Plug-ins for the surround master channel strip in Logic Pro for Mac
Any plug-in that you place on the Audio Effect slot of the surround master channel strip is in surround. It is loaded in its native surround format (if available) or as multi mono.
The Dolby Atmos plug-in is automatically inserted on the Effect slot of the surround master channel strip and should not be removed in a Dolby Atmos project. Any other plug-in that you add manually could be placed on an Effect slot before or after the Dolby Atmos plug-in, with the following differences:
Before the Dolby Atmos plug-in: Any plug-ins inserted here only process the bed tracks and not the object tracks of your Dolby Atmos mix.
After the Dolby Atmos plug-in: Any plug-ins inserted here do not process the signal that is exported as an ADM BWF master file. Those plug-ins only affect the signal that you are monitoring and bouncing to a channel-based audio file.
Plug-ins before the Dolby Atmos plug-in
You can use the following or other surround-capable plug-ins if you want to process the surround bed signal:
Multichannel Gain: Lets you adjust the signal level of each channel of the surround bus before it reaches the Dolby Atmos plug-in.
Limiter: A limiter provides additional level control for the surround bed, but it shouldn’t negatively affect the balance between the bed tracks and object tracks.
EQ: An EQ plug-in lets you make overall frequency adjustments for the surround bed signal if necessary. Keep in mind that the surround bed also includes the LFE channel.
Level Meter: A Level Meter plug-in inserted on the slot before the Dolby Atmos plug-in provides visual feedback about the signal level of the surround bus that is routed into the Dolby Atmos plug-in.
Plug-ins after the Dolby Atmos plug-in
Because plug-ins inserted after the Dolby Atmos plug-in don’t affect the exported ADM BWF master file, you should only use metering plug-ins on those slots. However, you may (temporarily) insert mastering plug-ins if you plan to create a discrete surround bounce file from a spatial audio project.
Level Meter: The Level Meter plug-in placed right after the Dolby Atmos plug-in shows you the signal level of your Dolby Atmos mix (bed tracks and object tracks) when rendered to a 7.1.4 channel-based format. The Level Meter plug-in shows the 12 channels of the 7.1.4 format; no channel should exceed -1 dBTP (True Peak).
Note: When you select any monitoring format other than 7.1.4 in the Dolby Atmos plug-in, all 12 channels are still shown in the plug-in window, but an output signal is only visible on the corresponding rendered channels. For example, selecting any binaural option will show a signal only on the left and right channels.
Loudness Meter: The integrated loudness of a Dolby Atmos mix should not exceed –18 LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) in order to play back correctly on a system or device compatible with Dolby Atmos. This is especially important for rendering a binaural mix when the levels of all channels are combined into just two channels. You must keep a very close eye on the levels for each surround channel on the surround master channel strip.
Note: Make sure to select the 5.1 monitoring format (as required by Dolby) when measuring the loudness level, even if you don’t have the corresponding speaker setup.
Recommended plug-in order
The recommended order for inserting plug-ins on the surround master channel strip is Multichannel Gain, Limiter, Level Meter, Dolby Atmos, Level Meter, and then Loudness Meter.
Note: The level meters on the surround master channel strip always show the rendered channel-based output based on the selection in the Monitoring Format pop-up menu of the Dolby Atmos plug-in. The channel order follows the setting in the Mixer View Settings pane. See Change the order of surround level meters.