The Dolby Atmos Home Theater Paradox

How Many Speakers are You running in your Home Theater?

  • 5.1 or up to 5.4

    Votes: 108 46.8%
  • 6.1 or up to 6.4

    Votes: 6 2.6%
  • 7.1 or up to 7.4

    Votes: 70 30.3%
  • 9.1 or up to 9.4

    Votes: 20 8.7%
  • 11.1 or up to 11.4

    Votes: 15 6.5%
  • Two-Channel is where it's at!

    Votes: 12 5.2%

  • Total voters
    231
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
For me ceiling speaker are to ugly. I live in a concrete house so the speaker need to hank from the ceiling or mounted high in the wall which is no ideal for Dolby Atmos. So if I update to atmos is because I need a new receiver and it will have atmos build in already.
And ceiling speakers are just not doable for many, even if they wanted Atmos, and that's the problem with this particular new consumer surround sound technology.
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
It all depends on what's important to us and what's not. No right or wrong.

What's salient to me are the quality of the bass, the dialogue, and the main action in front. The surrounds are a nice adjunct, but not salient.

The main reason my 2 surround speakers are 61" big RBH SX-T2/R towers is because I wanted more subwoofer bass in the rear to smooth out the bass response in the room. If we can have only 1 subwoofer, then the Center Front spot is among the best locations. If we have 4 subs, then the 4 corners are among the best locations. My center tower serves as that center front sub. My 4 towers in the 4 corners (1/4 width location) serves as the 4 subs in 4 corners.

The second reason is for aesthetic because I think 5 identical towers good great. :)

If the surrounds are salient to you, then ATMOS, 7.1, 9.1. etc., are worth every penny and time.
You're INSANE but definitely an Audioholic at heart :)
 
R

RBGOBLUE

Audioholic Intern
Well if you haven't heard dtsx or Dolby Atmos, you probably won't do it but once you hear it you will, I have 7.2 now going to 7.2.2 and my room is only 20 by 18 its all about the processing. And the balance your speakers set up. I'm just excited about the height Dimension and Let It Rain On Me

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
 
D

Dennis Downs

Audiophyte
Right now I'm running 9. 11 would be a stretch, but hey, I can just keep adding subwoofers until the place falls down.
I hear you, I am running 15 speakers. Just added my 4th sub, thought I might just get a small increase. it almost doubled, you can feel the air moving! 2 dalquist dg1ws up front and 2 truaudio c-sub 12's in the back corners.
I care more about music, all channel stereo sure beats the first digital sound delay system I had years ago. The more speakers the better, if you want to think you can listen to music on your phone be my guest. After adding the c-12 sub I had to switch to my computer using HDMI in for audio at high volume, was getting distortion trying to use spotify connect with my Onyko tx-nr1030.
 
R

RBGOBLUE

Audioholic Intern
Cool I Miss quoted myself I'm Runnin 7.3 going to 7.3.2 with the Marantz 8802a processor with ATI AMPS

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
 
D

Dreko

Enthusiast
So today I got the star wars in blu ray and guess what is not a dolby atmos or dts x. I thought since this movie was a huge deal when it game out probably will be in the newest format. So why the industry is floded with receiver with atmos dts x and auro 3d if there is nothing in the market to play it. I dont have atmos receiver like I say it before celing speaker are to ugly but i thought that if there is movie that will sound nice in atmos will be this one. By the way the blu ray is dts hd 7.1 and sound super
 
BlwnAway

BlwnAway

Audioholic
I'm running a 7.1.4 configuration into a 9.4.8 speaker layout, I love it, and all I have is height speakers, no in-ceiling at all, IMO while not prefect it's 95% of the way there.
 
BlwnAway

BlwnAway

Audioholic
So today I got the star wars in blu ray and guess what is not a dolby atmos or dts x. I thought since this movie was a huge deal when it game out probably will be in the newest format. So why the industry is floded with receiver with atmos dts x and auro 3d if there is nothing in the market to play it. I dont have atmos receiver like I say it before celing speaker are to ugly but i thought that if there is movie that will sound nice in atmos will be this one. By the way the blu ray is dts hd 7.1 and sound super
Unfortunately, many studios are starting to lean toward only including Atmos mixes on their UHD discs, and even then there's no guarantee that all theatrical releases in immersive audio will actually offer it on disc.

The UHD re-releases of Star Trek and Star Trek into Darkness are in Atmos though.
 
A

AGS

Audiophyte
I'm running a 7.1.4 configuration into a 9.4.8 speaker layout, I love it, and all I have is height speakers, no in-ceiling at all, IMO while not prefect it's 95% of the way there.
The 7.1.4 channels have their advantages. My home 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos Theater it is driven by the Yamaha A/V Receiver RX-A3040 (9ch+RP, Yamaha RX-A3040 only). In my set-up I have 11 SPK’S and 1 Active Sub! The Rear Presence: RP Left and RP Right (Pre-out) channels are via an External Amp. For Dolby Atmos, due to building constrains, I can’t have in-ceiling SPK’s. So I used four Paradigm Monitor Series 7 speakers that are installed close to ceiling. For best Dolby Atmos experience it’s important that all 4 High /Presence speakers be of the same specification size etc. To reflect better the sound the SPK’s are tilted downwards @ 45 degree angle! My 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos configuration may not be 100% per Dolby’s recommended set-up; however, it delivers a commending performance. To date, I have a number of Dolby Atmos (Dolby True HD 7.1) Blue Ray movies that show my Theater capability i.e. ,”American Sniper”, “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)” and “San Andrea” in particular includes one of the most engaging Atmos tracks to date .
 
R

RBGOBLUE

Audioholic Intern
Just put my ceiling speakers in yesterday proficient 1031 10 inches,just waiting on my 8802A Marantz processor should get it this week.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
 
BlwnAway

BlwnAway

Audioholic
The 7.1.4 channels have their advantages. My home 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos Theater it is driven by the Yamaha A/V Receiver RX-A3040 (9ch+RP, Yamaha RX-A3040 only). In my set-up I have 11 SPK’S and 1 Active Sub! The Rear Presence: RP Left and RP Right (Pre-out) channels are via an External Amp. For Dolby Atmos, due to building constrains, I can’t have in-ceiling SPK’s. So I used four Paradigm Monitor Series 7 speakers that are installed close to ceiling. For best Dolby Atmos experience it’s important that all 4 High /Presence speakers be of the same specification size etc. To reflect better the sound the SPK’s are tilted downwards @ 45 degree angle! My 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos configuration may not be 100% per Dolby’s recommended set-up; however, it delivers a commending performance. To date, I have a number of Dolby Atmos (Dolby True HD 7.1) Blue Ray movies that show my Theater capability i.e. ,”American Sniper”, “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)” and “San Andrea” in particular includes one of the most engaging Atmos tracks to date .
I'm also using the 3040, I'm just duplicating my Surrounds and heights to better cover my space. I'll be doing a little matrixing of my heights in the near future to give me a pseudo 7.1.6 layout.

My favorite Atmos tracks to date:
Best overall use:
Roger Waters "The Wall" (2015 release)
"Gravity" (Diamond Lux edition)
"Lucy" (Hong Kong Atmos version)
"The Fifth Element" (2015 release)
Best Use of Height Layer for discrete objects:
"Goosebumps"
Greatest difference in soundtrack from the DD mix:
"Man From U.N.C.L.E" (the Atmos track has a much cleaner and discrete sound, esp. in the musical score, plus extra LFE content)
 
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A

AGS

Audiophyte
I'm also using the 3040, I'm just duplicating my Surrounds and heights to better cover my space. I'll be doing a little matrixing of my heights in the near future to give me a pseudo 7.1.6 layout.

My favorite Atmos tracks to date:
Best overall use:
Roger Waters "The Wall" (2015 release)
"Gravity" (Diamond Lux edition)
"Lucy" (Hong Kong Atmos version)
"The Fifth Element" (2015 release)
Best Use of Height Layer for discrete objects:
"Goosebumps"
Greatest difference in soundtrack from the DD mix:
"Man From U.N.C.L.E" (the Atmos track has a much cleaner and discrete sound, esp. in the musical score, plus extra LFE content)
Thanks’ for recommending us the movie “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
I bought a copy and I have enjoyed the movie .Especially the movie sound track
has wide range of music style from the 60. To listen to spy music by
Jerry Goldsmith , Nina Simon serenading and Ennio Morricone in Dolby Atmos /Dolby TrueHD 7.1
it sounds absolutely amazing. A treat!
 
D

Dreko

Enthusiast
I went past weekend to see Civil War in a theater with Dolby Atmos system. The Dolby demo before the movie sound super cool, you can appreciate sound all over the place. But the movie Civil War, I honestly can distinguish any sound coming form above or any other place. In fact Sound feel like is coming all over the place at the same time but you can identified a sound or a effect behind you, above or any other place. The same experience happen with Batman V Superman, Jurassic World, Age of Ultron and so on. Makes me wonder if movie maker actually are mixing sound with Atmos in mind?
 
D

Dreko

Enthusiast
I got a Question???? Recently I read a article about some review of a Dolby Atmos receiver. The receiver is a Onkyo 646 and a Denon 910. They were giving it some nice review especially on the Denon, but they mention something about the high channel. They say the high channel goes from front speaker to high. What they mean with that?
 
BlwnAway

BlwnAway

Audioholic
I went past weekend to see Civil War in a theater with Dolby Atmos system. The Dolby demo before the movie sound super cool, you can appreciate sound all over the place. But the movie Civil War, I honestly can distinguish any sound coming form above or any other place. In fact Sound feel like is coming all over the place at the same time but you can identified a sound or a effect behind you, above or any other place. The same experience happen with Batman V Superman, Jurassic World, Age of Ultron and so on. Makes me wonder if movie maker actually are mixing sound with Atmos in mind?
Unfortunately it is very dependant on the filmmaker and the mixer as to how Atmos is used, some filmmakers still haven't come around to using it for overall ambience to help create a certain feel for a film and are solely using it for the "gimmick" factor, all we can do is hope they actually get to hear some of the better mixes and come to the realization that it's not just for the "in your face, wow factor".
 
DJWPAR3

DJWPAR3

Audioholic Intern
I finally got my 5.1.4 Atmos to work correctly! ( My Stupidity with zone 2 had me confused for quite a while!) But finally got it all worked out. I want to 2nd (from above)Roger Waters: The Wall as an excellent use of atmos. My spouse and I spent a rainy Savannah day watching the 4K HDR Mad Max: Fury Road. I felt the sound track was absolutely enveloping, we felt surrounded by the movie...not much plot but really enjoyable. I agree the use of Atmos is very dependent on the filmmaker, but so far I am excited by what I hear. Please recommend other titles or scenes for us all. I'm headed to BBUY to see what else is available.

Yamaha 2050
Samsung Blu-Ray K8500
Samsung 65 8500 LCD
Sony PS3
CHROMECAST!
SVS Prime LCR
6 Yamaha in ceiling
 
A

andyblackcat

Audioholic General
Unfortunately it is very dependant on the filmmaker and the mixer as to how Atmos is used, some filmmakers still haven't come around to using it for overall ambience to help create a certain feel for a film and are solely using it for the "gimmick" factor, all we can do is hope they actually get to hear some of the better mixes and come to the realization that it's not just for the "in your face, wow factor".
More like EAR DEAFENING with films like star trek into DEAFNESS! Worst reboot star trek ever! The mix was just unpleasantly deafening!

All side to side with forwards, backwards and up but no downward below surround and stage channels that are just outdated have no means of upper or below LCR channels to accommodate for the complex listener. Guess have to wait a few more years longer? I have few Atmos titles but there also 7.1 compatible so I'm in no hurry for a new AVR that supports, Dolby Atmos.

You get Dolby Stereo A-type optical and 70mm and some odd deafness mixes then it calms down to mellow mix levels.
You get Dolby Stereo SR 35/70mm and get some deafness mixes then it calms down.
Dolby SR-D digital get some loud deafness mixes then it calms down.
Dolby Atmos get some bloody deafening mixes then get the odd one maybe its calming down?

So when is it gonna clam down? All it is, is just a fabricated mixes and directors or mixes getting dynamic range hard-on for BLOODY ENCRUSTING star trek into DEAFNESS! o_O No not happy with it and no it doesn't come anywhere near or close to lifelike sound. Just makes my bloody tinnitus worse!
 
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