Michael Jackson in Digital Surround Sound: 5.1 vs Dolby Atmos

One of the searches that brings people to my Michael Jackson work is "digital surround sound Michael Jackson". People remember the 5.1 era of home theater, DVDs and receivers with five speakers, and they want to know if Michael's albums exist in surround. The short answer: the official way to hear them around you today is Dolby Atmos. Together with Humberto Gatica I engineered the Atmos versions of five of his albums at RG Studio, my room in Los Angeles, so let me explain what changed from classic surround and why it matters for these records.

Stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos in one minute

• Stereo is two channels, left and right. Every Michael Jackson album was conceived, mixed and approved this way, and that stereo is still the reference.
• 5.1 surround adds a center channel, two rear speakers and a subwoofer channel (the ".1"). The sound can come from behind you, but everything happens on one horizontal ring at ear level, and each sound is assigned to fixed speakers.
• Dolby Atmos adds height and, more importantly, objects. An object is a sound with a position in a three-dimensional space, and the playback system decides which speakers reproduce it. The same mix plays on AirPods, a soundbar, a 7.1.4 living room or a cinema.

That last point is the real revolution. A 5.1 mix only sounds right on a 5.1 system. An Atmos mix adapts to the system you have.

Is Michael Jackson available in 5.1?

When people search for Michael Jackson in 5.1 they usually find forum threads, YouTube videos and old discs. Many of those 5.1 files are upmixes made by fans: software that takes the stereo and spreads it around the room. Some are made with a lot of love, but they are not mixes approved by the Estate or by Sony Music / Epic Records, and an upmix cannot separate what was printed together on the stereo master.

The official immersive versions are the Dolby Atmos mixes: Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible, mixed by Humberto and me, and Thriller, which has its own Atmos mix by Serban Ghenea and John Hanes. I explain which albums are out and where to listen in the Michael Jackson in Dolby Atmos listening guide.

Why we did not make a classic surround mix

There were no surround stems waiting in Sony's archive, only the original multitrack tapes. Humberto first rebuilt each song in stereo from those multitracks, so it sounded like the record everybody knows, and Sony approved that stereo. Then I took the stems into the immersive mix at RG Studio, through my Neve Genesys G3D console and a Genelec 7.1.4 system calibrated with GLM.

Instead of the usual 7.1.2 bed, I built the mixes as a bed of objects in 9.1.6. Objects are rendered natively on whatever system plays them. If we had delivered a fixed 5.1 mix, it would have been locked to five speakers at ear level. With objects, the same decisions translate to headphones, to a 5.1 receiver without height, and to a full room with speakers in the ceiling.

What surround adds to these songs, and what it must not change

The rule we gave ourselves was to respect the memory. Michael stays at the center of the front image almost all the time, and his voice rules over any spatial trick. The space is there to let the arrangements breathe, not to fly the voice around the room.

• The rear speakers give air to the choirs and the ambiences. In "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" there is a little figure in the handclaps and backing vocals that I take to the back and bring forward again.
• The side speakers can act as glue. At the start of "Black or White", sending the kid fully to the back and the father fully to the front sounded too aggressive, so I duplicated the original stereo at about 40% in the sides to hold the space together.
• The height speakers lift parts that were stacked in the stereo, like the gospel-flavored piano Greg Phillinganes played on Invincible, which was almost buried in the original.
• The low end can finally be what a 1979 vinyl could not carry.

How to hear Michael Jackson in surround at home

• Headphones: on Apple Music with Spatial Audio, the Atmos mix is rendered binaurally, so any headphones give you the immersive version. On an iPhone: Settings › Apps › Music › Dolby Atmos.
• A 5.1 or 7.1 system: play the Atmos stream through an Apple TV or another streaming device into an Atmos-capable receiver. It will render the mix for your speakers, without height.
• A system with height speakers or an Atmos soundbar: this is where you get the full picture, with real or virtual height.

Frequently asked questions

What does "digital surround sound" mean?

It usually refers to the digital formats that brought 5.1 into homes, such as Dolby Digital and DTS on DVDs, digital TV and home theater receivers. Dolby Atmos is the next step: it keeps the surround speakers, adds height and works with objects instead of fixed channels. For Michael Jackson, the official digital surround versions today are the Dolby Atmos mixes.

Is there a Michael Jackson album in 5.1 surround sound?

The official immersive versions of Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are the Dolby Atmos mixes released for streaming, and Thriller has its own Atmos mix. The 5.1 files that circulate among fans are, as far as I know, homemade upmixes and not mixes approved by the Estate or the label.

What is the difference between surround sound and Dolby Atmos?

Surround, like 5.1 or 7.1, sends each sound to a fixed set of speakers placed around you at ear level. Dolby Atmos adds height speakers and treats each element as an object with a position in space, and the playback system renders it for whatever it has: headphones, a soundbar, a 7.1.4 living room or a cinema.

Can I play the Michael Jackson Dolby Atmos mixes on a 5.1 system?

Yes. A Dolby Atmos receiver or soundbar renders the mix for the speakers it has, so a 5.1 or 7.1 system will play it without height. You lose the vertical dimension, but the front image, the surrounds and the low end are there.

Do I need special speakers to hear Michael Jackson in surround?

No. With Apple Music and Spatial Audio, any headphones will give you the immersive version rendered binaurally. Speakers at home, especially with height channels, add the physical sense of space.

If you want the full story of the project, read the Michael Jackson in Dolby Atmos page. And if you have a catalog that deserves to be heard in surround, this is the room where we do it.