Pyramix Turns 25 With Big Update

Even though celebrations for Merging Technologies 30th Anniversary have been muted by Covid-19, it doesn’t stop major enhancements releasing for all three of the company’s software platforms.  

Dolby Atmos

The really big news for Pyramix is the inclusion of a Dolby Atmos workflow in 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.

Many Merging customers have been pioneers in producing wonderful immersive music and simplifying the process of delivery and increasing the diversity of content will be a huge bonus to music lovers worldwide. 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, 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).

• Direct connection with a Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite workstation to transfer audio and metadata.
• Fully compatible with the Dolby Atmos Production Suite renderer
• Extremely flexible mixing options. Bed and Objects can be optimized in Pyramix to manage different speaker set configurations

Pyramix aside, any DAW user needing an audio interface to get started with Dolby Atmos should definitely consider MERGING+ANUBIS as the perfect companion to the Dolby Atmos Production Suite since the release of EQ on outputs (latest Anubis firmware).

New Packs

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

• ELEMENTS is the cheapest version allowing creators to experience most transparent DAW in the world enjoying DSD/DXD format.
• PRO is for those who rely on Pyramix for editing and require more channels of DSD/DXD.
• PREMIUM is the version containing all features allowing 24 channels of DSD/DXD and featuring all the mastering options that Pyramix is famous for including Dolby Atmos compatibility.

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

Free Version

Free is a word that grabs attention so Pyramix for free sounds very tempting.  There is a string attached; you need to have purchased a Merging Hardware product after September 1st 2020 and registered it on the website. You 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, you can still purchase either program for a nominal amount and experience the best of high-resolution audio. 

New Security Regime

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 you 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. 

Other Stuff

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 current 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.”