Steerable Dolby Atmos Enabled Speaker Proposal

[gene]

Gene it seems if your trying to obtain the experience that one of the few Atmos theaters offer I feel your going to need either a Dolby Atmos processor or a Atmos avr to decide an Atmos movie.

Gene I will give your experiment I know it's late and my retired brain is old but what is HPF

Unfortunately I don't have access to Atmos processing yet. I'm only trying to test the plausibiility of bouncing the sound off the ceiling.

HPF = High Pass Filter from your receivers bass management. 200Hz is suggested b/c Atmos allegedly places a 180Hz HPF on Atmos speakers firing upward.

thanks.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

To my understanding, sound from above your ears the brain processes very differently. In psychoacoustics they play with things like the rate of attack and such to achieve desired effects. It's likely very complex and not easy to mimic without their algorithm. By using metadata with discrete channels, they may be actively adjusting all kinds of properties.

I have a hunch that there is a dramatic effect once the processing is added, even one people could say is localizable to some degree. That doesn't mean the 'dramatic effect' isn't a 'dramatic piece of ****'

 

[RichB]

I have a hunch that there is a dramatic effect once the processing is added, even one people could say is localizable to some degree. That doesn't mean the 'dramatic effect' isn't a 'dramatic piece of ****'

How many customers will know that the jet flyover was not supposed to be in front?
When the new calibration tracks are available, there may be some surprises...
By then, Atmos will be dug in like a tick

- Rich

 

[cpp]

How many customers will know that the jet flyover was not supposed to be in front?


- Rich

I guess it would depend on where camera position was in the movie and how the sound was engineered for the effect as you could have a jet coming at you and over you.

 

[gene]

Ready to Break a Sweat for Dolby Atmos?

Based on the poll results in this thread, whose ready to break a sweat for the Dolby Atmos Home Theater experience?

 

[Marshall_Guthrie]

Based on the poll results in this thread, whose ready to break a sweat for the Dolby Atmos Home Theater experience?

I've been contemplating this exact approach. With my vaulted ceiling, I can use reflecting or in-ceiling speakers. I'd need to hang them from mounts or wires.

I think i'll start with Audyssey DSX wides, and maybe heights, and go from there.

 

[cutedaddy]

Atmos Directionality

Why not use a pivoting foot with a small coaxial driver in a spheric or egg-shaped enclosure (possibly with waveguide style baffle, or the mid doubling as waveguide for the tweeter)?
This would make for more flexible aiming, while solving the mechanical problems associated with the 'tiltable baffle concept' and, if well-designed, also better control directionality.

 

[cutedaddy]

And btw, after being fired upwards, doesn't the wavefront become uncontrollably wide, since the distance it travels will generally be longer than with direct firing speakers? It seems to me this would only be practical in very wide listening areas, lest the four atmos channels would end up covering such a large sweet spot the directionality would be mostly lost.
In addition, doesn't reflected sound have a diffracted character by definition, adding some comb filtering effects to the wavefront, rendering its psychoacoustic perception different to begin with?
All in all, the whole atmos concept in HT context doesn't grab me as very realistic (or desirable), unless we're talking huge listening rooms. Anyone heard some different (experimental) setups in a HT environment yet?

 

[gene]

And btw, after being fired upwards, doesn't the wavefront become uncontrollably wide, since the distance it travels will generally be longer than with direct firing speakers? It seems to me this would only be practical in very wide listening areas, lest the four atmos channels would end up covering such a large sweet spot the directionality would be mostly lost.
In addition, doesn't reflected sound have a diffracted character by definition, adding some comb filtering effects to the wavefront, rendering its psychoacoustic perception different to begin with?
All in all, the whole atmos concept in HT context doesn't grab me as very realistic (or desirable), unless we're talking huge listening rooms. Anyone heard some different (experimental) setups in a HT environment yet?

All very valid points of concern. There are some folks on AVS Forum that have heard the demo and liked it but I suspect they liked the ambient effects the atmos speakers were providing since I too share your sentiment that they will provide questionable accuracy for directionality and even then it would be limited to 2kHz and up.

 

[slipperybidness]

Has anyone yet seen the DT add in the new S&V?

I like DTs approach to Atmos!

It seems that they now have an add-on "cap" module for the DT 8060ST. You can simply add the up-firing speaker to the current line, or omit it completely. Good idea!

 

[Dan B]

I saw this awhile ago when I was building my new surround cabinets. I used a recessed spotlight "eyeball" which rotates in all directions. I mounted a 4" Dayton Reference full range speaker (50 - 20Khz) inside. The unit is mounted to the top of the wall mounted speaker cabinet at a 15 degree angle allowing the speaker to be aimed at infinitely varying positions toward the ceiling. It's adjustable from about 80 deg. off the vertical axis to straight up, and can be turned almost 360 deg. allowing the user to aim to any spot on the ceiling within that range. (See pictures below.) The "eyeball" housing forms a "cannon" that focuses the sound, allowing it to be directed. My initial tests have shown the "sound spot" is distinctly adjustable. My ultimate configuration will be two speakers at the surround location, and two at the front on top of the two new towers that I'm presently building -- forming a 4-spot height reflection area above the listening area.