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The official Dolby Atmos thread (home theater version) – Check out post 1 first

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#1 · (Edited)
Last update: 02.04.2023



Official Dolby Atmos at home website

Dolby on Atmos for the home
Dolby Atmos Speaker Setup
Ceiling-firing speakers ("Atmos-enabled speakers")
http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-enabled-speaker-technology.pdf
Speaker installation guidelines
http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technolo...tmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf
If you're more the visual type of guy here's a good video explaining the basics of placing your Atmos speakers:

Insights from a recording and mixing engineer


Technical specification for studios wishing to employ a 7.1.4 home entertainment Dolby Atmos monitoring setup
Dolby Atmos Home Entertainment Studio
Certification Guide


Blog posts
Dolby Atmos: Coming soon to a living room near you - Lab Notes
Dolby Atmos for home theaters: FAQ - Lab Notes


Dolby Patent Application
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/WO2014036085A1.html


Dolby on Atmos for movie theaters
Wayback Machine

Specifications for movie theaters
Wayback Machine


How Atmos content is created
Wayback Machine


How Atmos is encoded into TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus
https://professional.dolby.com/site...on/dolby-atmos/dolby_atmos_renderer_guide.pdf


avsforum.com Members Atmos & Auro Configuration Spreadsheet (at Google Docs, maintained by user kokishin)


Atmos test tone downloads (E-AC-3 audio in .mp4 container)
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/test-tones.html

Other Dolby trailer downloads
 
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#2,564 ·
Testing Testing

Can someone please tell me which posts are the listener impressions for the in home demoes that some of you seem to have been able to get?

Thanks,
Eric
Cinema Andy also posted a review of a Dolby demo, and his impressions were similar. During his demo they switched from in ceiling speakers to reflected speakers during the movie and nobody noticed.
Keith: Dolby Atmos | Keith's Real Demo Experience

Andy: Dolby Atmos | Andy's Real Demo Experience
 
#2,567 · (Edited)
#2,568 · (Edited)
I'm not sure I can post this here but Axiom just announced a new concentric in ceiling based off their M3 driver dimensions.

http://axiomaudio.com/m3-in-ceiling...m_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=July2014#t-0
Hoping to replace my AVR with the Onkyo TX-NR3030 so 4 of these speakers are going to be right on budget for my setup but after reading a few of the more recent posts I'm a bit concerned that there is no ability to direct or toe-in the drivers.

How important is that going to be. ?

Currently have 4 LED ceiling lights in near perfect position. Just need to swop out for the Atmos ceiling speakers. :D

Really enjoyed reading the Atmos thread over the last few weeks, it has been very educational.
 
#2,569 ·
Cinema Andy also posted a review of a Dolby demo, and his impressions were similar. During his demo they switched from in ceiling speakers to reflected speakers during the movie and nobody noticed.
While I'm not going to poke the bear, you can't make a determination if anyone noticed a difference unless you hear the same material both ways.

They most definitely sound different... IMO not in a detrimental way.

I'm going the reflective route, and don't have any regrets knowing it's my only choice.. it's really satisfactory.
 
#2,570 ·
For the last 20+ years my height("presence") speakers have been mounted high on the front and rear walls of rooms used for my home theater systems . . . close to where the "intelligent designers" at Yamaha had suggested I install them. If any of those speakers wish to relocate to the ceiling, they will need to evolve an independent means of locomotion and reattachment sufficient to do so under their own power (and remember to reattach their earthquake tethers after the move!)

Notwithstanding the 'persuasive eloquence' of this forum somewhat to the contrary, I suspect that the vast majority of AVR owners with existing DPLIIz, DSX, Neo:X, or CinemaDSP height speakers already in place, will chose to leave them exactly where they are already installed until the 'unfitness' of any such existing location for Dolby Atmos playback is clearly demonstrated in their own home!

All of which means that I look forward with some interest to finding out just what DTS is "promising" with the stated DTS-UHD "benefit", viz: "Customized rendering designed for arbitrary speaker layouts enables consumers to adapt their AV system to their own home environment rather than pre-determined speaker layouts"...?!
_
This 'high on wall' vs 'over head' placement is of big interest to some of us I suspect. It's going to be very interesting to get feedback from people who have/will try both locations. I'm very much looking forward to their comments.


While we can all agree on the angles of location from the MLP, I am still left wondering whether there is any significant sound difference between high on wall vs ceiling mount. FilmMixer seems to think so.


To conduct a real comparison might be a bit of a challenge though. The speakers will have to be located in those 'high' and 'over head' positions and have the same material flicked backwards and forwards between them.
 
#2,571 ·
I think it boils down to whether or not Dolby will recommend that manufacturers include bass managed sub outs for the surround speakers and not just the summed LFE and the redirected bass from all the other speakers into one big mono output.
I think in a cinema it makes sense to place the subs for the surrounds nearer to them. The long distances would cause the bass (were it from the screen region) to arrive at vastly different times vs. the surround sounds depending on where one is seated. At home we do not a problem of that magnitude.
 
#2,572 ·
While I'm not going to poke the bear, you can't make a determination if anyone noticed a difference unless you hear the same material both ways.

They most definitely sound different... IMO not in a detrimental way.

I'm going the reflective route, and don't have any regrets knowing it's my only choice.. it's really satisfactory.
I'm going ceiling-firing at first too. Lots to play around with. I had some 4" fullrange drivers lying around anyway. They just need to be put into boxes.

By the way, could you prepare Atmos test files for us? I haven't put too much thought into how those test files should look like yet nor do we know how they could be played back.
 
#2,573 ·
Can someone please tell me which posts are the listener impressions for the in home demoes that some of you seem to have been able to get? I have been gone for about a week and a half (family emergency) and I come back to find that well over 1000 posts have been made in that time! :eek: This thread is getting very big, very fast. I have caught up on the last 150 posts or so and am really enjoying all the ideas and suggestions for specific models of speakers to use for the ceiling speakers. It really seems like the concentric design is really starting to take off and become more main stream instead of staying relegated to the more esoteric brands.

Thanks,
Eric
I did this review after hearing home Atmos at Dolby in London.

I am attending another home Atmos demo at Dolby on 13th August, so expect a further review soon after that. Hopefully I will be able to add more information from a second session.
 
#2,574 ·
Thanks dude! When I go to page 38, the top post is #1481 which doesn't have any kind of impressions of actual listening, but post #1111 was a great read. Sounds like Keith really enjoyed the demo. Lucky guy! :D

Keith, did you get back for a second listen yet or is that coming? Are you the only one here who has heard Atmos in 'home' first hand or are there other posts I have missed? If I read the impression right, the 'home' version you listened to was the 7.1.4 format? Now the big decision is which level of home Atmos to go for, do I save some buck and do the Denon X4100, go for 7.1.4 and get the X5200 or X7200, or wait till next years models come out and see if the options expand even more. I really want to upgrade my Denon AVR-3808ci as it is really becoming a limit in my main theater and I really want to get into Atmos at home but getting an X4000 for closeout pricing and waiting to see what next years models bring to the table, and what DTS is going to do, also sounds appealing. :rolleyes: Awww decisions, decisions.
I might still be the only person in the thread who has heard home Atmos - not sure. Maybe the only one who has reported on it as I am sure that industry professionals like FilmMixer will have heard it! As just posted (readahead mode is still broken here) I am attending another Dolby demo on 13th August and will make a report, adding to my initial experience. Yes, it was 7.1.4 I heard, with physical and Atmos speakers.

I am going for the Denon X4100W this time around as I can only do 5.1.4 here (no room for rear surrounds) and so that unit suits me, and is quite a lot less costly than the X5200W. I believe the latter is made in Japan and the former in China, if that sort of thing bothers you.
 
#2,575 ·
Cinema Andy also posted a review of a Dolby demo, and his impressions were similar. During his demo they switched from in ceiling speakers to reflected speakers during the movie and nobody noticed.
I still don't really understand how they did that during a loud segment of the movie, without there being some sort of way of hearing the switch. If they had done it during an almost silent bit of the track, then maybe, but IIRC that isn't what CinemaAndy said was the way they did it. But I can believe nobody would notice the difference if they did a blind test demo of each - although I do believe I could hear a difference on the demo I attended, between physical ceiling speakers and Atmos speakers, it was very subtle. That is not to say that with different ceiling speakers, of course, that the difference wouldn’t have been more pronounced. FM says the difference is very noticeable (but not in a bad way) and I respect that view, but his demo may have been with a more sophisticated ceiling speaker setup than the one I attended, where the physical speakers were very small.
 
#2,576 ·
Can someone please tell me which posts are the listener impressions for the in home demoes that some of you seem to have been able to get?
I might still be the only person in the thread who has heard home Atmos - not sure. Maybe the only one who has reported on it.
Keith, mon vieux, est-que c'est possible que tu aies oublié la contribution d'Hugo? Quel honte!

Hugo S provided a link to his review (in French) of a demo he attended on July 18 in Paris given by Onkyo. I found his experience particularly interesting since it was presented in an untreated, plain-vanilla living room in a 5.1.2 format (using up-firing Atmos add-on speaker modules)--so nothing at all fancy. And yet he was impressed with the 3D audio immersion.

If you don't read French, you can try using an on-line translator. Or, if Hugo is not lurking, I would be happy to answer any questions in his stead.
 
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#2,577 ·
Keith, mon vieux, est-que c'est possible que tu aies oublié la contribution d'Hugo? Quel honte!

Hugo S provided a link to his review (in French) of a demo he attended on July 18 in Paris given by Onkyo. I found his experience particularly interesting since it was presented in an untreated, plain-vanilla living room in a 5.1.2 format (using up-firing Atmos add-on speaker modules)--so nothing at all fancy. And yet he was impressed with the 3D audio immersion.

If you don't read French, you can try using an on-line translator. Or, if Hugo is not lurking, I would be happy to answer any questions in his stead.
Comment aurais-je oublié mon ami Hugo! Je m'excuse sincèrement pour lui. Aux petits oignons!! :)

Yes, Hugo's report was terrific!
 
#2,578 ·
Is the content the same with what ever content is sent to the ceiling speakers if your using just two speakers or four speakers what I'm asking by using four speakers does that just expand it to fill the room or does different content go to the rear ceiling speakers....
 
#2,579 ·
Is the content the same with what ever content is sent to the ceiling speakers if your using just two speakers or four speakers what I'm asking by using four speakers does that just expand it to fill the room or does different content go to the rear ceiling speakers....
I assume the effect will vary if you select 5.1.2 or 5.1.4. For example, on a front-to-back pan, one would assume that the sound will pan more realistically if there are two sets of top speakers for it to use. The sound would start in Top Front and pan to Top Back. If you only have 5.1.2 with just Top Middle speakers, that can't happen. By telling the AVR which configuration you are using, it will know what to do with the panned sound. The content may be the same in all cases, but how it is handled is going to be different. These are assumptions on my part and I readily defer to anyone who knows more (eg FilmMixer).

My feeling is that 5.1.2 will be better than what we have now, but not as good as 5.1.4.
 
#2,580 · (Edited)
Comment aurais-je oublié mon ami Hugo! Je m'excuse sincèrement pour lui. Aux petits oignons!! :)

Yes, Hugo's report was terrific!
Maybe you were just trying to adhere to the old prescript: "Occupe-toi de tes oignons!" :rolleyes:
 
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