The Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, and Auro-3D Discussion Thread

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yes, I think my question necessarily specific but more so the opinion of atmos or not. I have a center vaulted (like a triangle) ceiling with slopes from left and right of the entertainment area and it probably slopes about 10-15 degrees.

I used these.
https://rslspeakers.com/products/c34e-edgeless-in-ceiling-speaker/
Couldn’t be happier, love them. However you could use many others. They do have aimable tweeters but I’ve never found that to be useful.

 

[VonMagnum]

So SDrucker on AVS (who owns a Trinnov with a LOT of speakers including center screen speakers) just checked out that spot I was talking about in Gravity where I suspected a "snap to speaker" happening (in fact I suspected it was a center screen speaker "snapping" back to the mains based on its behavior) and it turns out I was correct. It's snapping between center screen and right main because it actually passes through center screen right and if it's not available it snaps back to center until it suddenly snaps to the right speaker, which is why it seemed so weird here. I'm guessing Hunter Killer does something similar.

The point is short of a Trinnov, you aren't going to get a smooth pan there as it's not a matter of front versus wide but center versus center right.

In fact, I'm not certain you get a smooth "pan" even if you do have the extra speakers. I think "snap" keeps the sounds "at" real speakers only. So more speakers means less distance "snapping" if the object set to "snap" is moving between speakers, but I don't think it will phantom in-between at all with snap on. I'm trying to get more clarification.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yes, I think my question necessarily specific but more so the opinion of atmos or not. I have a center vaulted (like a triangle) ceiling with slopes from left and right of the entertainment area and it probably slopes about 10-15 degrees.

Well, as adtg said, yes. Worth it. Very worth it. IMO, some atmos is better than no atmos. One of the coolest things to me(aside from the immersive 3d part) is the way your room disappears. It’s just gone.

 

[VonMagnum]

Hacksaw Ridge & Miss Peregrine arrive here today in Atmos (latter to move Atmos to my 3D version) and MI: Ghost Protocol and Frequency in 7.1.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hacksaw Ridge...arrive here today in Atmos.

I only saw the action parts of Hacksaw. I thought there were plenty of overall bed surround sounds and fair amount of OH sounds. But I don’t recall hearing too much OH sounds (just based on memory from few months ago, so could be wrong).

It wasn’t like BR2049, Pacific Rim, and Cliffhanger where I could hear OH sounds every few minutes.

So let us know your impression regarding the OH sounds.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I only saw the action parts of Hacksaw. I thought there were plenty of overall bed surround sounds and fair amount of OH sounds. But I don’t recall hearing too much OH sounds (just based on memory from few months ago, so could be wrong).

It wasn’t like BR2049, Pacific Rim, and Cliffhanger where I could hear OH sounds every few minutes.

So let us know your impression regarding the OH sounds.

Pretty much my experience too. The OH stuff that is there is well done, and overall I enjoyed the track and film. That baby goes pretty low too!!!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Pretty much my experience too. The OH stuff that is there is well done, and overall I enjoyed the track and film. That baby goes pretty low too!!!

How low did it go?

Like the opening scene of “Edge of Tomorrow” earthquake low?

Yep bass was hot, but not the hottest I’ve seen IIRC. It seems everything was in moderation or in-check, not over-cooked.

When it comes to bass, did you get a chance to compare the Atmos version vs non-Atmos version? I always assumed the bass is the same for both versions, but never know.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

How low did it go?

Like the opening scene of “Edge of Tomorrow” earthquake low?

Yep bass was hot, but not the hottest I’ve seen IIRC. It seems everything was in moderation or in-check, not over-cooked.

When it comes to bass, did you get a chance to compare the Atmos version vs non-Atmos version? I always assumed the bass is the same for both versions, but never know.

Can’t remember exactly but seems like it was around 4hz. I’ll look if I get a chance later.

Didn’t compare, but I believe they’re the same.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Can’t remember exactly but seems like it was around 4hz. I’ll look if I get a chance later.

Didn’t compare, but I believe they’re the same.

4Hz? That’s insane.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just saw Dracula Untold in DTSX.

I think the only OH sounds I heard were the vampire bats and the thunder, which I guess happens a few times since it is Dracula.

Overall I don’t think they used the OH sounds enough.

 

[VonMagnum]

I'm looking at getting a second sub to even out the back of the room (some room nodes I'm sure). I set off looking just for fill (the <30Hz bass is pretty loud back there, but 40-80 seems a bit lighter), but I don't know if I can resist adding more low-end slam (as in I'd like to reproduce a 16Hz organ stop). I've been looking at the SVS sb-3000 and the Rhythmic Audio F12 series. I might go even bigger, but moving around a 100+ lb sub might prove problematic in my room (my current sub already weights over 80 pounds, but seems to drop off drastically just below 21Hz (oddly flat until then and then suddenly nose dives). The Rhythmic models with servos seem to hold reasonably well down to 10Hz; it's just a question of maximum output, it seems. Then again, my walls are already shaking and I don't want my Conan sword suddenly nose diving off the wall either.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

1. the <30Hz bass is pretty loud back there, but 40-80 seems a bit lighter

2. I don't know if I can resist adding more low-end slam

3. my walls are already shaking and I don't want my Conan sword suddenly nose diving off the wall either.

1. That’s why I like to use the Subwoofer PEQ in the Yamaha to boost the 40-80Hz.

2. I don’t think any guy could blame you for wanting to add more subs. No such thing as overkill.

3. Not the Conan sword. That’s just crossing the line. I do think that if the sword is in danger of falling down, you either have to not add a sub or cut the levels down if you add a sub.

 

[VonMagnum]

1. That’s why I like to use the Subwoofer PEQ in the Yamaha to boost the 40-80Hz.

Well, it's perfect in the front row. It's the back of the room that starts to get uneven. You can't room correct for three rows, unfortunately. I have to turn dialog (center) up a bit if anyone sits back there too. It's not terrible, but compared to the audiophile perfect in the front row, it's not quite the same, but then the picture gets smaller the further back you go too. It does do some interesting things in the surround department in those rows, though just by sheer positional differences (the back is freaky with what I called a "tornado of sound" in front of me with some soundtracks as there's 12 speakers in front of that seat (and 4 behind it).

2. I don’t think any guy could blame you for wanting to add more subs. No such thing as overkill.

Well, it's a question of evening out or trying to play 16Hz organ notes just for the hell of it. The wall next to the front sub can sometimes rattle/vibrate with really loud bass sometimes (same wall the sword is on, although that was before the sword), so a second sub might actually let me turn that one down a bit overall since the two will combine.

3. Not the Conan sword. That’s just crossing the line. I do think that if the sword is in danger of falling down, you either have to not add a sub or cut the levels down if you add a sub.

Well, it came with a wall holder that's a bit questionable to for that large of a sword, IMO. It doesn't sit straight in the holder as it's too deep so I have to turn it towards the front or towards the back of the room slightly and then hold it in place with these screws with rubber covers on them. It seems secure, but I heard a slight rattle with big bass the other day and it was that sword. I tightened it up a bit and it went away. I think I'm just a bit paranoid about it. The other thing I didn't consider is that a shiny sword reflects light...from the screen. I was putting up DARK tapestries and posters in the front (in lieu of drapes) to darken my field of vision and it was working great until I put the sword up there and it's a colorful mirror with the projector running.... Actually, it's not really all that noticeable since it's the corner of my vision, but still. And yet it looks SO GOOD in that spot on the wall.

 

[VonMagnum]

E.T. 4K with DTS:X, The Quick and the Dead 4K with DTS:X, Despicable Me 4K with DTS:X (to be moved over to the 3D version) and Serenity with DTS:X are all on their way (and Knight Rider the complete TV Series on Blu-Ray! Woohoo! Kit, drive me to the Circle K because strange things are afoot!)

 

[VonMagnum]

I got E.T., Serenity and Despicable me in DTS:X yesterday and The Quick and the Dead in DTS:X arrived today. Which one to watch first.... (I think that puts me at 29 DTS:X movies on BD now and 61 in Atmos, not counting the ones on iTunes which are at least 30 more Atmos ones plus 10 Auro-3D). I actually went through and counted how many Blu-Ray movies I have in at "least" 7.1 sound (not counting 5.1.6 type Auro-3D as it doesn't use the rear channels; I did count the two 13.1 ones that do) and it turns out to be 163 total now.

Well, that sounds like a lot until I realize I have somewhere around 1000 movies now (lost track since i have many on iTunes now that aren't stored locally). With the extra iTunes only Atmos ones thrown in, that means about 1 out of 5 have 7.1+ and slightly over half of those are Atmos, X or Auro-3D (maybe 130 out of around 200).

Considering last August I only had a 6.1 system, I think that's quite an upgrade in a short amount of time (didn't have too many moves that were 7.1 or Atmos ready by then either, maybe 30-35).

 

[panteragstk]

Finally got around to watching Atomic Blonde (which was awesome) in DTS:X. Overall sound was good, but nothing overhead really stood out to me. I also don't think there were many opportunities for overhead, but overall the sound mix was very good.

 

[VonMagnum]

Finally got around to watching Atomic Blonde (which was awesome) in DTS:X. Overall sound was good, but nothing overhead really stood out to me. I also don't think there were many opportunities for overhead, but overall the sound mix was very good.

I didn't take notes of everything, but I do remember when the car dove into the water, I could clearly hear the water rushing in overhead. The fireworks during the Berlin Wall coming down part were overhead. I recall there was a plane flying overhead at some point too I noticed. I'm pretty sure there was some other stuff too (little things). It wasn't Harry Potter or Jumanji, but it wasn't the original The Fast and the Furious (where I noticed like nothing overhead in DTS:X) either and that one had a GREAT soundtrack for 7.1, which was still an improvement over the old 5.1 soundtrack.

I really wonder what other people's Atmos/X systems sound like. I keep thinking maybe my side height speakers are screwing things up in "top middle" (not quite as high due to the steel beam, putting them 10 inches lower than the front/rear heights and almost 2 feet to the right being on the side wall compared to the front/rear heights too) and yet I hear more direct overhead sounds than I do front/rear on average and certainly Red Tails flew right overhead across the room as did some other movies here and there (Flatliners at the start put sounds like everywhere overhead LOUD) so I don't know what might be setup/speaker layout and/or soundtrack differences sometimes.

I keep getting the impression it's the soundtracks that aren't loud enough overhead, not the setup. I did tests before I even got the AVR by hooking up the front height and top middle/side height to my old Yamaha receiver as 4.0 and putting it in multi-channel stereo mode so ALL sounds would be overhead in stereo and played sound effects like storms/thunder, birds, etc. and they were all imaging beautifully overhead between the two sets of speakers. Binaural did even better. It's why I figured my system would work, but I have to say some of these Atmos and X soundtracks give me pause and keep making me wonder if I should have gone all on-ceiling and/or in-ceiling or whatever. But then when I read someone with IN-CEILING isn't hearing much overhead in a given movie either, I'm definitely wondering what's wrong with some of these soundtracks.

I really wish there was a demo similar to the DTS:X "moving ball" one but where the ball just flies only overhead in like switchback patterns or something so we could really test the accuracy of the overhead imaging across its entire range. Most of these trailers are just too limited in what they put overhead to judge correctly whether everything images "everywhere" in the room on the ceiling.

I did just download (using my the Dolby app for Mac downloading) the 9.1.6 demo from Dolby's site. I've read that THIS version has "snap to" turned OFF for the front wides so they should image correctly on my hybrid system. It'll be interesting to see how they sound as the demo disc version just played through the front mains here (except when I had my 7010 hooked up where they played discretely at the wides, but the other demos sounded the same with or without them turned on in that regard which makes me think they were all "snap to OFF" and the front/sides imaged perfectly fine without the wides in my room.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Finally got around to watching Atomic Blonde (which was awesome) in DTS:X. Overall sound was good, but nothing overhead really stood out to me. I also don't think there were many opportunities for overhead, but overall the sound mix was very good.

Did you turn up the volume?

Initially I didn’t think much of the OH sound when I was skimming through. But when I was actually watching the movie, I noticed that the dialogue was low. So I turned up the volume. Then it was great.

One thing we’ve mentioned before is that there is no standard with the OH sound volume mixes. Some movies have low OH volume. Some movies (like Serenity) have high OH volume.

So might have to boost the trim levels for the OH speakers for some movies.

 

[VonMagnum]

OK, I was wrong. The Quick and the Dead is Dolby Atmos, not DTS:X.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

OK, I was wrong. The Quick and the Dead is Dolby Atmos, not DTS:X.

Yeah, I saw it in Atmos.

I thought it had good OH for a Western. Bullets flying OH. Good bass. Can’t recall much, but I do recall I liked the Atmos mix.