Sound From Above | Why Dolby Atmos is a Next Level Upgrade for Your Home Theater (1 Viewer)

[SJeans123]

The sandworm in Dune emerges from beneath with earth-shaking power that seems to come from the very foundations of your house.

A TIE fighter screams past your left shoulder before banking right and disappearing behind you in The Last Jedi.
The Nazgûl in The Lord of the Rings shriek as they dive from above, making you duck in your seat…

…this is what happens when you experience Dolby Atmos in the comfort of your own home.

While most of us have been content with our traditional 5.1 or 7.1 surround setups, Dolby Atmos speakers bring an unmatched level of immersion that transforms home theater experiences into something truly cinematic.
Once you hear sound coming from above, around, and through your space with pinpoint accuracy, there really is no going back.

Read on to learn about Dolby Atmos, how you can build a home theater surround sound system that delivers an amazingly immersive audio experience, plus 10 movies that showcase the technology at its absolute best.

What is Dolby Atmos?​

To understand why Atmos feels so revolutionary, you need to grasp how it differs from everything that came before it.

Continue reading...

 

[Sam Posten]

Cool article. One thing I’d add: the best Atmos experience -of all time- is the last half hour of War for the planet of the apes.

 

[JohnRice]

Cool article. One thing I’d add: the best Atmos experience -of all time- is the last half hour of War for the planet of the apes.

Guess I'll have to watch that. Personally, I would go with the final 30 minutes of Passengers.

 

[Sam Posten]

Guess I'll have to watch that. Personally, I would go with the final 30 minutes of Passengers.

Beautiful film.

For war: start at the single pop of Woody Harrelsons pistol

 

[DaveF]

Passengers was good?

I recall the trailers looked good. But I thought it was universally panned on release?

I’m trying to find good scifi I’ve missed the past decade to add to my watch list.

 

[JohnRice]

Passengers was good?

I recall the trailers looked good. But I thought it was universally panned on release?

I’m trying to find good scifi I’ve missed the past decade to add to my watch list.

I think it pretty much was panned. I can understand why, but I still really enjoy it. My point was that the final 30 minutes is an exceptional demo soundtrack. In general though, I try not to let others tell me which movies I will enjoy.

 

[Bryan^H]

Godzilla vs. Kong has the best Atmos mix I have heard. The height channels are utilized perfectly.
Very impressive.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Passengers was good?

I recall the trailers looked good. But I thought it was universally panned on release?

I’m trying to find good scifi I’ve missed the past decade to add to my watch list.

I think Passengers is a great film.

I think the issues that people had about it were two-fold, mostly due to marketing choices. Hard to discuss without spoilers. I think the film is best experienced knowing very little about it and allowing it to unfold in front of you.

One issue: The trailer makes the film appear to be a romantic comedy/space adventure hybrid. It’s not. But because it was advertised that way, that’s what people came to it looking for and the lens they viewed it from.

Second issue: in the film, one character is placed in an untenable, unbearable situation, and has a mental breakdown. When that happens, that character makes a morally reprehensible decision. The film does not condone his choice. However, because the film was wrongly perceived by audiences as being a romance film, those same audiences incorrectly concluded that the film was endorsing the character’s morally reprehensible decision.

If you can watch a film where a character makes a bad decision and understand that filmmakers showing people making bad choices isn’t an endorsement of those choices, I think there’s a chance you might find a lot to like about the film.

In slightly more detail, spoilerized, but everything I'm about to mention happens in the first third of the film:

Spoiler

Chris Pratt is one of many passengers on a ship to a colony on a distant planet. It will take a hundred years to get there, so everyone is placed in hibernation before the trip. Pratt’s hibernation chamber malfunctions and he wakes up 80 years too early, and there’s no way for him to put himself back to sleep and no means of rescue or help possible. He will spend the rest of his life awake and alone on the ship. He becomes despondent and attempts suicide. In that state, he discovers the diary of another hibernating passenger (Jennifer Lawrence), and in a moment of despair, decides to wake her up so that he is not alone. This, of course, would condemn her to the same fate. As soon as he performs this action, he regrets it, but there is nothing he can do to undo it. He lies to her and tells her that her hibernation pod malfunctioned too. They are well matched as a pair and fall in love, though the circumstances of their meeting were under false pretenses. What Pratt did is bad. But because Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are like able and charming actors, some viewers mistakenly believe that the film is endorsing what Pratt did, and believe the film is saying that it’s ok to lie to your partner and to trick someone into dating you. The film is not actually saying that. The film is an examination of the human condition and how impossible situations force impossible choices that lead to unpredictable outcomes.

 

[John Dirk]

I think the 4K version of the 2013 Tom Cruise thriller, Oblivion deserved a mention as well. I love SVS for their excellent subs but this article sort of brings the thought to my mind, "it's about time they design a true in-ceiling Atmos speaker."

 

[JohnRice]

I think Passengers is a great film.

I think the issues that people had about it were two-fold, mostly due to marketing choices. Hard to discuss without spoilers. I think the film is best experienced knowing very little about it and allowing it to unfold in front of you.

One issue: The trailer makes the film appear to be a romantic comedy/space adventure hybrid. It’s not. But because it was advertised that way, that’s what people came to it looking for and the lens they viewed it from.

Second issue: in the film, one character is placed in an untenable, unbearable situation, and has a mental breakdown. When that happens, that character makes a morally reprehensible decision. The film does not condone his choice. However, because the film was wrongly perceived by audiences as being a romance film, those same audiences incorrectly concluded that the film was endorsing the character’s morally reprehensible decision.

If you can watch a film where a character makes a bad decision and understand that filmmakers showing people making bad choices isn’t an endorsement of those choices, I think there’s a chance you might find a lot to like about the film.

In slightly more detail, spoilerized, but everything I'm about to mention happens in the first third of the film:

Spoiler

Chris Pratt is one of many passengers on a ship to a colony on a distant planet. It will take a hundred years to get there, so everyone is placed in hibernation before the trip. Pratt’s hibernation chamber malfunctions and he wakes up 80 years too early, and there’s no way for him to put himself back to sleep and no means of rescue or help possible. He will spend the rest of his life awake and alone on the ship. He becomes despondent and attempts suicide. In that state, he discovers the diary of another hibernating passenger (Jennifer Lawrence), and in a moment of despair, decides to wake her up so that he is not alone. This, of course, would condemn her to the same fate. As soon as he performs this action, he regrets it, but there is nothing he can do to undo it. He lies to her and tells her that her hibernation pod malfunctioned too. They are well matched as a pair and fall in love, though the circumstances of their meeting were under false pretenses. What Pratt did is bad. But because Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are like able and charming actors, some viewers mistakenly believe that the film is endorsing what Pratt did, and believe the film is saying that it’s ok to lie to your partner and to trick someone into dating you. The film is not actually saying that. The film is an examination of the human condition and how impossible situations force impossible choices that lead to unpredictable outcomes.

I usually temper how I express my opinion about Passengers, but I absolutely love it. I only have one little gripe, which is that a conflict later in the movie is resolved far too fast and easily, but the fact is that needs to happen for the movie to continue. I absolutely forgive it. I think my enthusiasm about it was clear in the Podcast from late last year. In the context of this thread, and I said this in the podcast, no movie looks or sounds better. The visuals and audio are absolutely flawless.

 

[Sam Posten]

The opening to the Apple WWDC yesterday had an absolutely stonking demo worthy scene using assets inspired by F1. I can’t wait to see that at home

 

[JohnRice]

FWIW, I selected Passengers as the first movie to watch with my new Marantz AV10 preamp. One minute in, and I reiterate, the soundtrack is unbelievable. Be careful. It’ll fry your sub(s).