Audio tech company Dolby has launched Dolby.io (company details at the same address) to “enhance and analyze media at scale.” The idea is to provide a brief code package in the form of an API (Application Programming Interface) which can streamline the mastering of audio — which can be a complex and lengthy process of analysis and adjustment.
To understand better how this new tool works, and how it might be applied, we reached out to Will Mayo, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at SpokenLayer, which specializes in short-form audio creation, distribution, and monetization for a client list loaded with major media brands. spokenLayer is a launch partner for Dolby.io.
Briefly put, the product analyzes and optimizes audio. Mastering of audio files can be a lengthy process with multiple steps and subjective evaluations. Dolby.io is made to automate that end-stage of making audio, outputting a reliably consistent product according to the publisher’s preferences. Audio characteristics such as volume, EQ, and compression are reduced from multiple manual tasks to a single automated solution.
Dolby provides a “try it yourself” page and sample video in which intrusive background noise is entirely removed. You can drop your own audio file onto the page to sample.
The application of this product ast the enterprise level is easy to see for SpokenLayer, which produces and distributes a colossal amount of short audio files. While perhaps not an affordable tool for individual podcasters to make cleaner audio, we can see a podcast hose which provides some kind of studio product, like Anchor or Spreaker, taking an interest in adding this API to its consumer product as a competitive differentiator.