With AV software and hardware alike carrying at least one Dolby logo, not to mention the presence of that same branding on big screen cinema, Dolby is truly a household name. If you ask people exactly what Dolby does, however, you're likely to get a pretty fuzzy picture, which isn't too surprising -- the brand is so prevalent in the media space that it's kind of like asking a fish to describe what water feels like. So when Dolby invited us to spend a day with them to talk about their current goings-on in home theater, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity.
To get a look behind the familiar logo, we spent a day at Dolby's lab in San Francisco. During our time there we talked about TrueHD, Digital Plus, Dolby Volume, the new Pro Logic IIz, and even got a short peek at some current research efforts. It was a fast run over a lot of ground, for sure!
One theme that consistently popped up during our visit was the concept of fidelity. A lot of the folks at Dolby have music backgrounds, and it shows in subtle but significant ways. While the engineering that goes on at Dolby is certainly advanced, and the company makes its name on technology, a strong theme of not messing with the intent of the original artist runs throughout the company's DNA. While this approach of doing "just enough" may not make for the most mindblowing demos, it's the approach our ears prefer. Recreating a whole cathedral within the confines of your closet may be impressive, but trust us, it won't age well. Dolby's restraint and insistence on technology serving the content, and not vice versa keeps this kind of bloated excess from fouling up the listening experience.
Another trend we picked up on was room treatment. As you'd expect from a professional setup, there was a goodly amount of acoustic foam in every room we auditioned, and every room sounded way more controlled than any conventional home setting we've experienced. Going along with the acoustic foam was a large presence of active monitors -- again consistent with pro setups -- and wouldn't you know it, every setup showed lots of dynamic headroom with gobs of detail.
But as you would expect from a technology solution provider, we didn't spend much time talking about gear. Dolby wants as many CE companies as possible to license its solutions, and based on the volume of gear that carries one Dolby logo or another, the company has been quite successful in its efforts!
