Older content on Atmos setup

[Foxrox]

I've seen mentioned several times around the forums that older content is improved on Atmos AVRs. How does this work? And does it work by default? I expect things to be straight forward with a newer movie like Mad Max, but is something special going to be required to fully enjoy The Matrix, Gladiator, and LOTR?

Example: One of my me and my wife's favorite flicks is Star Trek (the 2009 release) which was pre-Atmos. It sounds lovely on a nice 5.1 setup. Based on what I've read, I expect it to sound even better once I get my full 5.1.4 setup completed (waiting on remodel to be completed right now). I use a PS4 (for now) for BD playback. From what I've read, I'll need to set up the PS4 for bitstream pass through to take full advantage of Atmos content. So what will happen with Star Trek? Will my X4300H know what to do with the bitstream, or is there some setting that I need to engage to make it attempt object based audio from the old track?

Maybe this will all become obvious once I'm able to set up my AVR and play around. I'm just anxious to know and understand what I'm dealing with. Also, if anyone has any insights into how exactly the decoder makes non-Atmos content into kinda-Atmos content, I'm curious about that as well. Perhaps someone knows a good article for me to read. Thanks!

 

[agarwalro]

Edit: Hidden misinformation below.

Spoiler: Misinformation

The 4300 will treat the non Atmos discs like they do for a CD. Only channels with program will play any sound. The difference being that for a CD, there are several processing options which split the 2.0 into everything up to 9.2. Unfortunately, I am not aware if 5.1 can be extended to 5.1.4 to give sound in the Atmos speakers.

. Also, if anyone has any insights into how exactly the decoder makes non-Atmos content into kinda-Atmos content, I'm curious about that as well. Perhaps someone knows a good article for me to read. Thanks!

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/what-is-dolby-atmos-2942509

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

The 4300 will treat the non Atmos discs like they do for a CD. Only channels with program will play any sound. The difference being that for a CD, there are several processing options which split the 2.0 into everything up to 9.2. Unfortunately, I am not aware if 5.1 can be extended to 5.1.4 to give sound in the Atmos speakers.


http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/what-is-dolby-atmos-2942509

Yep. It will upsample to 5.1.4. It’s part of dsu or “Dolby surround”. That’s what would be called pro logic II in the past. They’ve abandoned front height(z) or rear surround(x) support in favor of dsu. It’s reported to work very well.

 

[yepimonfire]

I've seen mentioned several times around the forums that older content is improved on Atmos AVRs. How does this work? And does it work by default? I expect things to be straight forward with a newer movie like Mad Max, but is something special going to be required to fully enjoy The Matrix, Gladiator, and LOTR?

Example: One of my me and my wife's favorite flicks is Star Trek (the 2009 release) which was pre-Atmos. It sounds lovely on a nice 5.1 setup. Based on what I've read, I expect it to sound even better once I get my full 5.1.4 setup completed (waiting on remodel to be completed right now). I use a PS4 (for now) for BD playback. From what I've read, I'll need to set up the PS4 for bitstream pass through to take full advantage of Atmos content. So what will happen with Star Trek? Will my X4300H know what to do with the bitstream, or is there some setting that I need to engage to make it attempt object based audio from the old track?

Maybe this will all become obvious once I'm able to set up my AVR and play around. I'm just anxious to know and understand what I'm dealing with. Also, if anyone has any insights into how exactly the decoder makes non-Atmos content into kinda-Atmos content, I'm curious about that as well. Perhaps someone knows a good article for me to read. Thanks!

Dolby surround upmixing and DTS Neural X take 2ch and 5.1/7.1 content and create a height layer with astonishing precision. Dolby surround is highly advanced, it works by separating the channels into pairs, it then splits the sound into multiple frequency bands, from there, it separates sounds into direct and diffuse sounds in the time domain, sending direct sounds into the bed layer, and diffuse sounds into the height layer. The result is a very convincing bubble of sound that’s almost as good as atmos.

The improvement offered by DSU is worth the upgrade alone.

 

[yepimonfire]

Yep. It will upsample to 5.1.4. It’s part of dsu or “Dolby surround”. That’s what would be called pro logic II in the past. They’ve abandoned front height(z) or rear surround(x) support in favor of dsu. It’s reported to work very well.

DSU is substantially better than prologic II, even with stereo content, you’d be hard pressed to tell it wasn’t discrete multichannel.

 

[Foxrox]

Thanks for the comments. Turns out the correct answer to most of my questions was: "Read the owners manual, you bum!" I found out everything I wanted to know in about 10 minutes.

The X4300H does indeed default to Atmos if the signal is Atmos (which I would expect). It defaults to Dolby Surround if the signal is Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, or Dolby Digital Plus. This is what I was hoping was the case.

Interestingly, older DTS formats do not default to Neural:X, but Neural:X is an option (as is Dolby Surround).

It also defaults to Dolby Surround for Dolby Digital 2-channel, but Dolby Surround would have to be selected for other 2-channel sources like PCM. The Same goes for DTS 2-channel defaulting to Neural:X (again with Dolby Surround as an option).

Interstingly (again), Neural:X can be selected for Dolby sources, and Dolby Surround can be selected for DTS sources. I'm guessing those results are not optimal.

 

[yepimonfire]

Thanks for the comments. Turns out the correct answer to most of my questions was: "Read the owners manual, you bum!" I found out everything I wanted to know in about 10 minutes.

The X4300H does indeed default to Atmos if the signal is Atmos (which I would expect). It defaults to Dolby Surround if the signal is Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, or Dolby Digital Plus. This is what I was hoping was the case.

Interestingly, older DTS formats do not default to Neural:X, but Neural:X is an option (as is Dolby Surround).

It also defaults to Dolby Surround for Dolby Digital 2-channel, but Dolby Surround would have to be selected for other 2-channel sources like PCM. The Same goes for DTS 2-channel defaulting to Neural:X (again with Dolby Surround as an option).

Interstingly (again), Neural:X can be selected for Dolby sources, and Dolby Surround can be selected for DTS sources. I'm guessing those results are not optimal.

It doesn’t really matter which upmixer you use with which codec. I wouldn’t use Neural X for 2ch content though, it does a pretty lousy job compared to DSU. As far as whether or not you prefer Dolby surround to neural x, I would play around with the two and see which you prefer. They both work a bit differently.


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