Why am I so underwhelmed with Atmos/DTS-X?

R

Ras777

Audioholic
I have had several months now with my Atmos/DTS-X set up and must say I am not impressed. Maybe it's my equipment, my room acoustics or a setting that is incorrect with my AVR or Audyssey even though I have checked and rechecked these possible causes many times. I hear from many forum members who get a great immersive experience from their system. Most of my movie watching is thru Netflix and Amazon Prime. I know that most of this source material was not recorded in an immersive format but even when I use Neural:X upmixer I am not getting much of an immersive experience. I also have a few Bluray Atmos movies that I play thru my Oppo player that sound better but not really immersive in my opinion. Any ideas on what could be causing this disappointing experience? Please look at my equipment in my signature thanks in advance.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Or simply expectations? Do you think it's an improvement over a previous surround (5.1/7.1?) setup?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I focused music first and stuck with a simple 5.2 setup. It's all in my living room. If I had a full blown theater room I'd probably go with an atmos setup, but I'm happy with 5.2 in the living room.
 
R

Ras777

Audioholic
In all honesty my expectations were reasonable. I did my homework, thought about all the pro and cons and made the decision to upgrade my system from a 7.2 to a 7.2.4. I could disconnect my ceiling speakers right now and would not miss a thing. This leads me to the conclusion that something is not quite right. Especially considering how forum members are blown away by this “immersive experience “.
 
Bryce_H

Bryce_H

Senior Audioholic
I wouldn't say my experience is being blown away, but I do enjoy the Atmos effects. Also keep in mind it is subtle...you won't get a lot of sound out those speakers.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Tried to find your equipment list. Can’t seem to.
Are you making sure the immersive track is selected? Are you making sure the upmixer is selected? Not try to ask dumb questions, but sometimes it is the easiest thing that messes us up.
I have 7.3.4 and surely not everything is super mega awesome. But overall, it is. Some of my favorite parts are actually the subtle stuff, where the sounds are in the room, or the way the room just goes away. Sorry it’s not awesome for you. Hopefully we can figure it out.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
In all honesty my expectations were reasonable. I did my homework, thought about all the pro and cons and made the decision to upgrade my system from a 7.2 to a 7.2.4. I could disconnect my ceiling speakers right now and would not miss a thing. This leads me to the conclusion that something is not quite right. Especially considering how forum members are blown away by this “immersive experience “.
The source will have a lot to do with it as well. I don't know of any streaming services that do atmos (I could be wrong) and you have to buy the movies mixed for it. In general surround, height and atmos speakers don't get a ton of info. If nothing is going on overhead with what you're watching then they don't have anything to contribute, really. That's just way effect speakers do their thing.

Take me with a grain of salt tho, I haven't heard an atmos system outside of a theater so I don't have a lot of experience with it. I just have a little 5.2 setup.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
The source will have a lot to do with it as well. I don't know of any streaming services that do atmos (I could be wrong) and you have to buy the movies mixed for it. In general surround, height and atmos speakers don't get a ton of info. If nothing is going on overhead with what you're watching then they don't have anything to contribute, really. That's just way effect speakers do their thing.

Take me with a grain of salt tho, I haven't heard an atmos system outside of a theater so I don't have a lot of experience with it. I just have a little 5.2 setup.
Just FYI, NF does offer Atmos with their 4K service. Not sure if it’s only on their own titles though. I cancelled until winter so...
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Atmos isn't really going to offer a night and day improvement over a well-mixed 7.1 soundtrack. I am not surprised that you didn't notice that much of a difference. There is an awful lot of hype for something that is only incrementally better.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Netflix has FAKE Atmos sound because I usually can’t hear any overhead sounds. Even regular surround sound doesn’t sound that great with Netflix.

Amazon Atmos (Alita, Aquaman) is usually a lot better than the fake Atmos on Netflix.

Content is salient, as with all things.

Also, try increasing the Volume of the ceiling speakers (like 3dB or more) above the rest of the speakers because it seems the volume of the Atmos channels (and sometimes Center Channel) are on the low side.

My pick for Atmos/DTSX movies:

1. Pacific Rim 2013 Atmos
2. Blade Runner 2049 2017 4K Atmos (among the best)
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 4K 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 4K DTSX
17. Black Hawk Down 2001 4K Atmos
18. 13 Hours 2016 4K Atmos
19. Gravity 2013 Atmos
20. Ready Player One 2018 Atmos
21. Robin Hood 2018 Atmos
22. Jurassic World 4K DTSX
23. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom 4K DTSX
24. Terminator Genisys 4K Atmos
25. Alita Battle Angel 2019 4K Atmos
26. Pet Sematary (2019) 4K Atmos
27. Blade Runner 1982 4K Atmos (among the best)
28. Godzilla King of Monsters 2019 4K Atmos

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/the-dolby-atmos-dts-x-and-auro-3d-discussion-thread.112480/page-87

I still haven't seen a comic book movie (Marvel, DC, etc.) that has great Atmos sound. :(
 
Last edited:
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Netflix has FAKE Atmos sound because I usually can’t hear any overhead sounds. Even regular surround sound doesn’t sound that great with Netflix.

Amazon Atmos (Alita, Aquaman) is usually a lot better than the fake Atmos on Netflix.

Content is salient, as with all things.

Also, try increasing the Volume of the ceiling speakers (like 3dB) above the rest of the speakers because it seems the volume of the Atmos speakers are on the low side for most movies.

My pick for Atmos/DTSX movies:

1. Pacific Rim 2013 Atmos
2. Blade Runner 2049 2017 4K Atmos (among the best)
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 4K 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 4K DTSX
17. Black Hawk Down 2001 4K Atmos
18. 13 Hours 2016 4K Atmos
19. Gravity 2013 Atmos
20. Ready Player One 2018 Atmos
21. Robin Hood 2018 Atmos
22. Jurassic World 4K DTSX
23. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom 4K DTSX
24. Terminator Genisys 4K Atmos
25. Alita Battle Angel 2019 4K Atmos
26. Pet Sematary (2019) 4K Atmos
27. Blade Runner 1982 4K Atmos (among the best)
28. Godzilla King of Monsters 2019 4K Atmos

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/the-dolby-atmos-dts-x-and-auro-3d-discussion-thread.112480/page-87
Pacific Rim and Equilizer are just awesome movies in any setup and both belong in everyone’s collection. Their sequels are not good though. LOL :)
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Pacific Rim and Equilizer are just awesome movies in any setup and both belong in everyone’s collection. Their sequels are not good though. LOL :)
The Equalizer sequel wasn't as good as the original, but it wasn't pure crap like the Pacific Rim sequel. :D
 
2

2channel lover

Audioholic Field Marshall
I have had several months now with my Atmos/DTS-X set up and must say I am not impressed. Maybe it's my equipment, my room acoustics or a setting that is incorrect with my AVR or Audyssey even though I have checked and rechecked these possible causes many times. I hear from many forum members who get a great immersive experience from their system. Most of my movie watching is thru Netflix and Amazon Prime. I know that most of this source material was not recorded in an immersive format but even when I use Neural:X upmixer I am not getting much of an immersive experience. I also have a few Bluray Atmos movies that I play thru my Oppo player that sound better but not really immersive in my opinion. Any ideas on what could be causing this disappointing experience? Please look at my equipment in my signature thanks in advance.

Sounds like expectations maybe...have you heard another Atmos system and it sounds better than yours?

I did a demo at a brick and mortar and that was one of the same blu rays that I bought and my system sounded very much like the demo. I'm pleased with my 5.2.4 system for Atmos, but mostly use it for music.

Hard to say what you're missing.
 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
I have had several months now with my Atmos/DTS-X set up and must say I am not impressed. Maybe it's my equipment, my room acoustics or a setting that is incorrect with my AVR or Audyssey even though I have checked and rechecked these possible causes many times. I hear from many forum members who get a great immersive experience from their system. Most of my movie watching is thru Netflix and Amazon Prime. I know that most of this source material was not recorded in an immersive format but even when I use Neural:X upmixer I am not getting much of an immersive experience. I also have a few Bluray Atmos movies that I play thru my Oppo player that sound better but not really immersive in my opinion. Any ideas on what could be causing this disappointing experience? Please look at my equipment in my signature thanks in advance.
Godzilla King of Monsters supposed to be the "be all end all" of movie soundtracks. Get that and come back and tell how was your experience.
 

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