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

[Auditor55]

Boom! Really looking forward to that. I avoided it in the theater so I wasn’t tainted.

A terrible movie! Almost as bad as Hobbs and Shaw.

 

[Auditor55]

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.

His equipment looks mighty fine, a little overkill , but still quality gear that should be deliver those soundtracks pretty well. So it could be expectations.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

A terrible movie! Almost as bad as Hobbs and Shaw.

Oh man, don’t tell me that! Haven’t seen Hobbs and Shaw but the last furious movie was just too stupid. Truth is, I’m good at suspending disbelief but damn...

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

Oh man, don’t tell me that! Haven’t seen Hobbs and Shaw but the last furious movie was just too stupid. Truth is, I’m good at suspending disbelief but damn...

i agree, very disappointed with 3.

 

[Bunion]

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.

I can relate to what you're saying. The surround sound I get with most Atmos is subtle. This is new to me. I'm used to discreet sounds coming from each speaker. I've come to the realization that I won't get this effect with Atmos.
I have gotten better results by driving capable height speakers with plenty of power. This could be why the high end 11 channel units have line outputs for the height channels. Perhaps additional amplifiers for the height speakers is the way to go?

 

[2channel lover]

His equipment looks mighty fine, a little overkill , but still quality gear that should be deliver those soundtracks pretty well. So it could be expectations.

That was my 1st thought after seeing his gear, but maybe the in ceiling speakers were not turned up enough...hard to say, but Atmos is heralded as the pinnacle of surround sound/ immersive sound and I've had people rave about it, and I've seen people that thought is was just okay, they expected more.

 

[Ras777]

Thank you for your responses. I appreciate the advice. My ceiling speakers have been turned up to +2db for the last several months hoping I would get a better immersive response. I will try +3db as long as it will not damage my ceiling speakers. Keep in mind that I am not expecting huge sound from my height channels, I understand the limitations of Atmos and what the sound mixers put on the height channels. I just thought I would get this immersive experience that many forum members are experiencing especially from the Neural upmixer since I stream a lot from Netflix and Amazon. Maybe streaming is my real weak link. I find Blu Ray discs sound so much better even before I upgraded to Atmos. I will purchase a few of the movies that Audio RX recommended and see if that makes a difference in what I am experiencing. I don't have a 4K TV or player so on the rare occasion when I buy a movie it has to be a regular Blu Ray with the Atmos/DTS-X track I am assuming that this makes no difference. I also rent quite often from Redbox.

 

[2channel lover]

Thank you for your responses. I appreciate the advice. My ceiling speakers have been turned up to +2db for the last several months hoping I would get a better immersive response. I will try +3db as long as it will not damage my ceiling speakers. Keep in mind that I am not expecting huge sound from my height channels, I understand the limitations of Atmos and what the sound mixers put on the height channels. I just thought I would get this immersive experience that many forum members are experiencing especially from the Neural upmixer since I stream a lot from Netflix and Amazon. Maybe streaming is my real weak link. I find Blu Ray discs sound so much better even before I upgraded to Atmos. I will purchase a few of the movies that Audio RX recommended and see if that makes a difference in what I am experiencing. I don't have a 4K TV or player so on the rare occasion when I buy a movie it has to be a regular Blu Ray with the Atmos/DTS-X track I am assuming that this makes no difference. I also rent quite often from Redbox.

Maybe because I'm not a huge movie guy, but I've never tried to upmix. I can say that my blu ray movies sound better than streaming movies.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

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.

Yeah. Believe it. Get "Godzilla King of the Monsters" tomorrow (Aug 27).

If you are underwhelmed after watching this movie, then your Atmos system is not optimized somehow.

Also Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and Pacific Rim.

Underwhelming Atmos would be all Marvel movies, most comic book movies, all Netflix contents, probably most streaming contents, all 3 John Wick movies.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Still can’t find the equipment list....
Anyway, I just put on TMNT again, for my niece and nephew. Had to sit through a few key scenes lol, like the avalanche and finale, and some of the sewer scenes. Lots of very differently textured bass, and lots of sounds over head. Some objects in the room(flying blades and billets etc), but not as much as I’d like. If you can stomach the film itself, it’s far a good track. As well as Andrews list...

 

[Ras777]

William I have it underneath all my posts. Not sure why you can't see it. I think you might have to be logged in to see signatures. Audio RX ok Godzilla King of Monsters it is.

 

[lovinthehd]

William I have it underneath all my posts. Not sure why you can't see it. I think you might have to be logged in to see signatures. Audio RX ok Godzilla King of Monsters it is.

If using tapatalk you wouldn't see signatures....

 

[Ras777]

Sorry for the stupid question but I was in the process of ordering a few Blu- rays with real good Atmos tracks from Amazon since I am a prime member but can't tell if the standard Blu-ray version has the Atmos track? They only list Dolby 5.1 under languages. I also read that the quality of these discs can be poor. Has anyone else had this experience? Should I buy from someone else?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Sorry for the stupid question but I was in the process of ordering a few Blu- rays with real good Atmos tracks from Amazon since I am a prime member but can't tell if the standard Blu-ray version has the Atmos track? They only list Dolby 5.1 under languages. I also read that the quality of these discs can be poor. Has anyone else had this experience? Should I buy from someone else?

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Godzilla-King-of-the-Monsters-Blu-ray/244444/

Godzilla 2019 should have Atmos for both 2K and 4K BD.

It seems like many BDs have Atmos for both 2K/4K versions, but good to check out that BluRay review site.

 

[Bunion]

High def digest will give a detailed breakdown of the audio comparing 4K to regular Blu-ray versions

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

https://www.nextgenhometheater.com/dolby-atmos-blu-ray-movies/
This should help Some.

 

[Garway]

Dolby Atmos... well, this year I added Atmos wallmounted Klipsch speakers and replaced my receiver with a RX-A1080 AVR. Sat back and watched Tom Clancy Jack Ryan on Prime. Yes, the sound is now fuller with the wallmount speakers spewing their share of the sound track.... did I hear the airplanes fly overhead, NO Did I hear bullets and bombs coming down from above, NO I was expecting precise audio objects but only got immersive sound overall.....was my movie experience better, yes of course. Maybe Dolby's audio placement technology just isn't refined as they hope it would be. I will keep looking for this holy grail....lol and yes, my audio input display on my AVR says Dolby Plus Dolby Atmos

 

[lovinthehd]

Dolby Atmos... well, this year I added Atmos wallmounted Klipsch speakers and replaced my receiver with a RX-A1080 AVR. Sat back and watched Tom Clancy Jack Ryan on Prime. Yes, the sound is now fuller with the wallmount speakers spewing their share of the sound track.... did I hear the airplanes fly overhead, NO Did I hear bullets and bombs coming down from above, NO I was expecting precise audio objects but only got immersive sound overall.....was my movie experience better, yes of course. Maybe Dolby's audio placement technology just isn't refined as they hope it would be. I will keep looking for this holy grail....lol and yes, my audio input display on my AVR says Dolby Plus Dolby Atmos

Curious, wall-mounted or ceiling mounted?

 

[txbonds]

It’s funny, I spent a week or two with my front height/atmos speakers on my yammy RX-A3080 attached to the wrong speaker output. I was simply amazed at how large and full my front stage sounded but couldn’t tell you anything about the atmos/height effects.

then I realized I had them hooked up to the bi-amp feed for the front mains by accident. So the atmos/height were just getting the full range normal output of the mains.

now that it’s corrected I think the effects channels sound fine and add to the experience but sort of miss the expanded main soundstage. LOL

 

[Garway]

Curious, wall-mounted or ceiling mounted?

Wallmounted RP500SA at a height of 6 feet as instructed by my Yamaha AVR manual