasize separation and clarity between elements.

Speaker-centric binaural rendering

• Objects are first mapped to a speaker layout.
• Headphone rendering is applied to the speaker feeds.
• This prioritizes room translation and speaker interaction.

These are different approaches to monitoring. Neither is “wrong,” but they serve different use cases.

Why This Matters for Mixing and Translation

Because Orbit sums objects into speaker feeds before headphone rendering, it may reveal issues that can be masked in object-centric binaural monitoring:

• Balance shifts between beds and objects.
• Height overuse or underuse.
• Object masking when multiple elements share the same speaker region.
• Stereo fold-down inconsistencies.

Object-centric binaural playback can sound cleaner or more separated than speaker playback. In practice, that can lead to a headphone impression that is less representative of a real room. Orbit’s approach is designed to make those differences audible.

What Orbit Is Not

• It is not a Dolby Atmos authoring tool.
• It does not attempt to enhance or exaggerate spatial effects.
• It does not replace in-room monitoring.

Orbit provides full 7.1.4 in-room playback as well as a virtual control room for verification — not a spatial effects renderer.

When to Use Orbit (and When Not To)

Use Orbit when you want to:

• Verify translation across speakers, headphones, and stereo.
• Check object motion, balance, and masking.
• Make QC decisions quickly and consistently.

Do not rely on Orbit alone when you need:

• Final creative decisions that require your calibrated room.
• Authoring and editing of ADM content.

Trust & Transparency

Orbit’s behavior is intentional. Differences in sound compared to object-based binaural renderers are expected. The design prioritizes honest monitoring, not enhancement.

For critical decisions, compare results against a calibrated room. Orbit is designed to help you get there faster and with greater confidence.