We re-watched the Star Trek clip on the home-theater setup, and the modest nature of the system Dolby demoed diminished the impact of the presentation. Nevertheless, it possessed many of the same characteristics we heard in the screening room—namely, it was a bit harsh, dry, and bright.
Atmos did not seem to add much to the immersive experience in that clip versus what I've heard in the past. Orbitron and the other guys agreed that our own systems did quite well with the same material.
Since Dolby did not A/B 7.1 versus Atmos during that clip, it was impossible to tell how much dimension Atmos added to the mix. In fact, Dolby did not offer a comparison between regular 7.1 and Atmos using theatrical content—
that comparison was exclusive to the helicopter flying around the room and the rainstorm demo, which sounded rather different depending on the speakers used for the overhead effect. In our demo, the ceiling-mounted speakers sounded clearer, and there was a greater sense of overhead space. Also, the timbre match with the main speakers was good enough to avoid distraction. The reflected sound was more diffuse; to my ears, it sounded processed—like a low-bitrate MP3. In addition, the
reflected sound did not create as convincing an illusion of sound coming from directly overhead. I wonder if the speaker placement—directly against the walls—was responsible for that discrepancy.
The end of the home theater demo involved the "Leaf" trailer. Dolby did not tell the audience if the clip utilized the ceiling speakers or reflected sound. When it finished playing, the presenter asked for a show of hands if we thought the clip used ceiling speakers—nobody raised their hand
. Evidently, the difference between overhead and reflected Atmos overhead channels was too obvious to fool anyone. [Editor's note: the same thing happened with the group in LA—no one thought the overhead speakers were being used.]
I chatted with Ralph Potts about the experience, especially since he gave the Blu-ray version of Star Trek: Into Darkness a perfect score of 100 for audio.
Ralph mentioned that in many dedicated home theaters, the side and rear surrounds are above ear level, unlike in Dolby's home-theater demo. That somewhat diminished the advantage offered by the dedicated overhead channels.
On the other hand, Ralph mentioned that he sees a lot more potential in Atmos than the Dolby demo was able to convey, and I agree. We need a better demonstration, in a dedicated home theater, to understand what Atmos can do.
As soon as the Dolby event ended, we headed over to Theo Kalomirakis' new home theater, the Roxy 2.0. Unfortunately, Ralph could not make it, but Chris Boylan, the editor of
BigPictureBigSound.com came along. Chris was part of the group we were in during the demos at Dolby, so he had the same experience we did. We watched the scene from Star Trek on Blu-ray with the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack. I thought
Theo's system sounded better than the theatrical Atmos presentation at Dolby's screening room, and quite superior to Dolby's home theater presentation. Even so, I do think that Theo's theater could benefit from Atmos, as long as it improves upon an already excellent presentation.
When I got home, I watched the same scene from Star Trek on my system, while my memory was still fresh. The next day, I received a PM from Jwhip, who played the clip on his system when he got home. He said,
"In my system, the music opening to the film was silky smooth, much better than anything we heard yesterday." Regarding the surround effects, Jwhip mentioned,
"I have my surround speakers above ear level, pointed down at the coach, and agree with Ralph on that point. In fact, the flying arrows at the beginning of the film were as convincing as they were in the Atmos."
My 7.1 setup, featuring Dolby PL IIz with front-height channels, immersed me in the Blu-ray's Dolby TrueHD soundtrack just fine. There was precious little to differentiate it from what I heard in the Atmos mix.
I can only conclude that proper setup and calibration trumps new formats when it comes to the overall surround-sound experience. That is why it's vitally important that Atmos demos take place on properly set up and calibrated systems—it's not a blunt tool. Without a proper demo, I predict that most enthusiasts will not feel a strong urge to upgrade an existing 7.1 system just for Atmos—the format needs to up the suspension-of-disbelief ante. Achieving that requires a seamless soundfield, and I look forward to an Atmos demo that convincingly pulls it off.
