First Listen: Dolby Atmos Is "Right" At Home

[yromj]

So J6P and his wife walk into BB to buy a new receiver. They're looking at the different ones and one says "Now with ATMOS". Neither knows what it means but hey it's the latest and greatest. They buy it, take it home and connect their cable box and DVD player with the same red and white audio cables they've always used. Then they connect it to their HTIB speakers and sit back and enjoy "ATMOS".

That's the typical scenario I see playing out.

John

 

[Haywood]

I'm still running 5.1 because I have yet to have a room where I can make a 7.1 system work. I don't see Atmos as being in the cards for me any time soon.

 

[MatthewB]

In all the HT systems I've installed over the years 9 times out of 10 I find something so bizarre that I'm not even shocked anymore. My favorite are the Sat and cable installers who install HD but use S-video or composite cables as the output. I'm sure the installers are making side deals selling HDMI cables at the swap meet on weekends and just telling customers that they are getting HDMI. Next are the people who call me to recommend a home theater audio system and buy Bose even after I warn them not to buy Bose (my own parents got suckered). Or people who buy chintzy HTiB systems after spending a shit load on a TV (guy in the parking lot of Home a depot told me this was a 4,000 system and I got it for 400.00 or this Emerson sound system is awesome you can really hear the bass ( a 5.25" bookshelf speaker has better bass response). Literally nothing shocks me anymore.

Like others I'm intrigued by Atmos but much like 3D I think it will be a passing fad as there won't be enough customers to sustain it. I do like it in theaters and have been impressed with the Dolby Atmos THX promo but during actual movies it's not that noticeable and I used X-Men end of days as my introduction to Atmos.

 

[Towen7]

I'm under the impression that the production costs are negligible so it shouldn't add any cost to the discs, the track will be included on the normal disc so there's no need for an extra Atmos disc, and standard players can handle the track. Unlike 3D discs which added a $10 premium, used an extra disc, and required a 3D capable player and display. Considering that I'm hopeful that the format can survive despite a lack of widespread adoption.

 

[Batman]

^^ on top of that, the decoding doesn't really require anything on the hardware side either. Many newer receivers already in homes will be able to decode Atmos with a firmware update. It's no different that having DD, DTS, Dolby TruHD, DTS-MA, etc, already built in.

 

[Haywood]

The problem for me is the speakers. My room is only 13' wide, so the couch is flat up against a wall. My surrounds are a pair of dipoles on stands against the walls about six away from either end of the couch. Short of doing something with in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, there is not way to get anything behind the listening position. The family room downstairs is somewhat better in that regard, but has other issues. I suspect that I will never be able to execute on something like Atmos unless I can buy a bigger house with a basement that I can build a dedicated room in.