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

[VonMagnum]

I watched Hotel Transylvania 3 in Atmos. It's pretty well done. Plenty of overhead effects, etc.

 

[panteragstk]

I watched Hotel Transylvania 3 in Atmos. It's pretty well done. Plenty of overhead effects, etc.

Those movies are so dumb, but we (kids, wife, me) love them.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Those movies are so dumb, but we (kids, wife, me) love them.

We do too. I do a lot of voice impressions and “blah blah blah is one, as well as many other Sandler bits.
HT3 has some really surprisingly deep bass in spots.

 

[VonMagnum]

I liked the Cruise Ship theme as I've been on a number of cruises including a 5-week one from from Florida to Europe (1+1 cruise) across the Atlantic ocean that went to 5 countries and like 12 stops in the UK and Ireland (plus Germany, France, Belgium and Guernsey and I spent three days in London before flying back, a 14 day one to South America and Central America (and part of the canal) plus New York to Southern Caribbean (9-day and went straight through the Bermuda Triangle; I've actually been to all three corners of it as well) and a one week cruise to Alaska so I've spent a little over 9 weeks on cruise ships.

I actually love being on a ship (I do not get motion sick and we had 30 foot waves on two of those cruises, for over two days on the New York one on the way back; the Alaska one had 35 foot waves at one point. I think a typhoon/hurricane's waves made their way over from China/Japan just in time; the New York one was the 'bounce back' waves from a hurricane that passed by just before we left (heading for Europe). 30+ foot waves are amusing for awhile (people throwing up, plates sliding down the buffet line because it was on the top/front of the ship), but gets old when you can't do half the ship activities or go outside (the New York cruise I was in a Penthouse on the very front of the ship, deck 9 (had a huge balcony on the front with a water tight door) so it was big movement in that room. I used to have a full wave waterbed mattress and wished it had a wave maker in it so the waves wouldn't stop so that didn't really bother me except for the occasional 3-waves would hit the hall at once and sound like a bomb going off (hard to sleep through that).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I saw a movie last night that pleasantly surprised me - "Captive State" in DTS-HD MA.

It's a Sci-Fi Alien movie.

I dare say that I liked it a lot better than most movies I've seen.

But it's one of those movies where the final ending is where everything comes together, so don't expect a typical climax/resolution like most stories.

I used DTS NeuralX, and the sound effects were pretty good. There are definitely some overhead sound effects with NeuralX. The overall soundtrack is very good.

 

[Danzilla31]

I saw a movie last night that pleasantly surprised me - "Captive State" in DTS-HD MA.

It's a Sci-Fi Alien movie.

I dare say that I liked it a lot better than most movies I've seen.

But it's one of those movies where the final ending is where everything comes together, so don't expect a typical climax/resolution like most stories.

I used DTS NeuralX, and the sound effects were pretty good. There are definitely some overhead sound effects with NeuralX. The overall soundtrack is very good.

Hmmmm captive state? I'll have to check that out. I love sci fi movies

 

[VonMagnum]

I just watched Blade Runner 2049 in 3D + Atmos all the way through (previously first 45 minutes in Auro-3D and Atmos to compare and before that 5.1 and before that the theater in what I assume was 5.1 or possibly 7.1 based on the layout). For discrete overhead effects, I felt Fury had way more to notice distinct things up there. But for a soundtrack where there are no speakers, just this giant unyielding soundfield where sounds can and do come from anywhere in the room or huge swaths of the room, it was pretty fantastic. Crazy deep bass. I couldn't put it anywhere near reference volume (had it at -10 and it was shaking the room and everything in it. Most movies are at -8 to -6 here and I watched the THX Raiders of the Lost Ark in 5.1 + Neural X at 0dB).

I did notice a huge difference in the 3D presentation between using the 1 "depth" setting and "3" that I tend to put most movies at (convergence seems to align better to eliminate most/all crosstalk at 3 with most movies. Here, it did a bit better at 1, but the depth was nowhere near as good as at 3. At the end, it was the difference between the snow falling halfway out to me in the first row and just a couple of feet over the equipment racks at 1 (at 3, the characters often floated over the equipment racks). I can see why some people with regular 3D TVs think some movies are much flatter than others (my projetor's depth range is from -8 to +8 with 0 being dead flat at the screen for zero plane elements).

Sadly, I think this is the kind of movie (and weird things like Mortal Engines) that we won't see too much of in the future as Hollywood is shown that people don't like new/different or artistically well done films like Blade Runner 2049 and instead want more Marvel comic book movies until they're blue in the face.... This movie bombed at the box office in the US despite rave critic reviews. Ridley Scott didn't help by indicating it was about an hour too long (BS I say). What's he put out? Two more Alien movies we already saw before in 1979 that refused to take chances for the fear of box office failure? Yeah well that last one didn't do so hot. Some of us wanted to see more about the creator race of the Aliens, but Hollywood thought that wouldn't draw the crowds like scary monsters....yeah except we've seen the scary monsters FIVE TIMES BEFORE so they aren't scary anymore.... (roll eyes). Time to do something different Ridley or retire for good.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just rewatched Terminator Genisys 2015, this time in 2160p/Atmos - 2 big thumbs up.

I thought the sound mix is one of the best I’ve heard.

3D sound field is incredible- all around you, through you, down, and up the ceiling. Example - when you are inside the time machine spinning around, through, down, and up. Amazing.

Even during the end credits, they showed a Skynet scene and the sound is all around and up the ceiling.

Oh, and the bass is astronomical. Awesome bass.

As for the movie itself, this is my favorite Terminator movie in the franchise so far.

Updated Atmos/DTSX list (not in particular order)

1. Pacific Rim 2013 Atmos
2. Blade Runner 2049 2017 Atmos
3. Cloverfield Paradox 2018 Atmos
4. The Equalizer 2014 Atmos
5. The Great Wall 2016 Atmos
6. Hunter Killer 2018 Atmos
7. The Matrix Trilogy 1999, 2003, 2003 Atmos
8. Oblivion 2013 Atmos
9. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 2016 Atmos
10. Salt 2010 Atmos
11. Sully 2016 Atmos
12. Twilight 2008 Atmos
13. Underworld 2003 Atmos
14. Underworld Blood Wars 2016 Atmos
15. Atomic Blonde 2017 DTSX
16. Harry Potter franchise (8 movies) 2001-2011 DTSX
17. Black Hawk Down 2001 Atmos
18. 13 Hours 2016 Atmos
19. Gravity 2013 Atmos
20. Ready Player One 2018 Atmos
21. Robin Hood 2018 Atmos
22. Jurassic World 4K DTSX
23. Terminator Genisys 4K Atmos

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Do 4K movies sound better than 2K movies?

Maybe it's all in my head. Probably somehow the setting is different.

I said before that I thought Jurassic World 4K and Terminator Genisys 4K sounded better to me than their 2K versions - a lot more OVERHEAD sound effects.

Last night I rewatched John Wick 4K/Atmos. And again, I thought the sound was much better - more overhead sound effects than I recall on the 2K version.

Toward the beginning at the funeral scene where it rained the whole time, I don't think I heard the rain much on the 2K version. But on the 4K, I heard the rain very clearly and loudly the whole funeral.

Toward the end, there are some very good helicopter panning from Left to Right a few times on the 4K, which I don't recall on the 2K.

And throughout the movie, it just seems like I heard more overhead sounds on the 4K.

It's still NOT enough for me to put John Wick on my Atmos List. But at least now I don't consider the Atmos mix on John Wick to be pathetic like I did before.

 

[VonMagnum]

I watched Venom 3D with Dolby Atmos muxed in.... Oddly, given how good the 5.1 soundtrack sounded with Neural X, the Atmos soundtrack was a bit of a letdown, IMO. Somehow it sounded more or less the same to me.... (audio memory isn't great, but somehow when it's 5.1 with some overhead it's impressive but when it's Atmos with "some" overhead, it's not). Still an odd, but fun movie either way.

I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in DTS:X again.... FANTASTIC. Just tons of stuff EVERYWHERE (loads of stuff I could hear BEHIND me, which I think sometimes is more rare than overhead to hear discretely, especially with a high back on the chair blocking the more casual light stuff from being noticed as much) and not just in the back of the room, but right behind me and in-between. Tons overhead too. It's one of my favorite movie series so I'm glad they did a great job with DTS:X (whereas Jurassic Park and Fast and Furious series don't have much overhead by comparison).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I watched Venom 3D with Dolby Atmos muxed in.... Oddly, given how good the 5.1 soundtrack sounded with Neural X, the Atmos soundtrack was a bit of a letdown, IMO. Somehow it sounded more or less the same to me.... (audio memory isn't great, but somehow when it's 5.1 with some overhead it's impressive but when it's Atmos with "some" overhead, it's not). Still an odd, but fun movie either way.

I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in DTS:X again.... FANTASTIC. Just tons of stuff EVERYWHERE (loads of stuff I could hear BEHIND me, which I think sometimes is more rare than overhead to hear discretely, especially with a high back on the chair blocking the more casual light stuff from being noticed as much) and not just in the back of the room, but right behind me and in-between. Tons overhead too. It's one of my favorite movie series so I'm glad they did a great job with DTS:X (whereas Jurassic Park and Fast and Furious series don't have much overhead by comparison).

Venom is definitely NOT on my Atmos list. I was overall disappointed with the Atmos mix of Venom.

Looking forward to rewatching the Harry Potter movies in 4K/DTSX.

Speaking of NeuralX, I was watching the HBO “Chernobyl” miniseries last night. NeuralX has the helicopters, rain, and thunder in the overhead down to an art! It’s like a walk in the park for NeuralX. It can do overhead helicopters, rain, and thunder with 2 hands tied behind its back and in its sleep.

 

[VonMagnum]

Venom had numerous overhead sounds (notably helicopters, thunder and jump overhead sounds). It just wasn't Fury or Harry Potter. I think Neural X spread the sounds out a bit so the voice in his head sounded a bit more "everywhere" at times whereas Atmos put it right up front with the rest of the dialog. I'd have compare again to be certain (I tried the Neural X with the Atmos base track and it wasn't the same as I remember), but I remember being surprised the first time I heard that voice (where is it coming from?) but in Atmos it was just dialog.

 

[VonMagnum]

I just watched BLADE RUNNER "The Final Cut" in Dolby Atmos. Sweet sweet overhead sounds....everywhere sounds. I have to say I think the use of overheads beats Blade Runner 2049 by a solid mile. Some sound effects had some clipping or something in them, but damn there was a lot on the ceiling. Of course, it was always raining in 85% of the film so thunder is up there almost constantly, but also flying cars, that "blimp-like" thing advertising off-world travel (all over the ceiling at different points),those dudes crawling on top of Decker's car trying to steal stuff off the roof (they were on my ceiling!) and Daryl Hannah doing acrobatic flips to name a few things. GREAT soundtrack.

Believe it or not, there are several people on Blu-Ray.com's forums that HATE the Atmos track (they want full grain movies with stereo or even mono sound if that's how it was in the theater.... NOW they're putting down THX as a standard (while the studios are going nuts with non-standard volume levels and dynamics once again with Disney being the worst offender and these guys are whining about THX? Yeah, they started selling out towards the end with all kinds of 'crap' rated THX that wasn't anything, but they helped sell a STANDARD to the cinemas (the home discs didn't have to be THX rated to benefit as it's the mastering that was the most important) and for awhile there you could almost leave your volume control in place (like you're supposed to be able to). Now Dolby's got a nice standard volume to base AVRs on, but for some reason I can't just leave my volume control at -10. Some movies need -14, some -10, some -6 and some at 0 even (especially if they're from Apple streaming).

I watched two more Harry Potter movies (again) in DTS:X. Sweet sweet soundtracks. They're AMAZING. The use of the rear channels is almost unprecedented compared to the average move, even the average Atmos movie. I heard more sounds traveling deep into the back of my 24' long room movie in those three movies than I've heard the rest of the year with everything else (although Blade Runner had some stuff back there too). I'm starting to think I've actually UNDERRATED Harry Potter in DTS:X. That was way more impressive overall than Fury. The whole series (used as one slot) would definitely be in the top 5 for me. I'd have to hear Jumanji and some others again to sort it out for sure in some kind of order, but damn....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just watched BLADE RUNNER "The Final Cut" in Dolby Atmos. Sweet sweet overhead sounds....everywhere sounds. I have to say I think the use of overheads beats Blade Runner 2049 by a solid mile. Some sound effects had some clipping or something in them, but damn there was a lot on the ceiling. Of course, it was always raining in 85% of the film so thunder is up there almost constantly, but also flying cars, that "blimp-like" thing advertising off-world travel (all over the ceiling at different points),those dudes crawling on top of Decker's car trying to steal stuff off the roof (they were on my ceiling!) and Daryl Hannah doing acrobatic flips to name a few things. GREAT soundtrack.

Believe it or not, there are several people on Blu-Ray.com's forums that HATE the Atmos track (they want full grain movies with stereo or even mono sound if that's how it was in the theater.... NOW they're putting down THX as a standard (while the studios are going nuts with non-standard volume levels and dynamics once again with Disney being the worst offender and these guys are whining about THX? Yeah, they started selling out towards the end with all kinds of 'crap' rated THX that wasn't anything, but they helped sell a STANDARD to the cinemas (the home discs didn't have to be THX rated to benefit as it's the mastering that was the most important) and for awhile there you could almost leave your volume control in place (like you're supposed to be able to). Now Dolby's got a nice standard volume to base AVRs on, but for some reason I can't just leave my volume control at -10. Some movies need -14, some -10, some -6 and some at 0 even (especially if they're from Apple streaming).

I watched two more Harry Potter movies (again) in DTS:X. Sweet sweet soundtracks. They're AMAZING. The use of the rear channels is almost unprecedented compared to the average move, even the average Atmos movie. I heard more sounds traveling deep into the back of my 24' long room movie in those three movies than I've heard the rest of the year with everything else (although Blade Runner had some stuff back there too). I'm starting to think I've actually UNDERRATED Harry Potter in DTS:X. That was way more impressive overall than Fury. The whole series (used as one slot) would definitely be in the top 5 for me. I'd have to hear Jumanji and some others again to sort it out for sure in some kind of order, but damn....

Wow. I am definitely re-watching all the Potter movies, but I didn’t even give the original BLade Runner a chance since it’s an older movie. Will have to check it out.

 

[Auditor55]

I watched Venom 3D with Dolby Atmos muxed in.... Oddly, given how good the 5.1 soundtrack sounded with Neural X, the Atmos soundtrack was a bit of a letdown, IMO. Somehow it sounded more or less the same to me.... (audio memory isn't great, but somehow when it's 5.1 with some overhead it's impressive but when it's Atmos with "some" overhead, it's not). Still an odd, but fun movie either way.

I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in DTS:X again.... FANTASTIC. Just tons of stuff EVERYWHERE (loads of stuff I could hear BEHIND me, which I think sometimes is more rare than overhead to hear discretely, especially with a high back on the chair blocking the more casual light stuff from being noticed as much) and not just in the back of the room, but right behind me and in-between. Tons overhead too. It's one of my favorite movie series so I'm glad they did a great job with DTS:X (whereas Jurassic Park and Fast and Furious series don't have much overhead by comparison).

With all of that, you are not distracted by what's actually happening on the screen? Those sound mixers need to be careful with their sound mixes.

 

[VonMagnum]

With all of that, you are not distracted by what's actually happening on the screen? Those sound mixers need to be careful with their sound mixes.

I dunno. Are you distracted by every sound around you in the real world so you cannot function at all, frozen in time by distractions OR are you immersed and everything seems normal? So when you watch a movie and someone flies past the camera into the back of the room is it MORE distracting to hear nothing (which is shocking to the brain because in the real world it SHOULD make a sound throughout the room as it passes overhead or you find it more distracting when it does make a sound as it flies overhead even though that's what your brain expects in the real world?

Clearly, my answer is we need more realistic surround mixes, not less. I'm tired of seeing forest scenes in movies (especially ones with Atmos) and you can only hear birds in the front of the room when that is not what you'd hear if you were actually standing in the forest for real. Why would it be more distracting to sound like what your brain expects a forest to sound like in the real world than some one dimensional sound in the front of the room only?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I dunno. Are you distracted by every sound around you in the real world so you cannot function at all...

Haha. That sounds like a psychiatric evaluation of Phonophobia.

That's the word of the day, guys.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I dunno. Are you distracted by every sound around you in the real world so you cannot function at all, frozen in time by distractions OR are you immersed and everything seems normal? So when you watch a movie and someone flies past the camera into the back of the room is it MORE distracting to hear nothing (which is shocking to the brain because in the real world it SHOULD make a sound throughout the room as it passes overhead or you find it more distracting when it does make a sound as it flies overhead even though that's what your brain expects in the real world?

Clearly, my answer is we need more realistic surround mixes, not less. I'm tired of seeing forest scenes in movies (especially ones with Atmos) and you can only hear birds in the front of the room when that is not what you'd hear if you were actually standing in the forest for real. Why would it be more distracting to sound like what your brain expects a forest to sound like in the real world than some one dimensional sound in the front of the room only?

Don’t worry VM. A55 isn’t happy no matter what. First it’s no content, then crappy mixes, and NOW too much going on. Pain in the A55... even more than I am!

 

[Auditor55]

I dunno. Are you distracted by every sound around you in the real world so you cannot function at all, frozen in time by distractions OR are you immersed and everything seems normal? So when you watch a movie and someone flies past the camera into the back of the room is it MORE distracting to hear nothing (which is shocking to the brain because in the real world it SHOULD make a sound throughout the room as it passes overhead or you find it more distracting when it does make a sound as it flies overhead even though that's what your brain expects in the real world?

Clearly, my answer is we need more realistic surround mixes, not less. I'm tired of seeing forest scenes in movies (especially ones with Atmos) and you can only hear birds in the front of the room when that is not what you'd hear if you were actually standing in the forest for real. Why would it be more distracting to sound like what your brain expects a forest to sound like in the real world than some one dimensional sound in the front of the room only?

Not distracted by real world sounds, but annoyed. If I'm trying to read, I don't want to hear an infant crying in the backroom because then I can't concentrate or focus in on what I'm reading.

 

[Auditor55]

Don’t worry VM. A55 isn’t happy no matter what. First it’s no content, then crappy mixes, and NOW too much going on. Pain in the A55... even more than I am!

I don't think your criticisms are totally inaccurate. I'm starting to feel the same way about HDR and Dolby Vision, gimmicks. They make content look artificial and not natural. They hype formats like immersive audio, 4K HDR/DV through the roof and then its a let down we they don't meet expectations.