Dolby Atmos in cars explained: Why your car is becoming a concert hall | evo India Podcast

What does Dolby Atmos actually mean in a car — and why does it matter more in a car than in your living room? In this episode of the evo India Podcast, Karan Grover, Senior Director at Dolby Labs, sits down with executive editor, Aatish Mishra to explain exactly how Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision work in cars, why a car is actually the most perfect listening environment Dolby has ever worked with, and why India is doing things in car audio that have never been done anywhere else in the world. The conversation covers the detail that will stop most people cold: AR Rahman composed 1,100 individual chimes for the Mahindra BE6 and BE9, all mixed in Dolby Atmos — so when a warning sound tells you there is an obstruction on your left, it genuinely comes from your left. That is not a gimmick. That is object-based audio design applied to a car's entire sound ecosystem. Karan explains how Dolby Atmos goes from a recording studio to a streaming platform to your car's speakers, why the car is the only listening environment where every speaker position and every seat position is fixed — which makes it the ideal space for Atmos tuning — and how Mahindra Auto became the first manufacturer in the world to put Dolby Atmos on a 4-channel non-branded speaker setup in the XUV 3XO. Mahindra also pushed Dolby to deliver Atmos on the Thar, previously thought impossible at that speaker configuration. Both were firsts. Both happened in India. The episode also covers the Mercedes-AMG GT63 Electric's synthesized V8 sound and whether it is tuned in Dolby Atmos, how EVs are changing the science of sound design because there is no engine masking the audio environment, why Apple CarPlay supports Atmos playback and what Android's recent update means for wireless Atmos in cars, and where car audio goes from here — including the possibility of film premieres in cars and Dolby Atmos eventually reaching buses, tractors and auto-rickshaws. He also talks about the various cars which have Dolby Atmos like the XUV 7XO, the Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Tata Sierra and more. Dolby currently works with 38 automobile manufacturers and over 150 car nameplates globally. 0:00 Precap 0:29 Introduction 1:30 What is Dolby and what do they do? 3:17 The way a creator wants their music to be heard 4:12 What is Dolby Atmos? 6:47 Integrating Dolby into a car 9:46 Optimisation for variables 10:56 What is Dolby Vision? 12:43 Experience with working with screens in a car 13:56 Getting brands for Dolby 15:10 When does Dolby get involved in development? 16:57 Dolby's operations across various hardwares 18:16 A.R. Rahman's chimes for Mahindra BE 6 and 9e in Dolby Atmos and other examples 19:59 Platforms optimised for Dolby Atmos 20:54 Does it work with Apple CarPlay & Android Auto? 22:05 EVs and Dolby Atmos 24:25 A lot of firsts for Dolby in India 26:40 Importance of partners who wish to innovate 28:30 Relationship between OEM, branded system and Dolby Atmos 29:53 What's next for Dolby? 32:11 Is it a different process for regional languages? #evoIndia Want more #ThrillOfDriving videos? Subscribe to the evo India channel: https://bit.ly/2VfzioP Read our stories here: https://evoindia.com/ Buy #EvoIndiamagazine here: www.evoindia.com/magazine Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evoindia/ Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evoindia/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/evoindia Official merchandise on 100kmph: http://www.100kmph.com/evoindia