Pyramix Celebrates 25th Year With Dolby Atmos Update

In line with its 25th anniversary, Merging Technologies’ Pyramix DAW now includes a Dolby Atmos workflow. The new feature has been developed as a direct response to the increasing demand for immersive music mixes to be released in this format.

Pyramix 25th allows users to create natively in Dolby Atmos without the need to move to an alternative platform. This means that the many customers that have been asked to provide immersive content can dramatically simplify and speed up the process of delivering the final master.

Merging Technologies has worked closely with Dolby to not only have full communication between Pyramix and the Dolby Atmos Renderer, but also to bridge the gap between the Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 maximum bed size and the traditionally bigger bus sizes used by some Pyramix users.

By detecting when a user is mapping the bus-based channel to an object, Pyramix sends the correct metadata to the Dolby Atmos Renderer in order to emulate a speaker. This is particularly relevant for users wanting to translate native mixes using more than two height channels (5.1.4, 7.1.4) and/or using wide speakers (9.1.4, 9.1.6).

In a move to make the software packs simpler to understand and more cost effective, Pyramix software now comes in only three versions with reduced prices:

1. Elements is the cheapest version, allowing creators to use the DSD/DXD format.

2. Pro is for those who rely on Pyramix for editing and require more channels of DSD/DXD.

3. Premium is the version containing all features, allowing 24 channels of DSD/DXD and featuring all the mastering options that Pyramix is known for - including Dolby Atmos compatibility.

4. Add the MassCore Hardware option to any software version and get ultra-low latency, maximum track count (64 I/O DSD/DXD) and VS3 plugins from vendors like Cedar and Flux.

Free Version

Free is a word that grabs attention, so Pyramix for free sounds very tempting. However there is a string attached: users need to have purchased a Merging Hardware product after September 1 2020 and need to have registered it on the website.

Users then get the choice of Pyramix or Ovation Elements in a full version and fully capable of DSD and DXD recording. For those not buying even an Anubis, they can still purchase either program for a nominal amount and experience the best of high-resolution audio.

New Security

Something that will affect all releases is a new security system. With laptops being stripped of USB ports and software deployment requiring lightning speed, Merging has implemented a new security system allowing customers to authorise their software without any hardware dongle.

This system works online and offline and should users still prefer to use hardware dongles, the choice is there. This also means that it will now be easier than ever to download a trial of Pyramix.

Multi-threading For Native

The next major improvement is for the native user. For a long time, clients looking for maximum performances required MassCore. Pyramix is now based on a multi-threading architecture, so users will benefit from a huge performance improvement.

The audio engine analyses the session in real time and calculates the optimal number of threads to be used. For the power user, MassCore remains the go to option for maximum I/O, lowest latencies and tons of power for VS3 processing.

In case that is not enough, significant improvements have been made to VST/VS3 plugins’ distribution, video playback, SRC performance along with some mixer enhancements.

Claude Cellier, President of Merging Technologies reflects on the strangeness of the situation:

“When we launched Pyramix all those years ago, only in my wildest dreams would we be still doing such amazing productions with Pyramix. Only in my wildest nightmares would we be introducing such a major release in the middle of a global pandemic. The fact that most of the engineering team continue to work from home is a testament to their extraordinary commitment in such difficult circumstances.

"Our exciting relationship with Dolby in enhancing our immersive offering has also been cemented remotely since there have been no trade shows to meet face to face. It looks like that will not be changing anytime soon.”