Official Atmos Home Theater Thread UPDATED With First Impressions (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Pics up here:https://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/sets/72157646601449101Will add some individual screenshots in AM.

 

[Sam Posten]

Couple of selects:

14-Atmos-9146 by Kadath, on Flickr

14-Atmos-9147 by Kadath, on Flickr

14-Atmos-9150 by Kadath, on Flickr

14-Atmos-9159 by Kadath, on Flickr

14-Atmos-9161 by Kadath, on Flickr

14-Atmos-9163 by Kadath, on Flickr

 

[Dr Griffin]

I noticed a drop ceiling in some of the pics. Did any of you hear any issues with the use of a drop ceiling? Were there both in-ceiling speakers and mounted speakers with a drop ceiling in the demo rooms? Curious, because I presently have one in my room that has needed periodic damping to tame rattling, and I was seriously considering installing a drywall ceiling.

 

[Sam Posten]

No, there was no buzzing. I've got similar issues with glass windows in my family room so I pick up on that pretty readily. The height effect worked fine, my biggest issue was the lack of bass so the whole thing sounded a bit flat.

 

[schan1269]

Hhhmmmmm...Those pics make it look like they aped Yamaha front and rear Presence.Is NYC the same speaker locations as Burbank?And the position of those fluorescent fixtures wasn't helping "the enabled"...

 

[Adam Gregorich]

It interesting. In Burbank the ceiling speakers were directly overhead pointing toward the ground, not mounted up like the ones in Sam's pic. That's almost more like a height channel. We got the same demos, but the upward firing and ceiling mounted speakers sounded almost identical. You could hear just a brief change in timber when they were switched during a clip, but no change to the effect. Both sets of speakers were equally convincing.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

It interesting. In Burbank the ceiling speakers were directly overhead pointing toward the ground, not mounted up like the ones in Sam's pic. That's almost more like a height channel. We got the same demos, but the upward firing and ceiling mounted speakers sounded almost identical. You could hear just a brief change in timber when they were switched during a clip, but no change to the effect. Both sets of speakers were equally convincing.

The NY ceiling speakers were mounted in-ceiling. You can see them in my video. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think the 'height' speakers were used for the demo.

 

[schan1269]

That would make a difference. Still...the enabled weren't helped by the fluorescent fixtures.

 

[Sam Posten]

Copying over my impressions from the former thread in the speakers forum, which I have just locked in favor of this official thread.

I'll have more to add when I get back from vacation but have a few things to post ASAP after visiting Dolby NYC yesterday:- the demo was impressive but overshadowed by the cinema demo. I have seen 8 Atmos enabled films in the theater and will continue to do so, Atmos or IMAX are the only way to get me out of the house.- I suspect Dolby trimmed down the LFE channel to highlight the Atmos height effect. This is a mistake and they should stop if I am right. If I am wrong they need to calibrate their LFE cause it's too low and makes the overall demo scene flat.- we asked about floor level (aka below surround) effects for puddles and splashes. They did not have anything much to say except it could happen but much more data is expected to be above the listener.- we asked about the challenges inherent in the new channels (more lines, fishing lines to add to existing set ups, reversed phase issues) and they believe this is solved by white papers, customer/retailer education and Audessey.- I said that's great but Denon hasn't announced receivers with Atmos. Apparently they did over the weekend so yay!- I disagree with AndySu over the need for more physical channels. Virtual channels are the way to go no matter what dimension of sound you want to reproduce. Let the receiver handle it and scale it with smart processing.- Any Blu that can fully Bitstream Dolby HD should be good to go with no firmware upgrades, so unless you are still using a Fat PS3 you don't need to upgrade that, tho new receiver and speakers are obvious musts.- I wish I was going to CEDIA, should be a good time and an info deluge.- I asked if they considered waiting till a UHD physical disk format was ready to go and they demurred saying they complement UHD and enhance current Blu so that's their go forward start.I took a bunch of pics, those will have to wait till Monday.I expect to upgrade to a full Atmos suite from current 5.1 to 7.1.4, we'll see tho. Will see what Paradigm announces on this front as I want to match as best I can. I will go ceiling mount which isn't gonna be easy or cheap.---Also they told us early in the day that Atmos speakers perform smart processing. I asked how they get the power to do that and they backtracked and said it was simply passive filtering.Regarding the up firing speakers they fully admit it shouldn't work but it does. Using these speakers IS a viable strategy and isn't really second class, but I think most enthusiasts will want to go with at least 4 real ceiling mounted speakers. I am/will. But for the average consumer it will work and will blow their minds. I might go this route withe the secondary theaters I my bedroom and office, the Pioneer Andrew Jones line certainly has me intrigued for that!---Ugh the Denon line I buy is only 7.1.2, to go to 7.1.4 requires their top of the line http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/23/denon-dolby-atmos-receivers/This doesn't really track with Dolby's plan for making this a wide consumer tech...

Sam

 

[Dr Griffin]

I know nothing about in-ceiling speakers. I know generally, that wide dispersion is the way to go. I'm looking for more information on Dolby Atmos approved in-ceiling speakers. I'm in no hurry, and ceiling mounting is not out of the question.

 

[DanH1972]

Hey Ron, thanks for the write up on your Atmos experience.

Are you saying that from your information gathering, you've found out that 150 titles will be released to Blu-ray with Atmos soundtracks, or are you going off the number of movies released theatrically in the format that could potentially be released with Atmos tracks?

"150 Atmos Blu-ray titles are expected to be released starting this fall."

 

[Dave Upton]

I am excited to try this in my own home. Unfortunately, until we buy a new house I'll be restricted to upward firing speakers.

 

[Dave Moritz]

The more I hear the more excited I am to listen to a Dolby Atmos system to hear it for myself!

 

[JediFonger]

thanks for that experience review. do you know if those dolby trailers will be on bluray in amtos i've always loved demo trailers

 

[Dr Griffin]

Where can I get those Dolby double D theater seats, that are in the poster?

 

[Sam Posten]

The magical land of Photoshop is your best bet!

 

[andySu]

The magical land of Photoshop is your best bet!

Personally I agree photoshop job, They do look cool thou. To get you cinema seats in the home costumed so that you can remove the back of the seat replace it with a new seat back, won't come cheap. Maybe cheap way is like seat cover for cars and have something that can pulled over your existing seats with the double D Dolby logo.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Jeebus look at the size of that thing:http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/201408/Denon-AVR-X5200W-open/0.htm

When is this unit coming out?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Let me get this right, if you add ceiling speakers, you need four of them as the minimal requirement? If you use the floor setup with the special Dolby Atmos enabled speakers, you only need two of them for the minimal requirement?

 

[DanH1972]

Let me get this right, if you add ceiling speakers, you need four of them as the minimal requirement? If you use the floor setup with the special Dolby Atmos enabled speakers, you only need two of them for the minimal requirement?

Four in both scenarios is recommended so you have front to back and 360 degree true overhead or simulated overhead panning.