Change. We can’t stop it, but we can decide how much, when, where, and why. The opportunity that change brings to us isn’t always obvious, but it’s always around. The risks and rewards that accompany change are both sides of the magnet – they pull is in and push us away.On this episode of Noise Reduction, host Collyer Spreen brings the issues of change, adaptation and strategy to the AV industry. Choosing wisely when presented with change is the key, as well as choosing at all. Now, especially in this great time of global change with a pandemic sweeping across the globe, is the perfect time to assess the opportunities of change we have available to us. Weigh the risk and the reward, is it worth it?

On this episode of Noise Reduction, a MarketScale pro audio podcast, host Collyer Spreen shared some insights regarding turning the recent remote-work and stay-at-home requirements brought on by the spread of COVID-19 into a positive for both yourself and your career.In particular, Spreen said this extended period of working from home could provide key opportunities to tackle personal projects you’ve been putting off for a while, as you’ll likely have increased time for those projects.“We find ourselves with lots of time on our hands,” he said. “And if you’ve got your workstation at home or you have access to it, now’s a great time to do a lot of things that we’ve all been putting off.”This could mean starting on that long-shoved-aside personal project, yes, but Spreen also said it’s a great time for some more mundane tasks, like “housekeeping.” If you’ve gotten in the habit of simply throwing things wherever on your computer is convenient and allows you to work the fastest, slowdowns like this provide a key opportunity to get everything in order and work toward better organization.“If you clean it up, you’ll know where everything is, right? It makes sense,” he said.Other tasks to tackle during this period include critical updates to software and more, exploring features and capabilities of the software you’re already familiar with, and experimenting with your workflow to see if you can become more efficient for when work picks up down the road.In a similar vein, Spreen also said to keep your skills sharp and to stay prepared for the eventual spike in demand that’s likely to follow this period of uncertainty.

On our new pro audio podcast, Noise Reduction, we chatted with MarketScale contributor and pro audio specialist Collyer Spreen. He’s just been at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show 2020 in Anaheim, CA, which he talked about recently. Today, we asked Spreen about Dolby Atmos.Defining this technology, Spreen describes Dolby Atmos as an “immersive experience.” Designed both for enhancing entertainment at home and for audio professionals, Dolby Atmos elevates sound quality to match the incredible visual experiences of modern entertainment devices.For example, Spreen explains how huge TVs became popular a few years ago and the visuals were stunning- but the sound was underwhelming. Dolby Atmos is an accessible way to get sound quality that matches visual advancements, like 4K television.Collyer explains Dolby Atmos is more than traditional surround sound, which set speakers to the front, left, right, and back of listeners. “There are speakers in the ceiling too,” he says of Dolby Atmos.To support the additional speakers and clarify sound instead of just making a space louder, Dolby Atmos is high-tech. Using percentages and distance, the technology decodes and distributes sound among a system to enhance the listening experience.This kind of technology changes the way audio professionals engineer sound, especially as Dolby Atmos can mix up to 128 channels wide. Add in the creativity this technology allows, and sound engineers can adapt even fine details to create precise experiences, like shifting certain sound effects to overhead, and others to rear speakers, to strike the listener in different ways.Atmos has been around in the professional audio industry since 2012, when movies were first mixed with Atmos sound. Many Academy award-winning films use the technology. Most movies are mixed in Atmos now, and movie theatres are increasingly playing using Atmos sound as well.Now, Atmos is moving into the music industry as well. Studios use it to mix records and reimagine the sound experience. Some even use it for live monitoring as well as mastering.Spreen has many more insights into the amazing capabilities of Dolby Atmos, which you can listen to here.For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Pro AV Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication. A new episode of the Pro AV Show drops every Thursday.