Is Dolby Atmos another fad like 3D

[MatthewB]

Been reading a lot on AVS about Atmos and how it's the next big thing for home and cinema audio. Now I've been to a local theater that added Atmos and during the THX clip before the movie it was impressive and felt it added a little to the film itself but not enough to get all excited.

Then there's the issue of how to implement Atmos as speaker companies are adding speaker attachments that sit upon your current speakers and are aimed upward to reflect sound off the ceiling and some companies are selling speakers now with the upward angled speaker off the top of the speaker and of course the best solution is just adding ceiling speakers to take advantage.

I just read that the new Transformers movie will be the first Bluray with Atmos sound and that more are coming.

As for me I'm torn as what I experienced in the theater with Atmos was an improvement in what our banned friend from overseas called "whole overhead sound". It was an improvement but not so much that I'd start running out to install ceiling speakers and running cable and having to buy a brand new preamp or reciever.

What say you all.

 

[Towen7]

Atmos, like 3D, will only appeal to a subset of the already small home theater enthusiast market. I'll be getting an Atmos capable pre/pro but I was upgrading anyway. And THAT is what, I think, will drive Atmos sales. People will end up with the capability but not because they "wanted" it per se, but that it just came with what they bought. Kind of like room correction software. A ton of people have the function because it came built in, but they weren't looking for it and will probably never use it. We'l also need the Atmos track to just be included on the standard BDs. If those two thing happen; manufacturers quit selling non-Atmos gear, and discs makers don't try to charge a premium for Atmos encoded media... than it'll be around for a while.

 

[Wardsweb]

There will always be the early adopters looking for the latest tech. A friend of mine is already looking to get the Denon Atmos receiver and have me install ceiling speakers in his home theater. For a lot of the home theater market, they won't care. In the same way many still run a straight 5.1 system. For them, that is good enough. I'm on the fence. It would be easy enough to add the speakers, but until there is enough media to warrant the time and expense, I'll wait.

 

[Batman]

While I'm in no rush, I think I'll eventually implement it. It'll probably happen out of shear boredom and the need to do something fresh and new. I have a 1.5-2 inch gap between my ceiling materials and floor joists above. While it won't be easy, it also won't be impossible to run the necessary wiring and install the speakers to run an Atmos setup. If it's even close to replicating the Atmos theater experience, it will be amazing with the right material.

 

[heeman]

I am still very happy with our 5.1 in our little HT, maybe, just maybe will update to 7.1 in the future. Atmos at this point, nah.......