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UTUVO Learn / Audio field guides

Dolby Atmos ADM BWF Delivery Checklist

Check an Atmos master, its stereo counterpart and delivery metadata, with clear boundaries between current platform rules and engineering review.

By UTUVO · Updated

Start with the destination

An ADM BWF carries audio and scene metadata together. A file can play correctly yet still disagree with a distributor’s required delivery package. Start by naming the service, the distributor and the version of the specification you are checking.

Dolby’s June 2024 Music Delivery Playbook recommends 24-bit PCM at 48 kHz, a 24 fps timeline, approximately −18 LKFS integrated and a −1 dBTP ceiling. It also asks for speaker and headphone review, synchronized stereo/Atmos versions and intentional binaural settings. The document explicitly directs engineers to their distributor’s latest requirements.

Current Apple Music requirements

Apple’s Immersive Audio Source Profile changed on September 8, 2026. It accepts 24-bit LPCM at 48 or 96 kHz for Atmos music; 96 kHz is converted to 48 kHz for output. It requires consistent project frame rates, integrated loudness no higher than −18 LKFS, and true peak no higher than −1 dBTP. It also requires the Atmos version to conform and synchronize with its stereo reference.

That makes “48 kHz only” an outdated description of Apple’s current source profile. It also means −18 LKFS is a ceiling in that profile, not a demand to push every quiet passage or album track up to that level. Confirm that your distributor accepts the chosen source rate before changing the established delivery workflow.

The preflight checklist

  1. Identity: confirm artist, track, mix revision and destination. Keep the stereo reference and ADM under the same revision record.
  2. Container: inspect the file as ADM BWF, not merely as a WAV that happens to contain many channels. Confirm that audio and metadata can be read.
  3. Audio format: verify the exported header against the destination’s sample-rate and PCM requirements.
  4. Timeline: check the export range and frame rate. Listen to the first transient and final tail in both versions.
  5. Loudness and peaks: measure the complete final master using the required renderer and measurement method. Save the measurement report.
  6. Stereo correspondence: compare arrangement, edits and fades. Do not assume that the last stereo bounce is the matching revision.
  7. Metadata: inspect scene and binaural settings; separately check distributor fields such as track identifiers. Do not assume every submission field belongs inside the ADM.
  8. Listening: audition on speakers and headphones. A structural check cannot decide whether the balance communicates the intended mix.
  9. Package: open the actual files selected for upload and retain a checksum or other immutable delivery record.

Interpret the result before changing the mix

A failed measurement, an advisory flag and an unavailable check call for different responses. Read the reason and measurement path. If a check could not run, supply the required input or complete the review manually; an unmeasured item is not a pass.

UTUVO QC checks ADM masters offline and reports Pass, Warn, Fail or Skip. Its selected profile is an aid to preflight, while the destination’s current requirements govern acceptance. Pair its report with listening notes and the exact exported files.