# 10 Best Sounding Dolby Atmos Movies on UHD Blu-ray



## Dirk504

I would recommend Godzilla King of the Monsters, Aquaman, Black Hawk Down, Hacksaw Ridge, Power Rangers, and Midway.


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## Tanquen

Am I doing it wrong? I have an ok setup but unless I get right up next to one of the 4 (Revel C763L) ceiling speakers its hard to tell they are doing anything.


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## SuperFist

Tanquen said:


> Am I doing it wrong? I have an ok setup but unless I get right up next to one of the 4 (Revel C763L) ceiling speakers it hard to tell they are doing anything.


I'd suggest you turn the ceiling speaker levels up.

I have upfiring speakers and they sound AMAZING! I get complete backwards, forwards surround as well as up and down coverage.


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## Tanquen

I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


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## GPBURNS

2 others to add to movies mentioned are brightburn and A Quiet Place -
of note if not mistaken Ghost Protocol is not Atmos


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## rhelliott2

Can't believe ready player one wasn't on the list... That race scene.


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## Sambriz

For such a dated movie, The Matrix in Atmos is outstanding!!


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## SuperFist

Tanquen said:


> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


To be fair, there may not be immediately noticeable Atmos effects in much of the content that's out there.

However, I would definitely test them with official lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS:X demos.

https://thedigitaltheater.com/dolby-trailers/

https://thedigitaltheater.com/dts-trailers/


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## jwc1969

GPBURNS said:


> 2 others to add to movies mentioned are brightburn and A Quiet Place -
> of note if not mistaken Ghost Protocol is not Atmos


Correct. MI:4 not Atmos.


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## logan456

Tanquen said:


> Am I doing it wrong? I have an ok setup but unless I get right up next to one of the 4 (Revel C763L) ceiling speakers its hard to tell they are doing anything.


I have a pioneer receiver and after I ran the mcaac auto cal seemed I couldn't really hear the atmos. I have a radio shack sound meter when I tested the levels for some reason it set the atmos speakers lower thanthe other. Using the sound meter I measured everything to 75 db at the mlp. Once I did that then I was able to hear the overhead effect and it sound so much better.


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## New24K

The pod race in Phantom Menace - hands down.


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## NMG

I watched the UHD Blu-ray of Bad Boys For Life last night. I thought the movie was okay (typical popcorn flick), but the audio sounded incredible on my system. Loads of stuff going on with the Atmos and surround channels. Sounded awesome!


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## sadsushi

Mad Max: Fury Road sounds amazing in Atmos..totally should make any list for best sounding Atmos movies


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## EdL

SuperFist said:


> To be fair, there may not be immediately noticeable Atmos effects in much of the content that's out there.
> 
> However, I would definitely test them with official lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS:X demos.
> 
> https://thedigitaltheater.com/dolby-trailers/
> 
> https://thedigitaltheater.com/dts-trailers/


Thanks For the links SupeFist!

EdL


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## imagic

sadsushi said:


> Mad Max: Fury Road sounds amazing in Atmos..totally should make any list for best sounding Atmos movies


The opening scene is one of the most used Atmos demos of all time, no doubt.


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## Maximum7

Tanquen said:


> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


Never let ANY built in calibration determine your speaker levels or distances. They will always be wrong, if even just a little.
Use a tape measure to your listening position and an SPL meter. Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters.


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## Tanquen

SuperFist said:


> To be fair, there may not be immediately noticeable Atmos effects in much of the content that's out there.
> 
> However, I would definitely test them with official lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS:X demos.
> 
> https://thedigitaltheater.com/dolby-trailers/
> 
> https://thedigitaltheater.com/dts-trailers/


I tried most all of those awhile back. Is there one you think is the best?

I still have these on the NAS:
Core Universe.m2ts
Dolby_Amaze_Lossless-ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
Dolby_Atmos_Natures_Fury_1920x1080_ATMOS_71-thedigitaltheater.mkv
Dolby_Conductor_Lossless_ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
Dolby_Leaf_Lossless_ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
Escape.m2ts


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## Tanquen

Maximum7 said:


> Never let ANY built in calibration determine your speaker levels or distances. They will always be wrong, if even just a little.
> Use a tape measure to your listening position and an SPL meter. Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters.


I used to do it manually and still have a Radio Shack SPL meter but they seem to match up pretty well.

"Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters." ?


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## Transistorious

How about these three with DA sound?: Avalita, Angel Has Fallen, and Gemini Man.


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## Maximum7

Tanquen said:


> I used to do it manually and still have a Radio Shack SPL meter but they seem to match up pretty well.
> 
> "Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters." ?


Just try using your SPL meter. You'll be pleasantly surprised.


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## Joshua Chmiel

I consider The Doors 4K Atmos mix as one of the absolute best mixes ever. It is not in your face with bullets whizzing by your head or bass filled beating you up. It is subtle in how well it immerses you. The enveloping music while keeping the dialogue and action sounds perfectly clear. The way you feel you are there with them with all the outdoor sounds, waves crashing, wind through leaves. In the highrise building photoshoot they use the height speakers to fool you that the street sounds are below you.

And yeah, no love for Ready Player One?


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## SuperFist

Tanquen said:


> I tried most all of those awhile back. Is there one you think is the best?
> 
> I still have these on the NAS:
> Core Universe.m2ts
> Dolby_Amaze_Lossless-ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
> Dolby_Atmos_Natures_Fury_1920x1080_ATMOS_71-thedigitaltheater.mkv
> Dolby_Conductor_Lossless_ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
> Dolby_Leaf_Lossless_ATMOS-thedigitaltheater.mkv
> Escape.m2ts


I like *Amaze* and *Conductor*. Again, make sure you turn up your volume levels for your ceiling speakers. And if this is your introduction into Atmos, if it doesn't seem to overwhelm you, try closing your eyes and you will clearly hear that the sound is coming from above and around you. You should be hearing like a 3D bubble of sound all around you; if not, something isn't configured correctly.


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## ugotvijay

rhelliott2 said:


> Can't believe ready player one wasn't on the list... That race scene.


+1 the first half hour of the movie has one of the best Atmos tracks I have experienced. 

Another great disc which seems to have missed out is Spiderman Far from home.


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## GPBURNS

Joshua Chmiel said:


> I consider The Doors 4K Atmos mix as one of the absolute best mixes ever. It is not in your face with bullets whizzing by your head or bass filled beating you up. It is subtle in how well it immerses you. The enveloping music while keeping the dialogue and action sounds perfectly clear. The way you feel you are there with them with all the outdoor sounds, waves crashing, wind through leaves. In the highrise building photoshoot they use the height speakers to fool you that the street sounds are below you.
> 
> And yeah, no love for Ready Player One?



Nice - I has just watched the Doors regular bluray - not too long ago and was floored how well the concert audio was - great hearing the Atmos mix adds to that reference track -


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## Ralph Potts

Greetings,

All great recommendations guys! Mark just grabbed a sampling from some of my reviews that got great scores but, certainly not the only ones that did so. Many, if not all of those you have all mentioned received top ratings too.

Keep them coming! 


Regards,


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## michaelscott73

Ralph Potts said:


> Greetings,
> 
> All great recommendations guys! Mark just grabbed a sampling from some of my reviews that got great scores but, certainly not the only ones that did so. Many, if not all of those you have all mentioned received top ratings too.
> 
> Keep them coming! /forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
> 
> 
> Regards,


Ralph,
What are your favorite scenes for auditioning Atmos?


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## Ralph Potts

michaelscott73 said:


> Ralph,
> What are your favorite scenes for auditioning Atmos?


Greetings,

Here are a few that I like to use:

- A Quiet Place: The Basement
- Transformers Age of Extinction - Raining Objects in the City
- Wonder Woman: Her unveiling followed by the village encounter
- 13 Hours the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: The Compound Assault (I have that one broken up into three segments)
- Blade Runner 2049: The San Diego entry followed by the crash
- IT: The House on Neiboldt Street
- Ready Player One: The Race

I have others but, these are a good place to start.


Regards,


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## HeffeMusic

Hello all,
No one ever mentions it but the Movie Annihilation has one of the most amazing Atmos scenes (last chapter), I have ever experienced. It’s mostly synth music sounds but there are several other moments in the movie that really do show off Atmos. 

Regards 
Jeff


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## GalvatronType_R

Side note: ceiling bounce speakers are a gimmick. 

I have upfiring speakers because I cannot mount speakers on my ceiling. There is barely any overhead info in my setup; I describe it as "waist level Atmos" in that the sound is only waist level high. And yes, I have turned up the levels higher than what Audyssey XT32 returned.

Dolby claiming that sounds bounces off the ceiling down to the MLP is laughable. That's like saying mounting a center channel behind the MLP pointing towards a sidewall will bounce dialogue to the MLP.

I have never heard a bounce theater sound as good as a ceiling theater. One friend cut holes in his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Another friend mounted Bose cubes to his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Both do not have equipment much better than mine, it's their setup and positioning that make the difference.

So if possible, mount speaker in or on your ceiling. Do not expect equivalent results if you opt for speakers pointing up.

As for great Atmos movies that haven't been listed, try Seven Worlds One Planet, Pacific Rim, and the Shallows.


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## HeffeMusic

GalvatronType_R said:


> Side note: ceiling bounce speakers are a gimmick.
> 
> I have upfiring speakers because I cannot mount speakers on my ceiling. There is barely any overhead info in my setup; I describe it as "waist level Atmos" in that the sound is only waist level high. And yes, I have turned up the levels higher than what Audyssey XT32 returned.
> 
> Dolby claiming that sounds bounces off the ceiling down to the MLP is laughable. That's like saying mounting a center channel behind the MLP pointing towards a sidewall will bounce dialogue to the MLP.
> 
> I have never heard a bounce theater sound as good as a ceiling theater. One friend cut holes in his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Another friend mounted Bose cubes to his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Both do not have equipment much better than mine, it's their setup and positioning that make the difference.
> 
> So if possible, mount speaker in or on your ceiling. Do not expect equivalent results if you opt for speakers pointing up.
> 
> As for great Atmos movies that haven't been listed, try Seven Worlds One Planet, Pacific Rim, and the Shallows.


Hello I totally disagree with your opinion. I have a Anthem MRX 1120, and I set my 4 Atmos speakers up with ARC Genesis. Sounds amazing! When you get the right set up they definitely work. 5.1 Revel Performa series, Rythmik sub and 4 Martin Logan Dolby Atmos cubes.


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## bobbyhollywood

As far as I'm concerned, Netflix's 4K stream of ROMA has the best Atmos mix of anything I have yet heard at home, and all the more impressive as it does not depend on crashes and booms to accomplish this. It is also more consistently active than pretty much anything else I have yet seen. The Criterion blu-ray also has the Atmos track.


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## Mashie Saldana

A few more good tracks:
Ford vs Ferrari
The 5th Element
Alita
Dredd
Midway
Hacksaw Ridge
Underworld
Fury
Mad Max Fury Road

Just to name a few at the top of my head.


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## GPBURNS

Nice having mostly software discussion - at end of day thats what its all about


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## ykjones

Ralph Potts said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Here are a few that I like to use:
> 
> - A Quiet Place: The Basement
> - Transformers Age of Extinction - Raining Objects in the City
> - Wonder Woman: Her unveiling followed by the village encounter
> - 13 Hours the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: The Compound Assault (I have that one broken up into three segments)
> - Blade Runner 2049: The San Diego entry followed by the crash
> - IT: The House on Neiboldt Street
> - Ready Player One: The Race
> 
> I have others but, these are a good place to start.
> 
> 
> Regards,


Always love your stellar and in-depth reviews. What are your other favorite demo worthy atmos and stellar audio scenes in movies?


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## Nikos Priovolos

Excellent list and i agree with every single suggestion all you guys made. I have front height dali speakers, not upfiring neither ceiling mounted ones and i agree with the guys that say most of the times the atmos sounds, or the sound coming from the height speakers cannot be distinguished i have to stick my ear to the speakers. I have set them tp +6db both them and the surrounds. The measurement with the spl meter how can it be done practicaly? Do i have to disconnect the rest of the speakers and measure the ones left? (the atmos ones i mean) Once again excellent post keep them coming


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## hifiHigh

GalvatronType_R said:


> Side note: ceiling bounce speakers are a gimmick.
> 
> I have upfiring speakers because I cannot mount speakers on my ceiling. There is barely any overhead info in my setup; I describe it as "waist level Atmos" in that the sound is only waist level high. And yes, I have turned up the levels higher than what Audyssey XT32 returned.
> 
> Dolby claiming that sounds bounces off the ceiling down to the MLP is laughable. That's like saying mounting a center channel behind the MLP pointing towards a sidewall will bounce dialogue to the MLP.
> 
> I have never heard a bounce theater sound as good as a ceiling theater. One friend cut holes in his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Another friend mounted Bose cubes to his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Both do not have equipment much better than mine, it's their setup and positioning that make the difference.
> 
> So if possible, mount speaker in or on your ceiling. Do not expect equivalent results if you opt for speakers pointing up.
> 
> As for great Atmos movies that haven't been listed, try Seven Worlds One Planet, Pacific Rim, and the Shallows.



All 4 of my surround speakers are mounted on the side/back walls pointing toward the MLP. Works great!


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## NuSoardGraphite

Tanquen said:


> Am I doing it wrong? I have an ok setup but unless I get right up next to one of the 4 (Revel C763L) ceiling speakers its hard to tell they are doing anything.


You want to check the levels with an SPL meter to make sure they are matched with the rest of your speakers. Also make sure the drivers are pointing at the seating position. If they are pointing straight down at the floor, you will be sitting way off axis and high frequency sounds will be missing you.

Keep in mind also, that these movies are mixed to be played at high volumes. Technically they were engineered to be played at reference level in a movie theater. In your small room, they can be played at lower volume, but still should be played at high volumes...-10db to -15d or so. You will be able to hear everything if you play them at high volume and have them level matched.

If you don't want to or can't listen at higher volume levels, then make use of the tools in your AVR that help with this. In an Audyssey enabled Denon or Marantz receiver, this is Dynamic EQ. It boosts the output of the surround channels, including the height speakers, to compensate for listening at low volumes. This will help you hear the height content in an immersive mix. I know that purists say to turn these options off, but just turning all DSP off isn't necessarily the right thing to do. Situations differ and its better to experiment and find what works best in your specific situation.


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## Tanquen

Yeah my system is -20 max whatever that really is, I'm sure not all systems are the same at that volume level on the AVR. Even -20 you're damaging your hearing and any higher is nuts I don't know how people can stand it.

I've been playing with the dynamic EQ and voume since I got the unit but it's really hard to test as it definitely changes the overall volume like I have to lower the volume after enabling it so it makes it hard to tell what it's really doing. With a default offset I have to drop it like 10-15db.

The bigger issue is movies randomly mess with you. Big name studios with Atmos or whatever they'll still just have random scenes that are just super loud compared to everything else and you're constantly monkeying with the volume.



NuSoardGraphite said:


> Tanquen said:
> 
> 
> 
> Am I doing it wrong? I have an ok setup but unless I get right up next to one of the 4 (Revel C763L) ceiling speakers its hard to tell they are doing anything.
> 
> 
> 
> You want to check the levels with an SPL meter to make sure they are matched with the rest of your speakers. Also make sure the drivers are pointing at the seating position. If they are pointing straight down at the floor, you will be sitting way off axis and high frequency sounds will be missing you.
> 
> Keep in mind also, that these movies are mixed to be played at high volumes. Technically they were engineered to be played at reference level in a movie theater. In your small room, they can be played at lower volume, but still should be played at high volumes...-10db to -15d or so. You will be able to hear everything if you play them at high volume and have them level matched.
> 
> If you don't want to or can't listen at higher volume levels, then make use of the tools in your AVR that help with this. In an Audyssey enabled Denon or Marantz receiver, this is Dynamic EQ. It boosts the output of the surround channels, including the height speakers, to compensate for listening at low volumes. This will help you hear the height content in an immersive mix. I know that purists say to turn these options off, but just turning all DSP off isn't necessarily the right thing to do. Situations differ and its better to experiment and find what works best in your specific situation.
Click to expand...


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## Mattopotamus

rhelliott2 said:


> Can't believe ready player one wasn't on the list... *That race scene.*


Has been my go to demo as of late, plus you get the nostalgia of JP/Kong.


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## crutzulee

I'll second, third and fourth Mad Max:Fury Road. I've made quite a few changes to my setup over the last year and, although it's nowhere near my favourite type of film, this movie is always a barometer of how well any change integrates into my system. The latest viewing tested my upgrade to tactlie transducers.

As per the discussion of how ATMOS should sound, my experience has been different from what people here are describing. I've always had decent overhead pans in my HT in 5.1 and later 7.1 configurations which is why I held off updating to ATMOS until I got a ridiculous deal on my current amp which made it stupid NOT to update. I completely thought ATMOS/DTS X was a gimmick and was actually concerned that the upgrade might actually be a downgrade to my carefully calibrated soundfield. Having older model Paradigm speakers made finding timberally matched height channels both inexpensive and easy to find.

While I was happy to find that overhead pans were made marginally better with the addition of the height channels, the improvement pales in comparison to that of the 3D "sound bubble" that a properly mixed ATMOS/DTS X soundtrack provides. It really is a revolution in sound when done properly! Speakers, and their placement, disappear and give way to an all encompassing soundfield where sound "items" are placed within your room.

My setup includes a cheapie ONKYO 9.2 receiver. I used the included setup process which I found accurate against a tape measure and Radio Shack SPL meter. I'm sure more expensive gear with AUDESSEY can sound better, but I doubt by much compared to the price differential.


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## SuperFist

crutzulee said:


> While I was happy to find that overhead pans were made marginally better with the addition of the height channels, the improvement pales in comparison to that of the 3D "sound bubble" that a properly mixed ATMOS/DTS X soundtrack provides. It really is a revolution in sound when done properly! Speakers, and their placement, disappear and give way to an all encompassing soundfield where sound "items" are placed within your room.


Your reply reminds me of a response I just gave someone the other day:

The other thing I think people miss the point of is the "object-enabled" aspect of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. You hear many complain about "not much activity going on up there" when they should be focusing on an expansion of the soundfield as objects can more readily traverse that 3D aural landscape without sounding so "speaker-centric" or specific. This is the ATMOSpheric bubble I like to refer to that gives me such a joy when watching films with this kind of audio mixed properly and done in the right way.

This is what I've always said and it's what I experience with my upfiring or "bounce" speakers that audio/visual people usually dismiss as a "gimmick"... but guess what? IT'S NOT!! If anything, I just don't think people have it set up properly nor are the Atmos upfiring speakers tilted at enough of an angle to project that bubble of sound overhead and around the main listening position (that's why I wouldn't recommend bulit in-atmos modules with left and right speakers as only separates can be angled properly). I just thought I'd throw this direct quote in from page 12 of the Dolby Atmos Home Installation Guidelines as it directly represents my experience as well...

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

_Dolby Atmos enabled speakers produce a slightly more diffuse overhead audio experience that is quite lifelike and, in some cases, may be preferable to the sound that originates from overhead speakers. If the ceiling is low or you have to mount the speakers on overhead trusses or brackets, overhead speakers may be too close to you as you listen. The audio may be distracting because you’ll hear and notice the output from each speaker instead of feeling immersed in an atmosphere in which sounds occur naturally overhead.

In this environment, Dolby Atmos enabled speakers may be a better solution for reproducing the height plane of sound, similar to what you would hear in a cinema. In a cinema, the overhead speakers are located high in the auditorium and naturally create a more diffuse experience. Using Dolby Atmos enabled speakers produces a similar experience: the reflection of sound off the ceiling makes the overhead effect sound diffuse, which results in the room sounding larger. Audio mixers and experts who have auditioned Dolby Atmos enabled speakers agree that the sound these speakers produce can be preferable to the sound of dedicated overhead speakers._


And here's what Andrew Jones says about Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers:



> I got involved in doing an enabled system because of what I heard when Dolby showed it to me. I preferred the sound of the enabled. And it’s interesting since that time as more and more film mixes have been exposed to the enabled type approach. They prefer the enabled sound, because in the theatrical movies and any theater, the speakers are way above you; in a home they’re not. If there’s physical speakers in the ceiling, it’s 7.5 feet to 8 feet typically - it’s a bit too close. And as you move around the listening locations, you’re getting closer to one speaker than the other, the image is shifting, you’re aware of a physical speaker.
> 
> From up there with the bounced signal from the enabled, this appears upside down six feet above the ceiling. So the source that you’re aware of, that’s giving you the encoding information to give height, is 6 foot above an 8 foot ceiling and it doesn’t change as you move around. So the sound field, I think, becomes more immersive, more continuous, maybe not quite as discrete, but the real fun aspect of Atmos is the immersion in the soundfield.


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## Panson

I'd say Godzilla: King of the Monsters; 13 Hours; Mad Max: Fury Road; Black Hawk Down; The Matrix; Ford v Ferrari; Blade Runner 2049; John Wick 2; John Wick 3; Rambo: Last Blood. And I don't do Dolby Atmos.


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## NuSoardGraphite

As for the best sounding Atmos movies I have heard, I would add Mission Impossible: Fallout and Jupiter Ascending to that list.

Don't sleep on Jupiter Ascending. It gets a bad rap for having a silly plot but boy is it a visual and audio tour de force. 

You know how the Wachowskis like themes in their movies and their theme for Ascending was action in full 3 dimensions. They created yet another camera to capture the flying action scenes with the actors suspended on wires.....the main character flys by means of gravity boots so he can effectively skate in the air....and they make full use of the Atmos system to immerse the viewer in these 3 dimensional battles.

Check it out.


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## Cyberathlete

Pacific Rim.


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## dkersten

As much as I like the movie, I found Baby Driver to be lacking in bass. It makes most of the soundtrack sound a bit empty, which is a bummer.


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## PlanetAVS

Tanquen said:


> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


Curious if Audyssey calibration generates Atmos speaker levels that are too low. It does that for my subwoofer levels.


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## phatfreeza

GalvatronType_R said:


> Side note: ceiling bounce speakers are a gimmick.
> 
> I have upfiring speakers because I cannot mount speakers on my ceiling. There is barely any overhead info in my setup; I describe it as "waist level Atmos" in that the sound is only waist level high. And yes, I have turned up the levels higher than what Audyssey XT32 returned.
> 
> Dolby claiming that sounds bounces off the ceiling down to the MLP is laughable. That's like saying mounting a center channel behind the MLP pointing towards a sidewall will bounce dialogue to the MLP.
> 
> I have never heard a bounce theater sound as good as a ceiling theater. One friend cut holes in his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Another friend mounted Bose cubes to his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Both do not have equipment much better than mine, it's their setup and positioning that make the difference.
> 
> So if possible, mount speaker in or on your ceiling. Do not expect equivalent results if you opt for speakers pointing up.
> 
> As for great Atmos movies that haven't been listed, try Seven Worlds One Planet, Pacific Rim, and the Shallows.


agree to disagree on the upfiring. I'll agree that its definitely not equivalent to ceiling mounted speakers but in my theater I definitely get an appreciable amount of overhead and ambiance from my upfiring modules. Its definitely a ymmv type of speaker depending on your room. 

My addition to this thread is the first 10 minutes of Overlord. great surround activity, great overheads when planes fly above and I want to say the planes propellers seem elevated as well, and most of all the bass is ridiculous here. please check it out if you haven't. doubly so if you have BEQ.


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## PlanetAVS

PlanetAVS said:


> Curious if Audyssey calibration generates Atmos speaker levels that are too low. It does that for my subwoofer levels.


Haven't seen anyone mention Overlord, although its known more for LFE


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## Killroy

50 posts and no one has mentioned Gravity (Diamond Edition)?!?! Really?!?! LOL


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## phatfreeza

PlanetAVS said:


> Haven't seen anyone mention Overlord, although its known more for LFE


look right above you!


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## Philnick

*Why you can't trust automatic room correction for speaker levels*

_Automatic room correction systems, of whichever brand, use microphones that are pointed at the ceiling._

This has two pernicious effects:

1) Since our ears face forwards and filter out sound from behind, a ceiling-facing microphone tells the system that the rear and surround speakers are louder than we hear them, and leads the system to set them quieter than they should be. This problem pre-dates Atmos and DTS:X, and I've been telling folks for years to follow up the automatic routine with a manual tweak to boost those channels to make them sound as loud as the others while we're sitting facing the screen.

2) Enter Atmos and DTS:X and you now have the problem compounded since the calibration microphone is actually pointed at them! So do the same thing and boost them as well in the tweak pass.

While you can use a sound level meter for this, our brains and ears do even better, since what we're trying to accomplish is making the sound _seem_ equally loud _to us_ regardless what direction it comes from, and a meter is at least one step away from our own nervous systems in evaluating what sounds equally loud to us, particularly since it doesn't replicate the directionality and frequency filtering of our ears' pinnae.


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## cholmes1

In my experience these are the best films I have heard to date and use as reference for guests. I do have a few CES demo discs so they typically are the easiest, but if someone has the time these are the films I play...



Les Saisons - Excellent overhead use throughout given the open spaces filmed. All of the storm sequences are incredible. Dolby utilized a small clip in a CES demo disc. Easily the best ATMOS disc in my collection. If you do buy, make certain you buy the French version, the U.S. version does not feature an ATMOS track. If you do not speak French, it is a documentary on nature so there is very little dialog.



Ford v. Ferrari - The opening credits set the tempo for the audio experience ahead. Excellent use of space throughout, but the sequence of Ken Miles in his last SCCA race while being courted by Porsche in the Cobra likely is the most active


John Wick 3 - Again, appropriate overhead use throughout, but the final fight scene in the glass tower is the most incredible


Wonder Woman - Not quite as active as the films above, but has a forceful LFE and the scene where the village is attacked is very well composed


San Andreas - A terrible movie by most accounts, but 'blockbuster action' movies usually have the most active sound arrays (Transformers, etc.). In this case the LFE is again strong throughout, even overhead, and the regular engagement of helicopters and collapsing objects creates a fun viewing experience. For this movie the best scene in my view is when the leads daughter is trapped. Nice underwater effects followed shortly by concrete buildings collapsing. 



There are several more movies and I would like to see Gravity in ATOMS but not at the cost they are going for today 


I do agree with @Philnick that you must re-calibrate the overhead speakers again after our AV source calibrates. The singular microphone is not able to capture the sound profile accurately in most setups. After my AV source calibrated I then adjusted all speakers by decibel meter and then again in blind audio samples. It takes some time but once its done...its done


----------



## obonillaf

imagic said:


> Dolby Atmos brinds 3D immersive sound to home viewing, but some movies take better advantage of the format than other. Since its debut, AVS Forum’s Ralph Potts has reviewed many films with Atmos soundtracks and assigned them a numerical rating. This list consists of the ten most recently reviewed movies that have “perfect” scores of 100 for the Atmos mix. If you have an Atmos-capable sound system, these are the reference-quality movie 3D immersive audio mixes you will want to experience.
> 
> *Click here* to see the list


Thank you for the post! These kind of posts are the ones I love the most!

I would recommend this movie for great ATMOS effects: *Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets*


----------



## wxchaser

- 13 Hours the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse
- Pacific Rim
- Deepwater Horizon
- Mad Max Fury Road
- Transformers: Age of Extinction
- The Cloverfield Paradox
- It
- John Wick


----------



## 6month

Mission Impossible: Fallout!!


----------



## Rosellim

*Movie makers are overdoing it*

I enjoy Dolby Atmos, but to me it seems that the movie makers tend to mix the sound with artificially exaggerated sub bass in order to wow the viewers.
I bought a Pioneer Atmos receiver, added two ceiling speakers to my surround system to make it 5.2.1 and used the receiver’s auto calibrate function. The results were a noticeable improvement in sound quality for almost all program content. Very happy with how that worked especially since my living room is quite sonically challenged. If I leave all the sound settings to default and plot the frequency response with a sound meter and white noise source, the plot from 50hz to 15kHz looks like a very scary roller coaster. The auto calibrate did a nice job on improving that with no further tinkering. 
My usual audio and visual content sounded great, but when I played the Blade Runner 2049 4K disc, I had to actually go over to my subwoofer and turn the gain knob down about 10dB. The bass was just obnoxiously strong even in scenes with no explosions, gunshots etc. 
Kudos to Dolby, and I’m very happy with the technology, but my experience is that some movie producers are abusing their powers.


----------



## PlanetAVS

Philnick said:


> _Automatic room correction systems, of whichever brand, use microphones that are pointed at the ceiling._
> 
> This has two pernicious effects:
> 
> 1) Since our ears face forwards and filter out sound from behind, a ceiling-facing microphone tells the system that the rear and surround speakers are louder than we hear them, and leads the system to set them quieter than they should be. This problem pre-dates Atmos and DTS:X, and I've been telling folks for years to follow up the automatic routine with a manual tweak to boost those channels to make them sound as loud as the others while we're sitting facing the screen.
> 
> 2) Enter Atmos and DTS:X and you now have the problem compounded since the calibration microphone is actually pointed at them! So do the same thing and boost them as well in the tweak pass.
> 
> While you can use a sound level meter for this, our brains and ears do even better, since what we're trying to accomplish is making the sound _seem_ equally loud _to us_ regardless what direction it comes from, and a meter is at least one step away from our own nervous systems in evaluating what sounds equally loud to us, particularly since it doesn't replicate the directionality and frequency filtering of our ears' pinnae.


Also applicable for subwoofers?


----------



## TrevEB

Philnick said:


> _Automatic room correction systems, of whichever brand, use microphones that are pointed at the ceiling._
> 
> This seems like over simplification on my part but, it the problem is that the microphone is facing UP, then would facing it toward the screen resolve the problem?
> 
> I’ve used a tripod placed between where my ears would be while sitting in our chairs. Not the cardboard thing included with the multi-thousand dollar Denon. 🙄
> Results have always left me dubious. I’ll be giving the db meter another go.
> 
> Spiderverse (the whole film)
> Ready Player One (opening race)
> Ford vs Ferrari (every race and weather scenes)
> 
> Here’s an oddball,
> DEVS (Crosby Stills, Nash & Young)
> Ok, its not atmos, but they must have remixed the songs as it sounds amazing.


----------



## birdztudio

NMG said:


> I watched the UHD Blu-ray of Bad Boys For Life last night. I thought the movie was okay (typical popcorn flick), but the audio sounded incredible on my system. Loads of stuff going on with the Atmos and surround channels. Sounded awesome!


bad boys for life isn’t Atmos mix, it’s DTS-X


----------



## Killroy

I also forgot about Midway (2019) UHD. Not a great movie but the battle scenes are Atmos heaven...and the LFE kicks butt as well.


----------



## New24K

Any live concerts as good as Hans Zimmer Live In Prague?


----------



## humbland

TrevEB said:


> Philnick said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Automatic room correction systems, of whichever brand, use microphones that are pointed at the ceiling._
> 
> 
> Here’s an oddball,
> DEVS (Crosby Stills, Nash & Young)
> Ok, its not atmos, but they must have remixed the songs as it sounds amazing.
> 
> 
> 
> DEVS?
> I'm a big CSNY fan. Which concert are you referring to?
Click to expand...


----------



## meles

SuperFist said:


> I'd suggest you turn the ceiling speaker levels up.
> 
> I have upfiring speakers and they sound AMAZING! I get complete backwards, forwards surround as well as up and down coverage.


I love my upfiring as well and all things Atmos. So many with in celing Atmos seem to not like Atmos and yet decry Atmos enabled types.


----------



## meles

SuperFist said:


> Your reply reminds me of a response I just gave someone the other day:
> 
> The other thing I think people miss the point of is the "object-enabled" aspect of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. You hear many complain about "not much activity going on up there" when they should be focusing on an expansion of the soundfield as objects can more readily traverse that 3D aural landscape without sounding so "speaker-centric" or specific. This is the ATMOSpheric bubble I like to refer to that gives me such a joy when watching films with this kind of audio mixed properly and done in the right way.
> 
> This is what I've always said and it's what I experience with my upfiring or "bounce" speakers that audio/visual people usually dismiss as a "gimmick"... but guess what? IT'S NOT!! If anything, I just don't think people have it set up properly nor are the Atmos upfiring speakers tilted at enough of an angle to project that bubble of sound overhead and around the main listening position (that's why I wouldn't recommend bulit in-atmos modules with left and right speakers as only separates can be angled properly). I just thought I'd throw this direct quote in from page 12 of the Dolby Atmos Home Installation Guidelines as it directly represents my experience as well...
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf
> 
> _Dolby Atmos enabled speakers produce a slightly more diffuse overhead audio experience that is quite lifelike and, in some cases, may be preferable to the sound that originates from overhead speakers. If the ceiling is low or you have to mount the speakers on overhead trusses or brackets, overhead speakers may be too close to you as you listen. The audio may be distracting because you’ll hear and notice the output from each speaker instead of feeling immersed in an atmosphere in which sounds occur naturally overhead.
> 
> In this environment, Dolby Atmos enabled speakers may be a better solution for reproducing the height plane of sound, similar to what you would hear in a cinema. In a cinema, the overhead speakers are located high in the auditorium and naturally create a more diffuse experience. Using Dolby Atmos enabled speakers produces a similar experience: the reflection of sound off the ceiling makes the overhead effect sound diffuse, which results in the room sounding larger. Audio mixers and experts who have auditioned Dolby Atmos enabled speakers agree that the sound these speakers produce can be preferable to the sound of dedicated overhead speakers._


Well that's it I'm always going to be Atmos enabled with my 7.5 foot celings.

On the ambience front I will say that most of the selections have significant bass posted so far actually have significant bass roll off and I suspect the BEQ approach to restoring this bass would help them tremendously. Bass roll off equals a loss of overall ambience and natural sound.

So I'm going to come out of left field with some ambient faves:
1. Westworld, but upmix the core to Atmos for much better and interesting bass sounds from the music (but do switch back to full Atmos for cowboys and indians shoot em up scenes.)
2. Mary Queen of Scots - the overt effects are things like a bunch of horses galloping down a hill, but the meeting of the Queens has very nice ambience and wind sounds that come out best when your bass is perfectly flat.
3. Khatia Buniatishvili & Zubin Mehta: Liszt & Beethoven 4K, https://www.amazon.com/Khatia-Buniatishvili-Zubin-Mehta-UHD-Blu-ray/dp/B072BWBWVW, cheaper direct from German Amazon - this one was recorded by Dolby and is a perfect disc for hand tuning all aspects of your system as the orchestral sound makes small changes more readily apparent and we have here a live recording of a live acoustic event rather than movie sorcery.
4. Faves for good off the shelf impact with natural sound and extended sound: Transformers Last Knight (not so much natural), Hunter Killer, Power Rangers.
5. Suspiria 1973 just is astoundingly natural Atmos sound with just oodles of ambience and probably the best in this department by a wide margin. Oh and the HDR is jaw dropping.


----------



## rg4471

Maximum7 said:


> Tanquen said:
> 
> 
> 
> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way Iâ€™️m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also donâ€™️t have a wall on the left side.
> 
> 
> 
> Never let ANY built in calibration determine your speaker levels or distances. They will always be wrong, if even just a little.
> Use a tape measure to your listening position and an SPL meter. Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters.
Click to expand...

I use an NTI Audio XL2 that easily performs all the measurements you would ever want from your home theater. It also pointed out errors in the Audyssey cal for distance/delay, level and low frequency flatness. I don’t bother with Audyssey anymore.


----------



## Vankyo

I would recommend Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The Lion King.


----------



## myhikingboots

Something a little more subtle that really moved me was Bohemian Rhapsody. A very nuanced, inventive use of sound IMHO. 
There's a lot of love for Blade Runner 2049 on here and I can't dispute that, but the "original" Blade Runner soundtrack has been a favorite of mine for many years and the new 4k Atmos mix is the best it has ever sounded. I just finished a viewing tonight, and I can't seem to get it out of my head.


----------



## TrevEB

humbland said:


> TrevEB said:
> 
> 
> 
> DEVS?
> I'm a big CSNY fan. Which concert are you referring to?
> 
> 
> 
> DEVS is a series on Hulu by Alex Garland.
> The soundtrack is interesting and similar to the movie Annihilation.
Click to expand...


----------



## Azekecse

PlanetAVS said:


> Curious if Audyssey calibration generates Atmos speaker levels that are too low. It does that for my subwoofer levels.


It did for me, increased my levels ~1.5db-2.5db for my Atmos speakers, depending on the media. Some folks I've been told even goes as high as 3.0db. YMMV of course, find what sounds good to you.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke


----------



## Philnick

humbland said:


> TrevEB said:
> 
> 
> 
> DEVS?
> I'm a big CSNY fan. Which concert are you referring to?
> 
> 
> 
> Ask TrevEB - he's the one who left out the end marker after the first sentence he quoted from me. His post is here.
Click to expand...


----------



## Philnick

TrevEB said:


> Philnick said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Automatic room correction systems, of whichever brand, use microphones that are pointed at the ceiling._
> 
> 
> 
> This seems like over simplification on my part but, it the problem is that the microphone is facing UP, then would facing it toward the screen resolve the problem?
> 
> I’ve used a tripod placed between where my ears would be while sitting in our chairs. Not the cardboard thing included with the multi-thousand dollar Denon. 🙄
> Results have always left me dubious. I’ll be giving the db meter another go.
> . . .
Click to expand...

If the mike is a "cardiod" design - which has a sensitivity pattern that looks like a Valentine's Day heart rotated around its vertical axis (with the mike at the indentation) - pointing it at the screen might work. but if it has an omnidirectional (spherical) pickup pattern it won't matter which way you point it, since our ears are forward-facing cardiod in pickup - due to the soft fleshy "ear trumpets" called pinnae that hold up our eyeglasses - which impose a high frequency rolloff on sounds from the rear as well.

That's why I use the automation to tonally-match my speakers (which come from different manufacturers) and principally to time-delay the nearer speakers for a coherent image, but I use my own senses to level-match them.


----------



## Chris1971

6 Underground is a Michael Bay Netflix film with Ryan Reynolds. Great sound throughout and the car chase at the start makes full use of the overheads and surrounds. Don't take the movie too seriously or overthink the storyline and you should have a lot of fun.


----------



## Panson

Chris1971 said:


> 6 Underground is a Michael Bay Netflix film with Ryan Reynolds. Great sound throughout and the car chase at the start makes full use of the overheads and surrounds. *Don't take the movie too seriously or overthink the storyline and you should have a lot of fun.*


That's the rule-of-thumb for most.


----------



## NuSoardGraphite

Rosellim said:


> I enjoy Dolby Atmos, but to me it seems that the movie makers tend to mix the sound with artificially exaggerated sub bass in order to wow the viewers.
> I bought a Pioneer Atmos receiver, added two ceiling speakers to my surround system to make it 5.2.1 and used the receiver’s auto calibrate function. The results were a noticeable improvement in sound quality for almost all program content. Very happy with how that worked especially since my living room is quite sonically challenged. If I leave all the sound settings to default and plot the frequency response with a sound meter and white noise source, the plot from 50hz to 15kHz looks like a very scary roller coaster. The auto calibrate did a nice job on improving that with no further tinkering.
> My usual audio and visual content sounded great, but when I played the Blade Runner 2049 4K disc, I had to actually go over to my subwoofer and turn the gain knob down about 10dB. The bass was just obnoxiously strong even in scenes with no explosions, gunshots etc.
> Kudos to Dolby, and I’m very happy with the technology, but my experience is that some movie producers are abusing their powers.


LFE is quite popular among home theater enthusiasts and sound designers know this. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them do mix their movies hot in the LFE just to generate buzz for their home video releases.


----------



## NuSoardGraphite

Tanquen said:


> Yeah my system is -20 max whatever that really is, I'm sure not all systems are the same at that volume level on the AVR. Even -20 you're damaging your hearing and any higher is nuts I don't know how people can stand it.


at -20db, the average SPL should hover somewhere between 60 and 70db. 65db is the SPL of the average conversation. The peaks will be around 85db which is loud, but they aren't sustained so damage shouldn't be much of a threat at that level.



> I've been playing with the dynamic EQ and voume since I got the unit but it's really hard to test as it definitely changes the overall volume like I have to lower the volume after enabling it so it makes it hard to tell what it's really doing. With a default offset I have to drop it like 10-15db.


well the entire goal of Dynamic EQ is to raise the volume of the surrounds (and now also Atmos speakers) so that lower volume effects can still be heard within the sound field. I would recommend to set it at +5db in the offset, that seems to boost them a little without going overboard. I had mine set at +10 and it was making the surround content much louder than the front soundstage. When I set it back down to +5 it sounded a lot more balanced, however there were still moments when it boosted the surrounds a bit too much. If your surrounds are a lot closer to you than your front soundstage, +0 or +5 offset is where you want to be.



> The bigger issue is movies randomly mess with you. Big name studios with Atmos or whatever they'll still just have random scenes that are just super loud compared to everything else and you're constantly monkeying with the volume.


Yep. That's the dynamic range of the soundtrack. Its supposed to be a good thing....its more realistic in that whispers are quiet, conversations are normal volume and explosions are loud. In real life, explosions are VERY loud....I have hearing damage from the military, walking outside without hearing protection when they were firing off the big guns on a ship....BOOM...it literally stunned me, I had to sit down until my head cleared and my hearing returned. The dynamic range in a movie soundtrack is trying to convey this difference, only without the hearing damage. Remember that movie soundtracks have +20db peaks and if your system is calibrated, Reference will be 85db, so volume of -20 (60 absolute) will be 65db (conversation level) with peaks of up to 85db (which is the average level at reference +0)

If you are having trouble hearing the volume of the speakers at -30db, then my suggestion is to lower the ambient noise floor of your house or apartment. If you have fans going and the A/C running and the exhaust over your stove running and the bathroom fans running and the washing machine or dryer going all at the same time, your ambient noise floor is going to be above 40db. Any sounds below this point is going to get lost, and sounds within 10db to 15db probably won't sound very clear as the white noise from all the running equipment partially drowns them out. If you go through your place and turn off absolutely everything that makes noise, you will be shocked at how quiet it sounds and how much clearer your normal listening volume will now sound. Most people just turn the volume up and power through the ambient noise, and that does work, but if you don't want to turn it up....make your place quieter and that will help you immensely.


----------



## PlasmaHiDef

birdztudio said:


> bad boys for life isn’t Atmos mix, it’s DTS-X


I just watched it last night, via iTunes. The listing mentions ATMOS and Dolby Vision. Sure enough, when the movie started, Dolby Vision appeared briefly on my TV screen and Dolby Atmos scrolled across my sound bar screen.


----------



## kmfellows

GPBURNS said:


> 2 others to add to movies mentioned are brightburn and A Quiet Place -
> of note if not mistaken Ghost Protocol is not Atmos


+1
By coincidence, I watched A Quiet Place yesterday, and Brightburn last week. Both have moments when the rear and or overheads are really utilized and make you jump! That's when the Atmos is really fun. Many Atmos tracks don't seem to add much beyond the 7.1 Lossless mixes.


----------



## Joshua Chmiel

PlasmaHiDef said:


> I just watched it last night, via iTunes. The listing mentions ATMOS and Dolby Vision. Sure enough, when the movie started, Dolby Vision appeared briefly on my TV screen and Dolby Atmos scrolled across my sound bar screen.


That is what is confusing and frustrating. The 4K Disc release got the "Imax Enhanced" treatment which is just HDR10 and DTS:X. Digital code on VUDU got me Dolby Vision and Atmos, albeit compressed.


----------



## MATTHEW PATIENT

Joshua Chmiel said:


> That is what is confusing and frustrating. The 4K Disc release got the "Imax Enhanced" treatment which is just HDR10 and DTS:X. Digital code on VUDU got me Dolby Vision and Atmos, albeit compressed.



it wasnt that great if a movie anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## omardd98

Killroy said:


> 50 posts and no one has mentioned Gravity (Diamond Edition)?!?! Really?!?! LOL


That Damn movie is so expensive if you can even find it. lol I would love to get my hands on one.


----------



## omardd98

PlasmaHiDef said:


> I just watched it last night, via iTunes. The listing mentions ATMOS and Dolby Vision. Sure enough, when the movie started, Dolby Vision appeared briefly on my TV screen and Dolby Atmos scrolled across my sound bar screen.


We need a list of DTSX movies to go along with the Dolby Atmos list


----------



## Killroy

omardd98 said:


> That Damn movie is so expensive if you can even find it. lol I would love to get my hands on one.


It was a limited edition release and everyone wants it due to the incredible Atmos track.


----------



## omardd98

Chris1971 said:


> 6 Underground is a Michael Bay Netflix film with Ryan Reynolds. Great sound throughout and the car chase at the start makes full use of the overheads and surrounds. Don't take the movie too seriously or overthink the storyline and you should have a lot of fun.


I would love to have this on 4k UHD so I can really enjoy the sound mix of this film and not have it via Streaming only.


----------



## PlanetAVS

omardd98 said:


> We need a list of DTSX movies to go along with the Dolby Atmos list


Here you go, just input "DTS:X" in the Audio field and select on the BluRay 4K filter to get updated results in the future. You can do the same for ATMOS. 

151 results for UHD with DTS:X

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/sear...t=&slipcoverback=&submit=Search&action=search


----------



## ykjones

Maximum7 said:


> Never let ANY built in calibration determine your speaker levels or distances. They will always be wrong, if even just a little.
> Use a tape measure to your listening position and an SPL meter. Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters.


Maximum7 - I see you are in Vancouver, WA too?


----------



## trespoochies

Killroy said:


> It was a limited edition release and everyone wants it due to the incredible Atmos track.


It's definitely an Atmos reference track. I play that disc first when friends want to hear what it sounds like.


----------



## Philnick

Maximum7 said:


> Never let ANY built in calibration determine your speaker levels or distances. They will always be wrong, if even just a little.
> Use a tape measure to your listening position and an SPL meter. Also turn off ALL of Audyssey's Volume levelers and limiters.


But don't point your SPL meter at the speakers or you'll have the same problem I described. Assuming that it has a cardiod pickup pattern, point it at the screen, so it can mimic the cardiod pickup pattern of our ears.

If it has an omnidirectional (spherical) pickup pattern, don't trust it except to get you into the ballpark - trust your ears for the final setting of equal levels from all speakers instead.


----------



## Maximum7

Interesting. I have always pointed mine up when calibrating. 
https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/how-to-manually-level-match-speakers


----------



## Philnick

Maximum7 said:


> Interesting. I have always pointed mine up when calibrating.
> https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/how-to-manually-level-match-speakers


Yep, and while I consider Audioholics to be one of the better sites for advice, they're wrong about this, along with the rest of the industry. 

Think about it. Our ears attenuate sounds from the rear, which is why setting the level of those speakers with a meter that ignores that fact leaves us wondering whether those speakers are even on. 

Worse, setting the level of ceiling speakers with a meter pointing at them, overstating their volume even more, leaves us complaining that Atmos is wimpy and oversold. 

That's why I say that short of using a classic "binaural head" microphone to calibrate (assuming it has pinnae), our own senses are the best way to set levels, by listening to the channels one at a time while facing the screen.


----------



## Maximum7

I'll have to give pointing it at the screen a try. 

Your comments remind me of a installer I read about. He would have his listener sit in position while he would go in front and talk, and where his voice sounded the best to the listener, that's where he'd put the speaker.


----------



## Philnick

Maximum7 said:


> . . .
> 
> Your comments remind me of a installer I read about. He would have his listener sit in position while he would go in front and talk, and where his voice sounded the best to the listener, that's where he'd put the speaker.


The midrange version of the "bass crawl."


----------



## omardd98

So I just watched Transformers The last knight in 4k is it just me or was the Dolby Atmos Mix not one of the best heard? My head was moving left and right when certain sounds came flying out of the surround speakers. The bass was also on point and I don't even have good subs (well not yet). So far it has to be my best sounding Dolby Atmos mix.


----------



## ki11abee

My top 10 for Atmos in no particular order would be:
10. Mad Max
9. Fury
8. Godzilla King of monsters
7. A quiet Place
6. Gravity
5. Midway
4. Ready Player One
3. Hacksaw Ridge
2. Transformers 4&5
1. John Wick
Theres more out there, but these r top notch!


----------



## Thebarnman

Tanquen said:


> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


I hear ya. I too had some Atmos speakers installed and even though I can tell when they are on (sometimes) many times I'm lost as to what they are doing as far as the above sound goes. I like it best when something happens above rather than constantly being submersed in all the audio at once for long periods of time. I really don't hear the separation from the front and back Atmos speakers and I certainly (at least not yet) heard anything that went from above down, or down up.


----------



## Thebarnman

rhelliott2 said:


> Can't believe ready player one wasn't on the list... That race scene.


I've heard that race scene from a Atmos demo disc just after the Atmos speakers were installed. I guess it was ok, most of the time I can't tell what's above. 

When I play Blade Runner, I can hear from above when there's a voice on the PA system, and that floating ship with the billboard when it announces it's commercial; it's loud and above.


----------



## Thebarnman

meles said:


> Well that's it I'm always going to be Atmos enabled with my 7.5 foot celings.
> 
> 
> 5. Suspiria 1973 just is astoundingly natural Atmos sound with just oodles of ambience and probably the best in this department by a wide margin. Oh and the HDR is jaw dropping.


Suspiria is 1977.


----------



## Tanquen

Thebarnman said:


> Tanquen said:
> 
> 
> 
> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way Iâ€™️m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also donâ€™️t have a wall on the left side.
> 
> 
> 
> I hear ya. I too had some Atmos speakers installed and even though I can tell when they are on (sometimes) many times I'm lost as to what they are doing as far as the above sound goes. I like it best when something happens above rather than constantly being submersed in all the audio at once for long periods of time. I really don't hear the separation from the front and back Atmos speakers and I certainly (at least not yet) heard anything that went from above down, or down up.
Click to expand...

But then you hear some talk about how amazing the effect is but I struggle to hear anything most of the time. Maybe something more than the rear center channel that I don't think I've ever noticed anything come out of though when I stand next to it I hear sounds. Then there are the reviews that say the up firing that bounce off the ceiling are not as good let alone an Atmos soundbar, I can't imagine how bad they are when I barely notice the 4 expensive speakers I mounted into the ceiling. I truly think the biggest issue is that the majority of shows that have an Atmos track never make use of the ceiling speakersor at best it's a slightly fuller sound that's hard to notice. Like how most every show is 5.1 surround and 90% of the sounds come out of the front center and maybe another 9% from the left and right.


----------



## Thebarnman

Tanquen said:


> But then you hear some talk about how amazing the effect is but I struggle to hear anything most of the time. Maybe something more than the rear center channel that I don't think I've ever noticed anything come out of though when I stand next to it I hear sounds. Then there are the reviews that say the up firing that bounce off the ceiling are not as good let alone an Atmos soundbar, I can't imagine how bad they are when I barely notice the 4 expensive speakers I mounted into the ceiling. I truly think the biggest issue is that the majority of shows that have an Atmos track never make use of the ceiling speakersor at best it's a slightly fuller sound that's hard to notice. Like how most every show is 5.1 surround and 90% of the sounds come out of the front center and maybe another 9% from the left and right.


The surrounds in my setup are incredible. Last year I had new rear speakers installed that were much better in quality and placement than what I had before. With the Atmos, over the years I might have them placed somewhere else (moved just a little bit here and there) or get a different professional opinion by having someone come over who is familiar with certain tracks that contain Atmos audio to see if they hear the same or something different than what they are used to hearing with their assumingly very proper setup.


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## Philnick

birdztudio said:


> bad boys for life isn’t Atmos mix, it’s DTS-X





PlasmaHiDef said:


> I just watched it last night, via iTunes. The listing mentions ATMOS and Dolby Vision. Sure enough, when the movie started, Dolby Vision appeared briefly on my TV screen and Dolby Atmos scrolled across my sound bar screen.


Doesn't matter whether Dolby TrueHD Atmos or DTS:X is used on the disk, the streaming services use DD+ Atmos for either of them. I doubt that we'll see lossless audio - even without overhead channels - over streaming anytime soon, since DD+ sounds pretty good - and takes a lot less bandwidth.


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## Thebarnman

But I want Dolby TrueHD Atmos from a streaming service AND I WANT IT NOW!


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## dinah-moe-humm

Thebarnman said:


> But I want Dolby TrueHD Atmos from a streaming service AND I WANT IT NOW!


I absolutely agree with you!


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## PlanetAVS

Thebarnman said:


> But I want Dolby TrueHD Atmos from a streaming service AND I WANT IT NOW!





dinah-moe-humm said:


> I absolutely agree with you!


Doubt we'll see that until 5G comes


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## Thebarnman

PlanetAVS said:


> Doubt we'll see that until 5G comes


Well I guess 5G is fine if your talking about smart phones. What about cable?


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## PlanetAVS

Thebarnman said:


> Well I guess 5G is fine if your talking about smart phones. What about cable?


5G will also provide home internet


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## Thebarnman

PlanetAVS said:


> 5G will also provide home internet



Interesting, so maybe that's when I'll get rid of DirecTV. In the meantime I still enjoy Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray the most. And personally, I still like to collect the movies I buy.


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## [email protected]

GalvatronType_R said:


> Side note: ceiling bounce speakers are a gimmick.
> 
> I have upfiring speakers because I cannot mount speakers on my ceiling. There is barely any overhead info in my setup; I describe it as "waist level Atmos" in that the sound is only waist level high. And yes, I have turned up the levels higher than what Audyssey XT32 returned.
> 
> Dolby claiming that sounds bounces off the ceiling down to the MLP is laughable. That's like saying mounting a center channel behind the MLP pointing towards a sidewall will bounce dialogue to the MLP.
> 
> I have never heard a bounce theater sound as good as a ceiling theater. One friend cut holes in his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Another friend mounted Bose cubes to his ceiling and Atmos in his theater blows mine away. Both do not have equipment much better than mine, it's their setup and positioning that make the difference.
> 
> So if possible, mount speaker in or on your ceiling. Do not expect equivalent results if you opt for speakers pointing up.
> 
> As for great Atmos movies that haven't been listed, try Seven Worlds One Planet, Pacific Rim, and the Shallows.


Hi,
I have Dolby Atmos enabled speakers, which are two in one front speakers; 1) front right or left and an 2) upfiring speaker. I felt the same way as you until I saw that the upfiring speakers should be set to 200HZ. Otherwise the sound won"t bounce off of the ceiling well. Hope this helps.


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## [email protected]

ykjones said:


> Maximum7 - I see you are in Vancouver, WA too?


I would say a good laser pointer is very helpful too. And when measuring the distance of atmos enabled or upfiring atmos speakers don't forget to measure the distance from the speaker to the ceiling, and then the ceiling to the listening position. Otherwise the distance isn't correct.


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## shinksma

I appreciate all the suggestions here for good Atmos demo material.

I've recently upgraded to Atmos, and my rear surrounds are so high they can function in either 5.1.4 or 7.1.2. 

I tried both configurations recently using a BD movie that I happened to have with a supposedly good Atmos ceiling-oriented scene: Hunger Games Mockingjay pt 1. The particular scene sounded great, but was very "front forward" in the "ceiling" speakers in a 5.1.4 config. So I wonder what films demo the rear ceilings / rear heights well, specifically.

I've seen references to A Quiet Place and Brightburn having some good use of the rear tops - is there any other good demo material to suggest that exercises those speakers in a typical 5.1.4 setup?

There is a lot of good stuff in plain-old 7.1, so I am obviously trying to weigh which configuration I want to default to. Right now I'm a little underwhelmed with what Mockingjay pt 1 represented.

Suggestions?


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## shinksma

So I'm going to retract my statement about being underwhelmed with Mockingjay Pt 1 for now, though my request for "good demo material of exercising the top rears" still exists.

I took a look at the manual for my receiver to look at something somewhat unrelated (browsing the various listening modes), and I realized that while cycling through those listening modes to hear what did what, I do not recall seeing "Dolby Atmos" during my experiments - it had been there on a previous listen, though. So I am thinking something handshook wrong, or I somehow unselected the Atmos soundtrack on the BD. 

Darn, now I have to go play with my toys again later tonight!


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## Philnick

shinksma said:


> So I'm going to retract my statement about being underwhelmed with Mockingjay Pt 1 for now, though my request for "good demo material of exercising the top rears" still exists.
> 
> I took a look at the manual for my receiver to look at something somewhat unrelated (browsing the various listening modes), and I realized that while cycling through those listening modes to hear what did what, I do not recall seeing "Dolby Atmos" during my experiments - it had been there on a previous listen, though. So I am thinking something handshook wrong, or I somehow unselected the Atmos soundtrack on the BD.
> 
> Darn, now I have to go play with my toys again later tonight!


The Display button is your friend - at least on a Yamaha, and I suspect with other brands as well. It should show you on screen what your AVR is putting out, whether the native soundtrack, including Atmos or DTS:X, or a synthetic surround. (Vienna Music Hall, anyone?) 

At least on Yamaha AVRs, choosing a DSP mode other than "Auto Decode" (which defers to true Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks and steps out of the way) will use that DSP mode and ignore the Atmos or DTS:X layer. 

If I liked what the Dolby Surround Upmixer ("DSU") sounds like - I don't, it sounds muddy to me - I'd use Auto Decode, which uses Neural:X only for DTS tracks and DSU for everything else. Since I think Neural:X sounds much clearer, I use that as my default and toggle it off and on with the Straight button, while watching what Display tells me I'm getting.

Of course, when playing a stereo source, I use the setting that does not try to synthesize surround but just ties all the channels on each side of the room together, like a car stereo. On my Yammy it's called "9 Channel Stereo."


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## shinksma

shinksma said:


> ... I do not recall seeing "Dolby Atmos" during my experiments - it had been there on a previous listen, though. So I am thinking something handshook wrong, or I somehow unselected the Atmos soundtrack on the BD.
> 
> Darn, now I have to go play with my toys again later tonight!


I just had a quick chance to look at the setup again, and indeed I could not get Dolby Atmos to appear as a receiver mode. So I poked around in my BD player setup, and found that the setting to mix in Secondary Audio had been enabled. I've used this player for about a year and was pretty sure that was off the whole time, but now I wonder...

Also possible I just never had any secondary audio selected to mess it up, but somehow I managed to do that with MJ pt2. :shrug:

Anyway, with settings properly cleaned up, I listened to the same scenes in 7.1.2 and 5.1.4, with the rear heights for 5.1.4 toggled between Rear High and Rear Top for giggles. Although there was more discrete stuff going on in those speakers in 5.1.4 than my previous poorly-configured experiments, I still found the overall mix more enjoyable in 7.1.2, probably because those rear highs were just more active more of the time. Sounds that were present in the 5.1.4 mode were usually present in 7.1.2 (though sometimes a bit diminished), with more rear-surround info presented in 7.1.2, of course.

Kinda wish I had spent a bit more for an 11 channel receiver when I did that last upgrade a couple of years ago (but at the time, I was just replacing a 7 channel receiver, and was more interested in 5.1 plus two receiver-powered zones). 

Oh well, next year? (After the 4K J upgrade.)


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## Philnick

shinksma said:


> I just had a quick chance to look at the setup again, and indeed I could not get Dolby Atmos to appear as a receiver mode. So I poked around in my BD player setup, and found that the setting to mix in Secondary Audio had been enabled. I've used this player for about a year and was pretty sure that was off the whole time, but now I wonder...
> 
> Also possible I just never had any secondary audio selected to mess it up, but somehow I managed to do that with MJ pt2. :shrug:
> 
> Anyway, with settings properly cleaned up, I listened to the same scenes in 7.1.2 and 5.1.4, with the rear heights for 5.1.4 toggled between Rear High and Rear Top for giggles. Although there was more discrete stuff going on in those speakers in 5.1.4 than my previous poorly-configured experiments, I still found the overall mix more enjoyable in 7.1.2, probably because those rear highs were just more active more of the time. Sounds that were present in the 5.1.4 mode were usually present in 7.1.2 (though sometimes a bit diminished), with more rear-surround info presented in 7.1.2, of course.
> 
> Kinda wish I had spent a bit more for an 11 channel receiver when I did that last upgrade a couple of years ago (but at the time, I was just replacing a 7 channel receiver, and was more interested in 5.1 plus two receiver-powered zones).
> 
> Oh well, next year? (After the 4K J upgrade.)


If your AVR gives you preamp outputs tor the overhead channels and the ability to tell the it that you're using an external amplifier for them you can use a old stereo integrated amp or receiver (you need a master gain for it, or I'd say just a power amp) to power the other two overhead channels. 

If you can find an older AVR that has the classic multichannel 5.1 or 7.1 RCA input jacks, you can use it to power _all four_ overhead channels, conserving the main AVRs power for the seven principal speakers - that's what I did

Some folks go the other way and use an external amp for the front left and right mains and have the main AVR power all the other channels - front center and all the surrounds - ground level and overhead.

In any of these use cases, the main AVR can still do the room correction for the whole system.


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## TarantuloTV

imagic said:


> Dolby Atmos brinds 3D immersive sound to home viewing, but some movies take better advantage of the format than other. Since its debut, AVS Forum’s Ralph Potts has reviewed many films with Atmos soundtracks and assigned them a numerical rating. This list consists of the ten most recently reviewed movies that have “perfect” scores of 100 for the Atmos mix. If you have an Atmos-capable sound system, these are the reference-quality movie 3D immersive audio mixes you will want to experience.


Thank you for the list. Although a mistake in the text 😅

Dolby Atmos *brinds *- brings


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## tingham

I watched Ready Player One for the first time last night on my 7.1.2 system and I was impressed, highly recommend. I've heard alot of Atmos titles and it ranks right up there at the top. The overhead affects are nice for Atmos but the whole 3D immersive sound is what impresses me the most about Atmos. To hear the sounds coming out of a specific speaker matching the scene setup is so gratifying.


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## shinksma

Philnick said:


> If your AVR gives you preamp outputs tor the overhead channels and the ability to tell the it that you're using an external amplifier for them you can use a old stereo integrated amp or receiver (you need a master gain for it, or I'd say just a power amp) to power the other two overhead channels.
> 
> If you can find an older AVR that has the classic multichannel 5.1 or 7.1 RCA input jacks, you can use it to power _all four_ overhead channels, conserving the main AVRs power for the seven principal speakers - that's what I did
> 
> Some folks go the other way and use an external amp for the front left and right mains and have the main AVR power all the other channels - front center and all the surrounds - ground level and overhead.
> 
> In any of these use cases, the main AVR can still do the room correction for the whole system.


As far as I know, my AVR does not support anything beyond 5.1.4 or 7.1.2 using any of the pre-outs for the other zones. Because yeah, I have a couple of multi-ch input receivers laying about idle (older Onkyo 606s with dead HDMI).

Lemme look again at my AVR and manual, though, I might be wrong.

EDIT: Indeed, the Onkyo RZ630 AVR pre-outs are for Zone 2 only. No linking their use to a main room surround mode.


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## Rengozu

I have lots of favs, but I'll name a couple that didn't make the list and didn't already see in the thread.

Confused why that Cloverfield Blu-Ray release made the UHD Top 10, but if Blu-Rays count too then you guys are all sleeping on "Annabelle:Creation". Seriously, it never seems to make the real lists and it's a crime. 

Another of the best Atmos mixes there is comes from the same guy that did Gravity, and that's "Roma". Now most people won't give a damn about the actual movie, but from the opening scene you'll hear more atmospheric audio immersion than practically anything else out there. You owe it to yourself to at least sample it. (Now available on Criterion Blu-Ray)


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## MagnumX

One of the best demo worthy movies for overheads, IMO is the remake of Flatliners from 2017. I think it's only in Atmos in streaming form (e.g. ITunes), but there is an Auro-3D BD available as well (in terms of the talking voices in the opening title sequence on the ceiling, they sound the same with the same speaker setup). 

Basically, voices are talking about near-death experiences for around 2 minutes during the titles and they are appearing and/or moving all over the ceiling (100% ceiling only at that I believe). It's awesome. The movie itself is a bit of a let down by comparison, but I still enjoyed it. Nothing else I can think of demonstrates the overhead speakers better. Of course with all overheads, it's not a bubble, but it's ceiling fantastic.


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## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> Basically, voices are talking about near-death experiences for around 2 minutes during the titles and they are appearing and/or moving all over the ceiling (100% ceiling only at that I believe). It's awesome. The movie itself is a bit of a let down by comparison, but I still enjoyed it. Nothing else I can think of demonstrates the overhead speakers better. Of course with all overheads, it's not a bubble, but it's ceiling fantastic.


I don't understand your comment about it not being a bubble (with all overheads.) Are you saying all overheads are ceiling only? 

Most of what I've heard in Atmos does sound like a bubble.


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## MagnumX

Thebarnman said:


> I don't understand your comment about it not being a bubble (with all overheads.) Are you saying all overheads are ceiling only?
> 
> Most of what I've heard in Atmos does sound like a bubble.


I'm saying for that 2 minutes other than the background music, all the voices are 100% (or close to it) in the ceiling speakers. The voices move all over the ceiling, but not around the bed level or in-between parts of the room. You can't really have a "bubble" sound if only the top of the bubble is being used. I'm not saying the rest of the movie is like that. I'm saying the newer Flatliners in Atmos or Auro-3D is a great ceiling/overhead speaker demo for that 2 minutes or so during the title sequence.

If you want a more balanced Atmos/X/Auro experience where sounds are coming from all over the place, I'd say one of the best examples I've heard is *FURY* with Brad Pitt. The artillery shelling and the sounds of the Germans trying to break into the tank (clamoring all around and on top of the tank with the camera inside the tank) is just amazing in that movie. (Hacksaw Ridge was also very good and parts of Saving Private Ryan, although it only uses 2 overheads and sort of cheats with some bed panning effects with planes thrown in to make it seem like there's front/back panning at times overhead with the main sound actually only getting louder/softer directly overhead as it pans other parts below).

*Overlord* has this great ceiling moment where a kid drops a baseball in the attic above and you hear the ball rolling across your ceiling. Yes, the opening sequence with the planes is impressive for the bubble effect and loud dynamic range, but moments like that ball rolling on the ceiling call far more attention to the overhead speakers than when crap is blowing up everywhere, IMO. 

The most "bubble like" moments I can think of offhand had to be THE MEG (_very_ convincing underwater all around in every direction effect) and with Neural X watching episodes of The Orville (when the ship is being attacked in several episodes, you can just hear it all around in every direction and that's just with Neural X on the 5.1 sound). 

I have to say the _original_ *Jumanji* movie with Robin Williams had an extremely impressive Atmos soundtrack (more so for overhead use than the sequels, IMO as it had me practically swinging my arms at giant mosquitos attacking directly overhead and animals running across the room in virtually every direction imaginable at some point (great use of rear surrounds which isn't super common).

I'm not sure why the original author hasn't corrected Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol (it's not Atmos), but it does have a great 7.1 soundtrack that upmixes quite well. The *Fallout* sequel has excellent Atmos sound, especially towards the end (Rogue Nation wasn't as impressive as either IMO despite Atmos sound). 

If you don't want to limit to just Atmos, the Harry Potter movies in DTS:X have just crazy good use of the overheads for everything from thunderstorms to flying cars to broomsticks and even the main school clock. Really, most DTS:X movies I've heard that have Atmos versions sound virtually the same here with 11.1 decoding. *Crimson Peak* in DTS:X also has very creepy quiet moments with sounds appearing all over the room.

I agree with *Blade Runner 2049* being one of the best overall Atmos experiences (not necessarily the most overhead use, but crazy powerful bass and well rounded surround use overall. I also thought the movie itself was actually better than the original, but that's very subjective). 

The original *Blade Runner* movie in Atmos is also excellent, although I can see why some have complained the original soundtrack wasn't on the UHD disc (I've got the BD collectors set that has all the versions in it, though so I think of it as having lots of options and for a dumped version for KODI, it's possible to restore the original soundtrack to the 4K version with a bit of effort using the 2K BD to dump it and then remux, although I tend to watch the US Theatrical version a lot anyway as I actually liked the Harrison Ford narration and that's 2K only).

Star Trek *BEYOND* also had an excellent soundtrack and I don't think it was mentioned (It was particularly great with 3D and Atmos combined).

*Kong:* *SKULL ISLAND* also has a great Atmos soundtrack. 

There are lots of other very good to excellent ones as well, but it almost gets to the point where it's easier to list the "utterly disappointing" Atmos soundtracks instead as some are quite pitfiul (e.g. Labyrinth doesn't sound much different over most of the movie than the original Dolby Surround (Pro Logic type) soundtrack). It seems to me that if you're going to do a new Atmos soundtrack you should go full immersive or just leave it alone. If you want to "honor" the original soundtrack, USE the original soundtrack (or at least make it available). But if you're going to do an updated soundtrack, use it for the best of its capabilities (just my opinion, of course).

One of the soundtracks that impressed me with the Atmos version not so much for overhead use, but compared to the original soundtrack was *Groundhog Day* as it has so much surround ambience in it compared to the original and 5.1 soundtracks that it seemed almost like I was standing there in the town at times. Unlike movies where the surround ambience is turned off or way down except during action sequences, Groundhog Day uses it all the time at levels that are almost distracting, but totally more believable for what is happening on-screen. I think the person doing the remix really understood the concept of "immersion".


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## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> I'm saying for that 2 minutes other than the background music, all the voices are 100% (or close to it) in the ceiling speakers. The voices move all over the ceiling, but not around the bed level or in-between parts of the room. I'm saying the newer Flatliners in Atmos or Auro-3D is a great ceiling/overhead speaker demo for that 2 minutes or so during the title sequence.


I'm lucky enough to have a copy of a Dolby Atmos demo disc (September 2015) with a track titled "Helicopter Demo" where the audio is of a helicopter's blades whirling about (along with the sound of the engine.) The audio only comes from the ceiling speakers and it starts out (if I remember correctly) with the audio coming from the front left, then moves to the rear left, then to the rear right, then to the front right, and then back to the front left where it repeats continually for almost a minute.

Mainly I think it should sound like a helicopter circling over me, or at least when the audio is coming from the front Atmos speakers, I think I should hear it above AND at least somewhat in front (from the ceiling speaker of course) but it doesn't. It sounds as if it's just slightly ahead not further than my nose, and the rear Atmos speakers sound like it's slightly MAYBE behind me but more like above where my ear is, (coming from above of course) which is not much difference in distance from the front of my nose. So instead of hearing Atmos audio above way in front, or above way in back, it all sounds like it's almost all directly above with not much separation. 

With my setup, it's hard for me to make out much difference between the front and rear ceiling speakers (a huge disappointment since I sunk a lot of money into having Atmos added to my system this past spring.) If I really listen critically enough I can make it out, but I have to be really thinking about it...hard; and sitting somewhere very special just to get the effect. By the way, the audio level of my Atmos speakers (I don't believe) is the issue. Instead of blending with the rest of the system, I think my Atmos speakers are set at 2 or 3 decibels louder (maybe even a little bit more.) The reason for that is I was having trouble hearing the Atmos speakers...to me it should be obvious they are being used. 

My surrounds are great, and I don't have to think or listen hard at all to hear things going from front to back, back to front, or just have something coming only from the rear left or only from the rear right and talk about surrounds being immersive...it's very obvious. And the audio from and to the surrounds is smooth going and/or coming from any direction. I love the way my surrounds are set up. 

With this Flatliners movie in Atmos, you're describing it as "voices move all over the ceiling." With my setup, I bet during that part I would probably (maybe) make out audio from above but without the dramatic movement that your experiencing and describing here.

By the way, what do you mean by "bed level?" And what do you mean when you say the audio does not go around the "in-between parts of the room?" Bed level I can't guess at, but I might be able to guess at what you mean by "in-between parts of the room." Are you saying the audio simply does not travel smoothly between the Atmos speakers? 

The rest of everything else you describe with the movie titles you talked about sounds really cool. I have I think about six or seven highly recommended Atmos titles. I have been disappointing with MOSTLY what I've been experiencing, so it hasn't really been that much fun watching these movies and I've only watched about two or three of them because of that. A good example would be a certain part of a movie titled "Ready Player One" (not being one of the titles I own.) There's a scene where a race is about to begin and there's audio all over the place and possibly above. I don't hear any great separation of what's going on all around me and what might be coming from above. I've read where people are saying it's a fantastic demo for Atmos, but for me (at most) it just sounds like I'm sitting in a bubble of audio. This bubble effect is much of what I've been experiencing with Atmos. Rarely do I hear something that's obviously from above. Like I said, sometimes if it is from above, it sounds as if it's part of the surround speakers. 

Now I will say I'm very impressed on how a part with the original Blade Runner sounds in Atmos (a title I do own.) Near the very beginning there's a PA system used to call the first replicant for an interview. The audio from that PA system IS directly above, and a few moments later the commercial being announced directly above from that high in the sky billboard blimp, well that's directly overhead too and that sounds very cool and it's all very obvious. I haven't watched the rest of the movie, but I'm impressed with what I have heard from that so far. 

Then there are sounds that are from above and I'm not sure if it's coming from the Atmos speakers, or from the surrounds (or if it's a mixture of both.) Sometimes I think I'm hearing something from above and going back for a careful review (by getting out of my seat and walking around the room) I discover it may be something that's only coming from the surrounds. Or I hear something from above, but it's hard to distinguish if it's really coming from the surrounds. So that is frustrating to me. 

I love your suggestions and I'd like to give them all a try, but till I can figure out why my Atmos setup does not sound like I think it should it's not going to be much fun listening/watching those movies. 

I'd also like how you describe the Harry Potter movies since I understand DTS:X should be mostly (or 100%) compatible with my Atmos setup. 

I'm not too sure about the X/Auro though. I don't know how that would work with Atmos.

About my setup: I've been told vaulted ceilings are not ideal for Atmos audio, but at the time of the install I think the company installing them did their best with the bad situation. The speakers used for Atmos reproduction are not internally pointed straight, they are set up like a V configuration so the drivers are pointed directly to my listening position from inside the ceiling. Attached are images to help clarify what I'm talking about. 

I think what I'm going to do is in the future (probably in a couple years) visit a place that has a really nice Atmos system set up and listen to some of the Atmos material with which I'm familiar. If the effects are just exactly what I'm already experiencing, then I'll leave it be. But, if it's providing a really cool experience like what I expect I should already be experiencing, then I'll see what I can have done to have that changed. Another thing I think I can do is having someone different come over who knows what Atmos should sound like and get a 2nd opinion. The place where I purchased the Atoms speakers and the person who balanced them with the rest of my system is from a highly regarded high end audio company very close to me. And by the way, the drivers are the same in my Atmos speakers as are the ones in my surrounds. 

My setup is 7.1.4. There are two subs so someone might call it 7.2.4, but since the subs are in mono, I think it's more accurate to say it's 7.1.4.


----------



## MagnumX

Thebarnman said:


> Mainly I think it should sound like a helicopter circling over me, or at least when the audio is coming from the front Atmos speakers, I think I should hear it above AND at least somewhat in front (from the ceiling speaker of course) but it doesn't. It sounds as if it's just slightly ahead not further than my nose, and the rear Atmos speakers sound like it's slightly MAYBE behind me but more like above where my ear is, (coming from above of course) which is not much difference in distance from the front of my nose. So instead of hearing Atmos audio above way in front, or above way in back, it all sounds like it's almost all directly above with not much separation.


Looking at your photos, there's not a lot of distance between the front and rear speakers overhead and given the way the ear hears sounds overhead less well than in front and to the sides, that might be the reason you're not hearing much front to back travel, although it sure looks like you should hear at least some movement in that direction. Believe it or not, some people prefer most of the overhead sounds to be in a small range "directly above" their couch as some people don't like sounds coming from lower angles that doesn't sound like "overhead" as much. In other words, 30 degrees for front heights is hardly directly overhead by themselves and sounds at least start at the speakers themselves and pan in-between. Ideally, you would want separation of 90 degrees total between front/rear tops (+45 to +135 degrees or +45/-45 if you treat your listening position as the zero point in a 4 quadrant grid). Less separation means less travel for something like the helicopter. 

For example, I have 6 overheads at 30/100/160 (relative to the MLP; it's actually room based at front/middle/back with the 3 rows of seats whose angles accordingly vary depending on the row in which you sit. In other words, the helicopter travels almost from the front left corner of the room to the back left corner, across, and then forward from the back right corner to the front right corner, passing through each speaker in turn as it pans. This is the same distances and alignments with the lower ear level (that I'm referring to as "bed" level) speakers as I have the overhead speakers very close to directly above the matching ear level speakers. This lets any object travel the entire distance of the room in every direction. 

So yes, with that Flatliners example, having narrower overhead speakers would limit where the voices could appear overhead in the room. They would be much more directly above you in your room moving only between the speakers overhead (and yes the cathedral ceiling makes it more difficult). In my room, they move across the entire length and width of ceiling since that's where my speakers are located. I need six speakers because the distance is too far to phantom image strongly in the middle region. The extra "top middle" speakers bridge the angles for smooth panning anywhere in the room.

What I would have done in your room is put front heights on the wall behind the TVs and the wall behind the couch and perhaps had one set of speakers mounted on the ceiling somewhere in the middle there with six speakers to really make the effect strong (I use two old school Dolby Pro Logic processors to extract a "top middle" 'center' speaker between each front/back height speaker pair without needing a receiver that has six channel overhead support. This guarantees it works with all movies, even Disney that don't support top middle speakers. It's extra bother, of course. In your case, you could still put front heights in and use the rear top speakers and if it's weak, implement something like I'm doing with the speakers overhead in front of the couch as top middle. 

It also appears that your side surround and rear surround speakers are mounted rather high on the walls compared to the front speakers. Ideally, I would have placed them lower, closer to the same height as the front mains or just above ear height. Personally, I'd move the side surround speaker to in front of the fireplace on the side wall at a lower height on the wall and move rear surrounds down a couple of feet to match. I think that would phantom image across the room much better (sides are fairly close to the rears which leaves a long distance to image in-between), but even just lowering the side/rear speakers would give more separation between that layer and the overheads. 

But your primary complaint seems to be the lack of front/back movement in the overhead speakers (i.e. if you're happy with the side/rear surrounds, leave them). I'd try a set of front heights (you could sit a pair of speakers on top of the wall in the front even just to try them out in combination with one of the other sets of overhead speakers (for distance without using six overheads, I'd try front height plus the first set of overheads that are currently in front of the couch and maybe pull the couch forward even, if necessary so the speakers above are now behind the couch (and with the sides moved forward of the fireplace, it'd all line up for a fairly impressive 7.1.4, IMO). I've tried my own room with 7.1.4. using my top middles plus front height like that and even with my rear speakers way behind me, it still sounds pretty impressive (more so than with 5.1.4 without the rear way back behind me).

In any case, it's something you could play around with and see if you like it better (I wouldn't permanently mount speaker changes until you're happy with it).


----------



## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> Looking at your photos, there's not a lot of distance between the front and rear speakers overhead and given the way the ear hears sounds overhead less well than in front and to the sides, that might be the reason you're not hearing much front to back travel, although it sure looks like you should hear at least some movement in that direction.


I do hear some movement from the overheads going from front to rear and rear to front, but it's not real obvious. At the same time you confirmed for me what I was wondering if we as humans could decipher the direction of above sounds as well as we do from regular audio cues...directly from the front, directly from the back and directly from the sides. 

I don't mind audio that's directly overhead, but I would love it if there was a bit more travel distance than what I'm currently experiencing. It seems to me even though the front ceiling speakers are pointed directly to the couch, (the row with the tweeter, not the other row which by the way are passive drivers...) it seems to me if they were inserted into the ceiling a bit more forward, then maybe those above front speakers would create an effect where the front ceiling audio sounded a bit more in front of me instead of stopping at my nose and therefore would maybe have a bit more of a travel distance. 

Your setup sounds interesting. However, I'm not sure I would want my above audio to travel that much of a distance...to me it sounds like the effect would be somewhat or greatly exaggerated, but I'm sure in your case it works very well...at least the above audio sounds like it comes across very defined. 

My ceiling speakers are not aligned with my bed level speakers, but they are directly in line (not above them) with my rear surrounds making the Atmos speakers placed I think maybe a little too far apart (left and right from my listening spot.) Maybe not for example if the left and right ceiling speakers were somewhat closer together, maybe I would have less travel from left to right. As it is now, it's a little hard to detect the movement from above right to above left (I hear it, but it's not always clear as to where the audio is coming from.) I think the speakers are very directional, so I hope they are the correct type. They boast good "imaging and off-axis performance." "Designed to engulf and immerse the listener." Tribe In-Ceiling Angled - Totem

By the way, it appears you're really familiar with that helicopter sample! 



MagnumX said:


> you could still put front heights in and use the rear top speakers and if it's weak, implement something like I'm doing with the speakers overhead in front of the couch as top middle.


I am up to some experimentation to see if I can get an improvement. Using six speakers sounds like it would help a lot, but I have to wait till I can get someone out here to help me with all that and who knows, they might come up with a totally different solution. Personally (for several reasons) I'd like to keep it at the four speakers I currently use. I hope that maybe moving the above front speakers a little bit or maybe somewhat more forward might help achieve the effect I've been imagining. 



MagnumX said:


> It also appears that your side surround and rear surround speakers are mounted rather high on the walls compared to the front speakers. Ideally, I would have placed them lower, closer to the same height as the front mains or just above ear height. Personally, I'd move the side surround speaker to in front of the fireplace on the side wall at a lower height on the wall and move rear surrounds down a couple of feet to match. I think that would phantom image across the room much better (sides are fairly close to the rears which leaves a long distance to image in-between), but even just lowering the side/rear speakers would give more separation between that layer and the overheads.


I thought about that. I've wondered if the surrounds and rears were a little bit lower; if that would help give a bit more separation between the surrounds/rears and the ceiling speakers...at least when it comes to the audio moving vertically. I'm sure it would, but currently the back of my couch goes above my head. If those surround/rear speakers were any lower, the back of my couch will block even more of the audio reaching my ears. I do plan on getting rid of that couch however, and I would like to get something where the back does not go as high. There's some nice theatre type chairs out there, but they all seem to have head rests that are of course at head level! But since those chairs are somewhat separate (even though they are linked together) the audio does look like it could reach my ears a little bit easier. I'll just have to wait and see. 



MagnumX said:


> But your primary complaint seems to be the lack of front/back movement in the overhead speakers (i.e. if you're happy with the side/rear surrounds, leave them). I'd try a set of front heights (you could sit a pair of speakers on top of the wall in the front even just to try them out in combination with one of the other sets of overhead speakers (for distance without using six overheads, I'd try front height plus the first set of overheads that are currently in front of the couch and maybe pull the couch forward even, if necessary so the speakers above are now behind the couch (and with the sides moved forward of the fireplace, it'd all line up for a fairly impressive 7.1.4, IMO). I've tried my own room with 7.1.4. using my top middles plus front height like that and even with my rear speakers way behind me, it still sounds pretty impressive (more so than with 5.1.4 without the rear way back behind me).
> 
> In any case, it's something you could play around with and see if you like it better (I wouldn't permanently mount speaker changes until you're happy with it).


I agree, thanks for the suggestions. Currently I am very happy with how the surrounds sound, though it would be nice if there was a bit more space between my surrounds and rears, but for the most part, it's good enough. I'd like to move my couch a bit more forward, but that damn fireplace! It just kind of ruins it all for me, so I'm going to simply leave it. When I do get around to getting new seating, I may move where I sit a little bit more forward but I think that's going to depend on how the ceiling speakers are handled at that time. 

In the meantime, I'm printing your suggestions for exemplification when I'm able to share it with someone who's able to help me improve with my Atmos experience. It's going to go something like this...next year; new biggest screen OLED I can get, year after that, improvement with Atmos, year after that, new seating!


----------



## alwaller

NuSoardGraphite said:


> As for the best sounding Atmos movies I have heard, I would add Mission Impossible: Fallout and Jupiter Ascending to that list.
> 
> Don't sleep on Jupiter Ascending. It gets a bad rap for having a silly plot but boy is it a visual and audio tour de force.
> 
> You know how the Wachowskis like themes in their movies and their theme for Ascending was action in full 3 dimensions. They created yet another camera to capture the flying action scenes with the actors suspended on wires.....the main character flys by means of gravity boots so he can effectively skate in the air....and they make full use of the Atmos system to immerse the viewer in these 3 dimensional battles.
> 
> Check it out.


Best atmos discs I have heard.


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## alwaller

omardd98 said:


> So I just watched Transformers The last knight in 4k is it just me or was the Dolby Atmos Mix not one of the best heard? My head was moving left and right when certain sounds came flying out of the surround speakers. The bass was also on point and I don't even have good subs (well not yet). So far it has to be my best sounding Dolby Atmos mix.


One of the best.


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## CB182020

Ok....Now, are there any actually good movies that have ATMOS and aren't in this pile of vomit?


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## Mike Lang

Great first post. Can't wait to see your list.


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## james111333

CB182020 said:


> Ok....Now, are there any actually good movies that have ATMOS and aren't in this pile of vomit?


Are you this useful to humanity in real life too?


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## upuppp

Before choosing Blue Ray, it is not advisable to first write which Blue Ray gives a particularly good sound quality?


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## Joshua Chmiel

The last time I watched Fury before the other night I had my setup as a 5.1.2. Since then I have upgraded my ceiling speakers from indoor/outdoor 2 way speakers to my matching same series/line of speakers to the rest of my speakers and 3-way. I have also added more so I am running 7.1.4. Same receiver, but I have added complete external amplification, the 9 channel the just last week. I know most people will swear external amplification will not improve sound and just give you more volume, but for me it really livened up my surround and atmos. With Fury I noticed so much of the little things like the ticks and clangs of the tank and hatches. The scene where they are eating with planes are flying and all the activity outside of the dining room were so realistic! Those planes were truly sounding like they were flying outside my house. So Good.

The Helicopter Demo mentioned earlier. When I was running 5.1.2, that demo sounded like I was in a dome with the helicopter trying to get in. It bounced up and and down as it went over me. When I went to 5.1.4 and now 7.1.4, it is all above me. It sounds like the local police helicopter when it surveys the neighborhood, just it a narrower area like it may be keeping an eye on a suspect.


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## Sacc Attack

I'd add that Angel has Fallen is a great test for a new build. Lost of cool overhead chopper, plane and explosions. An immersive soundtrack and good 5.1 chatter too. but man those 2 height channels shine in this movie.


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## wasjrx51_3067

Tanquen said:


> I did the Audyssey calibration on the Denon X6500H but wonder if I got the wrong speakers. No way I’m going to replace them after cutting holes in the ceiling. I need an A/B switch for the ceiling, maybe then I could tell. Maybe my room is too small. I also don’t have a wall on the left side.


I have a Yamaha TSR-7850 and just added Sonance 6 1/2" ceiling speakers for the "presence" speakers, did the auto calibration which came out pretty accurate, and am disappointed too - I barely hear any difference. I also have an open wall of sorts in that the room is 24' wide x 15' deep x 9.5' high of which the "theater" is about 16' of the width. I ordered a couple of ATMOS movies and hope that will give me a better idea of all the money and work were worth it ... I will say stepping up to a 75" 4k TV was a good step though.


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## Thebarnman

wasjrx51_3067 said:


> I have a Yamaha TSR-7850 and just added Sonance 6 1/2" ceiling speakers for the "presence" speakers, did the auto calibration which came out pretty accurate, and am disappointed too - I barely hear any difference. I also have an open wall of sorts in that the room is 24' wide x 15' deep x 9.5' high of which the "theater" is about 16' of the width. I ordered a couple of ATMOS movies and hope that will give me a better idea of all the money and work were worth it ... I will say stepping up to a 75" 4k TV was a good step though.


Yea, I spent lots of money on my Atmos setup and it's not quite the effect I was expecting even with a professional calibration. I plan to revisit it in the next two or three years to see if it can be improved upon. The surrounds are great however.


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## Philnick

The auto calibration receivers do will always set the overhead speakers too quiet because the calibration microphone is pointed right at them, so it thinks they're louder than you do - so turn those channels up a few db after the automation is done, so that the test tone sounds as loud _to you_ as from the other channels.

The rears could use a boost as well, since unlike the upwards facing mike, our ears don't hear sound from the back very well, so boost those to sound the same as the others while you're facing forward.


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## Neural X

I am disappointed in #1 - Most movies are mixed hiding dialog. #2-Do not sweat not hearing your ceiling speakers with movies because the information in 98% of the movies is not encoded.


----------



## Neural X

District 9


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## Neural X

CB182020 said:


> Ok....Now, are there any actually good movies that have ATMOS and aren't in this pile of vomit?


District 9


----------



## Bandyka

Joshua Chmiel said:


> The last time I watched Fury before the other night I had my setup as a 5.1.2. Since then I have upgraded my ceiling speakers from indoor/outdoor 2 way speakers to my matching same series/line of speakers to the rest of my speakers and 3-way. I have also added more so I am running 7.1.4. Same receiver, but I have added complete external amplification, the 9 channel the just last week. I know most people will swear external amplification will not improve sound and just give you more volume, but for me it really livened up my surround and atmos. With Fury I noticed so much of the little things like the ticks and clangs of the tank and hatches. The scene where they are eating with planes are flying and all the activity outside of the dining room were so realistic! Those planes were truly sounding like they were flying outside my house. So Good.
> 
> The Helicopter Demo mentioned earlier. When I was running 5.1.2, that demo sounded like I was in a dome with the helicopter trying to get in. It bounced up and and down as it went over me. When I went to 5.1.4 and now 7.1.4, it is all above me. It sounds like the local police helicopter when it surveys the neighborhood, just it a narrower area like it may be keeping an eye on a suspect.


You are absolutely right. external power amps make a world of difference. Additionally, the room has to be treated first, this is the most important part in acoustics. Most people don't realize this. The reason why I am saying this is because if the room is not treated, one is forced to use room correction which has to, and does take away lots of dynamics from the speakers to tame the room response, it has to. The result is less dynamics, lost detail, and more. I have tried most, if not all room EQ including Dirac that I have now, and even that reduces dynamics in my room. I turn it off completely, but my room is very well treated. The whole point to this is that over about 6 years of constant testing since day one when Atmos was born, I experimented with everything and if your room isn't right and you don't have the proper amplification, and you use room correction, the ATMOS effect and bubble will not be as it should be. Full stop. Lots get disappointed and never know how it should sound like. Additionally, overhead speaker positioning is key and not necessarily as Dolby describes, as it is also dependent on your specific room.
Most peeps are disappointed with Atmos simply because they don't or cannot have the correct setup and conditions done. These days even audiophile friends who used to swear stereo was the god of audio now want to listen to Atmos in my cave instead. Its the results of years of work and testing and its that good. Quite simply Atmos needs to have the ideal conditions, else it will be disappointing.


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## MagnumX

Nonsense. My setup is darn near perfect. I'm still disappointed by half the releases out there. Mad Max Fury Road is often touted as the best Atmos title of all time. In reality, it's got less than 12 minutes of overhead use. Great surround, yes. Great Atmos example? Not IMO. 

Now take a title like Harry Potter in DTS:X or Fury in Atmos and it's impressive with distinct overhead events not constant engine noise and yelling. 

Yeah I'm wrong. Don't waste your time replying. I've heard it all before. Atmos bubble has to be one of the most overused meaningless terms on here. Most movies don't sound Iike bubbles. The Meg perhaps...


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## Bandyka

Atmos is not about overhead only, It's been a misconception since day one, and peeps get disappointed because they expect constant action from above. It's about dynamics, object placement, and overall that "bubble" which we should call immersion really that, immerses the listener, that is exactly the comments I get in my room, they are fully immersed, they don't try and pinpoint the sounds, they get lost in it all without realizing and criticizing, and just enjoy the show, that is the whole point. They are all picky audiophiles who would normally pick out the faults. If there is no "bubble" the setup isn't right. You just don't know it until you experienced it properly. I didn't. It's the comments of others, not mine. You also don't need to be rude and condescending. Take care and enjoy your perfect setup.


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## Bandyka

hans zimmer live in prague atmos
Not much overhead action, if any, but damn impressive.


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## MagnumX

Bandyka said:


> Atmos is not about overhead only, It's been a misconception since day one, and peeps get disappointed because they expect constant action from above. It's about dynamics, object placement, and overall that "bubble" which we should call immersion really that, immerses the listener, that is exactly the comments I get in my room, they are fully immersed, they don't try and pinpoint the sounds, they get lost in it all without realizing and criticizing, and just enjoy the show, that is the whole point.


All that works with 5.1 and there is no more dynamics in Atmos than any other surround format. Admittedly, many mixes are more immersive now, but unless you go to at least 9.1 on the base layer, it's still not Atmos. 

I get the _bubble_ concept. I hate the term. It's right up there _the new normal_. Good coverage could mean a bubble, but short of space/ocean movies like a shark attacking three sides or phaser blasts hitting the surrounding shield (The Orville was great for that in Neural X even), I hear more like "unlimited soundfield", not a particular shape because sounds can appear to infinity more or less and few movies create actual dome shaped sounds.



> They are all picky audiophiles who would normally pick out the faults. If there is no "bubble" the setup isn't right. You just don't know it until you experienced it properly. I didn't. It's the comments of others, not mine.


It's a common overused term. If the Dolby helicopter demo works evenly around the perimeter on both layers (turn off overhead speaker assignments to put helicopter in base layer) you're getting it right.



> You also don't need to be rude and condescending. Take care and enjoy your perfect setup.


And you don't have to pretend every Atmos problem is setup related, forcing me to reply to explain why that's not nearly always the case.

The fact is there are a lot of pretend and poor Atmos tracks out there. If people aren't aware of them, they might assume that there's something wrong with their setup.

Take the Atmos version of _Phantasm_ or _They Live_. Terrible Atmos. Does nothing more than turn the Atmos indicator light on. Using Neural X gives me overhead thunder in Phantasm towards the end. With Atmos, it's at ear level like the non-upmixed original soundtrack.

_Knives Out_ barely uses surround during the movie, let alone overhead effects (one exception is table hitting floor in attic overhead). They're having a party in a big house and it's front loaded most of the movie.

People raved about _Annihilation_'s Atmos (lovely synth freaky sounds do go everywhere), but when they're standing in the forest the birds are only in the front L/R channels. If I'm standing in a forest the bird sounds should come from all around me. Improper use of Atmos and it gets rave reviews because of the synth sounds going everywhere.


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## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> It's a common overused term. If the Dolby helicopter demo works evenly around the perimeter on both layers (turn off overhead speaker assignments to put helicopter in base layer) you're getting it right.


I have that demo. I forget what speaker it starts out with, but I do hear how it starts out I think in the front left, then rear left, then to rear right, front right then front left. It's not exactly smooth but it does sound like it's coming from above and flying in a circle overhead. 

I have a vaulted (not to the extreme) ceiling (known not ideal for Atmos.) I know it needs to be improved on, but I won't be working on that for another couple years. 

What good is turning off the ceiling speakers? What is it suppose to sound like without the Atmos speakers?


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## MagnumX

Thebarnman said:


> I have that demo. I forget what speaker it starts out with, but I do hear how it starts out I think in the front left, then rear left, then to rear right, front right then front left. It's not exactly smooth but it does sound like it's coming from above and flying in a circle overhead.
> 
> I have a vaulted (not to the extreme) ceiling (known not ideal for Atmos.) I know it needs to be improved on, but I won't be working on that for another couple years.
> 
> What good is turning off the ceiling speakers? What is it suppose to sound like without the Atmos speakers?


Well, first of all, if the helicopter is not moving smoothly then there's room for improvement in your setup/system. It's a continuous smooth 360 degree pan around the full width and length of my room here (using heights + top middle). I would imagine with speakers mounted in the ceiling overhead, it would make a much smaller circle either way. 

At ear level, it sounds exactly the same in that the helicopter circles the room (just at ear level instead of overhead). It should move smoothly in a circle around the room (or at least a rectangle depending on how you perceive it, being an invisible object). Thus, even if you use Tops and have a smaller circle overhead, with 7.1 or greater, the helicopter should circle the entire room at ear level. Where it circles are basically the end points for normal object rendering (i.e. not using stereo tricks of phase or distance, just flat out in-phase rendering of correlated object information). Thus, the combination of the two represent the normal edges of the so-called "bubble" in terms of diameter of the room. Assuming you have no gaps or holes overhead, that are around and within is your Atmos "play area" or the "dome" of the so-called bubble of sound. 

Actual movies don't always light up this "bubble" (my point is certain movies actually do sound like a bubble like The Meg or some Sci-Fi things as they tend to light up the entire sound field in that region at once and if it's on all sides, it does indeed sound like a dome/bubble. But it's really more of a figure of speech to describe everywhere it can image as most movies simply places sounds where the objects are mapped and they end up within the confines of that area of the room (with some effects like phase/level imaging in stereo can seem to go further behind it just as stereo can seem to go well behind the actual position of the speakers, but that is highly dependent on phase correlation and what not of a given stereo pair and how well your speakers can render it all.

But if the helicopter is not smooth all the way around the circle, that means you either have a distance setting and/or location discrepancy relative to the speaker positions or there's not enough speakers for that distance to image a full continuous circle around the room (a known problem with Quad speaker placement, 5.1 (or 4.0 overhead) can have similar issues in many rooms. An extra pair of speakers at ear level can help fill any gaps even if they're arrayed with a simple mixer (e.g. Create +3dB "front wides" by mixing Fronts + Sides and placing them in-between while moving the surrounds further behind you. Carefully placed, you can get a full 360 degree smooth imaging phantom image circle around you with no gaps (easily observed here at ear level playing a game like Dragon Age Origins on the PS4 and rotating in a circle (objects making sounds like a fireplace in the game fly around me in a circle). 

Overhead, it could be a bit more complicated to place an additional set of speakers, but you can do an combined array for Top Middle just like you can at ear level. I have that option here with my Monoprice switch box and also to select a "Scatmos" feed (using Pro Logic "Center Extraction" to extract a speaker between left front height and left rear height and another one on the right side to give Top Middle Left & Right. This output is very nearly fully discrete compared to using a mixer array. But either method can fill any "gaps" in the travel.


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## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> Well, first of all, if the helicopter is not moving smoothly then there's room for improvement in your setup/system. It's a continuous smooth 360 degree pan around the full width and length of my room here (using heights + top middle). I would imagine with speakers mounted in the ceiling overhead, it would make a much smaller circle either way.


Thanks for your time posting that information. I'm going to make a copy and share it with whoever it is that comes back to make the improvements. I suspect both the upper rear and front left and right heights may be too wide apart. And, with the front to back heights, I think it's about right...however unfortunately my seating arrangement does not allow any more space between the heights rear to be separated very well from the regular surrounds and regular backs. 

I've posted these pictures before, but here it is again so you can get an idea of where I'm sitting vs the placement of heights in relation to the regular surrounds. I said I'd get back to this in about a couple years. At least now I have Atmos so I somewhat get the effect from these newer soundtracks, but I'm looking to upgrade to the Sony A90J (display) this year and later get a new couch/seating arrangement around 2023. So after about two years, that's when I'll get back to having the Atmos refined. 

All professionally installed, but when I think about it, I should have had the installer move each above speaker individually before it was installed till I could hear what I think would be full coverage from that one speaker and then do the rest with the other three ceiling speakers. Hell, I might even change the speakers to the exact same ones I have on the walls in the back (instead of the very expensive ceiling speakers from the same manufacturer.) I've never spent so much money on any type of speakers except the mains up front (I'm talking about the ceiling ones) for them to not make the impact I was expecting. 

What happened instead, the installer was thinking (and possibly rightly so) that the ceiling speakers be aligned at the same distance apart as those back speakers. Now that I think about it, those back (rear) speakers are as far apart as they are because of the window in the way, so I think they were placed as close together as my room setup would allow and now those ceiling speakers are are following suit. 

In any case, you can see from my current seating position, I'm a little bit to the left from being in between (or in the center) of the ceiling speakers. So that helicopter sounds not as direct when it's to the right when compared to when it's on the left. If I remember correctly, I think the audio level is about the same, (acually boosted a couple db higher than all the rest of the surrounds) but it's just not as direct (loss of high frequency audio due to the angle I'm listening from.) 

What ever it takes, I know one day I'll be able to enjoy Atmos in a much meaningful way.


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## Thebarnman

Here's the ceiling speakers. The three that are the same are passive, it's the side with the tweeter and two mids that are pointing to the couch. So the two fronts are pointed one way to the couch, and the rears are pointed the other way towards the couch. This was set up to help with the vaulted ceiling.


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## squared80

Thebarnman said:


> Thanks for your time posting that information. I'm going to make a copy and share it with whoever it is that comes back to make the improvements. I suspect both the upper rear and front left and right heights may be too wide apart. And, with the front to back heights, I think it's about right...however unfortunately my seating arrangement does not allow any more space between the heights rear to be separated very well from the regular surrounds and regular backs.
> 
> I've posted these pictures before, but here it is again so you can get an idea of where I'm sitting vs the placement of heights in relation to the regular surrounds. I said I'd get back to this in about a couple years. At least now I have Atmos so I somewhat get the effect from these newer soundtracks, but I'm looking to upgrade to the Sony A90J (display) this year and later get a new couch/seating arrangement around 2023. So after about two years, that's when I'll get back to having the Atmos refined.
> 
> All professionally installed, but when I think about it, I should have had the installer move each above speaker individually before it was installed till I could hear what I think would be full coverage from that one speaker and then do the rest with the other three ceiling speakers. Hell, I might even change the speakers to the exact same ones I have on the walls in the back (instead of the very expensive ceiling speakers from the same manufacturer.) I've never spent so much money on any type of speakers except the mains up front (I'm talking about the ceiling ones) for them to not make the impact I was expecting.
> 
> What happened instead, the installer was thinking (and possibly rightly so) that the ceiling speakers be aligned at the same distance apart as those back speakers. Now that I think about it, those back (rear) speakers are as far apart as they are because of the window in the way, so I think they were placed as close together as my room setup would allow and now those ceiling speakers are are following suit.
> 
> In any case, you can see from my current seating position, I'm a little bit to the left from being in between (or in the center) of the ceiling speakers. So that helicopter sounds not as direct when it's to the right when compared to when it's on the left. If I remember correctly, I think the audio level is about the same, (acually boosted a couple db higher than all the rest of the surrounds) but it's just not as direct (loss of high frequency audio due to the angle I'm listening from.)
> 
> What ever it takes, I know one day I'll be able to enjoy Atmos in a much meaningful way.
> View attachment 3220185
> 
> View attachment 3220186


That setup is SCREAMING for a massive screen.


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## Joshua Chmiel

I am watching the 4K discs of Game of Thrones. So far the Atmos mix is excellent. S3E1 is really tripping me up. The creeks of the wooden ships and especially the buzzing flies when the Starks return to Winter fell. I felt the need to swat.


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## MagnumX

I can't understand why Apple can put Atmos on all the iTunes movies where available and on ATV+, but can't manage for TV collections you buy. I've got over 1200 discs lying around the house as it is; I don't need more TV shows when an streaming collection will do. But in any case, Game Of Thrones upmixes with Neural X very well just the same (Dragons never fail to fly overhead etc). If anything, I think base tracks from Atmos tend to upmix even more accurate than not somehow.


----------



## galonzo

Here is a more current article with a few recent scenes (I plan to thoroughly check these, as I recently went from 5.1.4 in a more open area to 7.1.4 in a fully enclosed room):








18 of the best Dolby Atmos movie scenes to test your home cinema sound


Looking for films that hit the heights sonically? We have just what you need




www.whathifi.com


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## gdi1995

Ready player one should be on the list!


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## MagnumX

I went through and made a good/bad list in another thread and thought some might find it helpful in looking for Atmos titles with good use of overhead and/or surround. It's far from conclusive and many I list as poor are simply not big upgrades from what may have been pretty good surround for its day (E.G.BTTF, Indy). I simply thought they should have been better or more discrete. YMMV. Anyway....


Very Good or Great
Angels & Demons
Blade Runner
Blade Runner 2049
Daylight
Doctor Sleep
Dune
Fury
Ghostbusters Afterlife
Gravity
Inferno
IT (Chapters 1 & 2)
Jumanji
Kong Skull Island
Last Night in Soho
Miss Peregrine's Home...
Monster Hunter
Mortal Engines
Oblivion
Ready Player One
Roger Waters: THE WALL
Saving Ryan's Privates
Smurfs The Lost Village
Star Trek Beyond
The Angry Birds Movie
The Great Wall
The Guns of Navarone
The Meg
The Mummy
The Tomorrow War
Twister
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Poor or disappointing (little added to pre-existing 5.1 soundtrack)
Back to the Future Trilogy
Bad Times at the El Royale
Flight of the Butterflies
Indiana Jones Quadrilogy
Johnny Mnemonic
Knives Out
Labyrinth
Minions
Murder On The Orient Express
Phantasm
Roger Waters: Us & Them
Star Trek
Starship Troopers
The Angry Birds Movie II
The Lego Batman Movie
They Live
Total Recall


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## Thebarnman

I just listened/watched the UHD Blu-ray edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and I heard at least three instances of Atmos material! There might have been more but who knows? Even that boulder had a very, very quick moment of overhead audio (as far as I could tell.)


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## Thebarnman

A title that should be added to "Very Good or Great" is the UHD Blu-ray version of "Suspiria" (1977.)


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## MagnumX

Thebarnman said:


> I just listened/watched the UHD Blu-ray edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and I heard at least three instances of Atmos material! There might have been more but who knows? Even that boulder had a very, very quick moment of overhead audio (as far as I could tell.)


That's what I call disappointing. Try the original Jumanji with Robin Williams in UHD. Absolutely gobsmacking amazing! Better than the sequels by miles for immersion. Parades of animals moving across the middle of the room, giant mosquitoes buzzing close enough overhead I couldn't help but want to start swatting at them. Great surround. Great Atmos. The sequels? The new life sound is the only thing I recall directly overhead. There was some plane/helicopter/car surround action too, but more subdued. Good surround. Meager Atmos. 

Raiders seemed to mush new sounds into an existing largely otherwise unchanged bed layer Even BTTF managed to put some thunder and a helicopter overhead, however briefly, but otherwise seemed to mimic the side surrounds into the rear channels and leave most other effects largely the same. Jumanji and Blade Runner and in DTS:X, Harry Potter seemed to rebuild the soundtracks instead for better more modern results.


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## Thebarnman

MagnumX said:


> That's what I call disappointing. Try the original Jumanji with Robin Williams in UHD. Absolutely gobsmacking amazing! Better than the sequels by miles for immersion. Parades of animals moving across the middle of the room, giant mosquitoes buzzing close enough overhead I couldn't help but want to start swatting at them. Great surround. Great Atmos. The sequels? The new life sound is the only thing I recall directly overhead. There was some plane/helicopter/car surround action too, but more subdued. Good surround. Meager Atmos.
> 
> Raiders seemed to mush new sounds into an existing largely otherwise unchanged bed layer Even BTTF managed to put some thunder and a helicopter overhead, however briefly, but otherwise seemed to mimic the side surrounds into the rear channels and leave most other effects largely the same. Jumanji and Blade Runner and in DTS:X, Harry Potter seemed to rebuild the soundtracks instead for better more modern results.



Do you have a picture of your setup? I'm impressed that you could hear buzzing close enough overhead to want to swat at mosquitoes. That sounds like a real 3D object that was placed in space close to you. For that effect, I'm under the impression everything has to be absolutely right as far as the set up is concerned.


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## squared80

Free Guy


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## Bandyka

squared80 said:


> Free Guy


Elaborate?


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## heyfunny

rhelliott2 said:


> Can't believe ready player one wasn't on the list... That race scene.


Probably because you don't need the UHD version for Dolby atmos its on the reg Bluray as well ^_^


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## MagnumX

heyfunny said:


> Probably because you don't need the UHD version for Dolby atmos its on the reg Bluray as well ^_^


Perhaps it's because it's a locked 5.1.2 mix for the home version and we shouldn't encourage them to release Atmos that way. If it sounds great as 5.1.2, imagine how great it would sound if it were a straight transfer of the original object-based cinema Atmos soundtrack. I want a re-release with a _proper_ Atmos soundtrack.


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## chucklee

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, in 4K Ultra. Some of my favorite film material as an enthusiastic Tolkien fan, and the Atmos track is incredible.


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## Synths

For me the new Dune 4K and it’s atmos mix is a top transfer. Up there with Blade Runner 2048 imho.


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## MagnumX

Synths said:


> For me the new Dune 4K and it’s atmos mix is a top transfer. Up there with Blade Runner 2048 imho.


Blade Runner 2048? Was there a prequel I don't know about?


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## Synths

MagnumX said:


> Blade Runner 2048? Was there a prequel I don't know about?


That was the working title but they changed it 😂


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## EdgarQ

Or it’s the fan edit that’s an hour shorter!


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## MagnumX

EdgarQ said:


> Or it’s the fan edit that’s an hour shorter!


What kind of "fan" edit is that? Sounds like they didn't like it at all. I need action! I must have constant action! (shakes head). I wouldn't change a thing.

Now Matrix 4 could use a serious edit. Remove all the flashbacks and all traces of Doogie Howser and it might actually be at least an OK film.


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## chucklee

Not my favorite superhero film by any means, but Universal/Marvel Studios' "The Incredible Hulk" (with Edward Norton) has a pretty incredible and immersive DTS:X track - the previous versions on DVD and Blu-Ray have always had a strong mix, but this is on another level. The 4K transfer is pretty incredible as well.


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## junh1024

MagnumX said:


> Perhaps it's because it's a locked 5.1.2 mix for the home version and we shouldn't encourage them to release Atmos that way. If it sounds great as 5.1.2, imagine how great it would sound if it were a straight transfer of the original object-based cinema Atmos soundtrack. I want a re-release with a _proper_ Atmos soundtrack.


512 is not a valid track type in PT










And RP1 isn't locked to 712, either. You even said it yourself



MagnumX said:


> Are we certain Ready Player One is a 7.1.2 render? This snapshot of the semi-truck passing overhead seems to indicate otherwise (not to mention my ears). Just because it's a fixed _object_ soundtrack that doesn't necessarily mean there can't be some type of panning within the sounds inside those objects, although I'm not sure that would work front-to-back if they're both getting the same sounds at the halfway point as it appears. I do seem to see a second set of fixed objects overhead front-to-back there as well (not used to seeing this viewer so it's not always easy to tell the height of the circles) so that may be front-to-back panning objects (one appears to be lit yellow below). Also notice how the Top Rear speakers are both lit yellow (louder) while Top Front are green (not as loud). If it was fixed (i.e. Top Middle Only which isn't shown here), all four speakers should _always_ be in sync without exception, IMO. That indicates 7.1.4 type activity and in fact when the truck passes overhead, it at least sounds like it's panning overhead front-to-back (although I know in Saving Private Ryan it uses the lower channels to pan and just lights up the overheads to make it seem like it's panning overhead when it's really panning at ear level with a partial sound overhead, but sounds pretty convincing just the same. Still, I wonder if some of the soundtracks we glance at and assume are fixed 7.1.2 may actually be fixed 7.1.4 upon closer inspection. Then there's the weird ones like Star Wars from Disney that appear to use SOME objects in key places which steps away from their previous behavior to some degree.
> 
> Given the small range of volume levels displayed compared to what you actually hear (e.g. the bike panning form the rear surrounds into the side surrounds and then into the front channels near the end), you don't see much on the screen to indicate any of that other than the side surrounds lighting up because the rear surrounds are still making other ambient noises. And of course without moving objects, the speaker levels are the ONLY indicator you can tell a pan by on there from any set of speakers to any other set and they only go a few shades of green, yellow and orange.
> 
> Front Heights are listed, but I'm not sure how they are set up except by themselves, possibly intended for Auro use as there are no Rear Heights shown to go with them and with a fixed object soundtrack, it probably uses one or the other, not both. I'd LOVE, however, to see a Trinnov object viewer of some of the Dolby brand demos using _BOTH_ Heights and Tops at the same time to see what they do. Are there any out there like that?
> 
> 
> View attachment 3197835


If RP1 is mainly 712 + occasional objects, that means that the mixer under-used objects. It is already a "straight transfer", and Spatial coding is already very efficient at preserving dynamic objects as much as possible within specified authoring limits. Increasing the elements to 16 for the THDA track, wouldn't do much either, due to the mixer under-using objects.

I actually did a survey recently, and most soundtracks are 12 elements, so that means effectively locked to 714, in the worst case (depending on how active your mix is etc). So another fault is BD authoring.

BTW, have you got time to evaluate my audio samples at the very top of page 2 of my PM?

.


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## MagnumX

@junh1024 - 5.1.2 was a typo or something (possibly auto-correct on my mobile keyboard as well). I meant 7.1.2. 

I seriously doubt the cinema version of RP1 was 7.1.2 either way, but since I haven't heard it, I can't prove it, but it doesn't seem like it would work very well like that at an actual theater given testing at home using only three rows. Things would only be directly overhead for a small part of the theater. 

Why would they cut down the home version? I don't know. Why did Disney lock so many of their home Atmos soundtracks to channels instead of letting the software properly convert it? It's a mystery.


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## junh1024

MagnumX said:


> @junh1024 - 5.1.2 was a typo or something (possibly auto-correct on my mobile keyboard as well). I meant 7.1.2.
> 
> I seriously doubt the cinema version of RP1 was 7.1.2 either way, but since I haven't heard it, I can't prove it, but it doesn't seem like it would work very well like that at an actual theater given testing at home using only three rows. Things would only be directly overhead for a small part of the theater.
> 
> Why would they cut down the home version? I don't know. Why did Disney lock so many of their home Atmos soundtracks to channels instead of letting the software properly convert it? It's a mystery.


The experience is different but the mix is the same. 


712 beds array at the cinema and address all of the top speaker array so it is deceptively filling without using any objects . this is why mixers forget to use objects which is so critical to home rendering.

BD authoring software apparently accepts channel based audio so early Atmos BDs used that as authoring staff didn't know better. but nowdays they know to use object based audio for authoring. still doesn't fix bad mixes though.


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## MagnumX

junh1024 said:


> The experience is different but the mix is the same.
> 
> 
> 712 beds array at the cinema and address all of the top speaker array so it is deceptively filling without using any objects . this is why mixers forget to use objects which is so critical to home rendering.
> 
> BD authoring software apparently accepts channel based audio so early Atmos BDs used that as authoring staff didn't know better. but nowdays they know to use object based audio for authoring. still doesn't fix bad mixes though.


Maybe someone will remaster it some day for objects?

But then it's one of the Top 20 "best" Atmos mixes of all time so it's pretty clear people don't care about proper Atmos or even notice the difference, yet will tell people on here talking about doing 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 to not bother with just two speakers overhead because it's not worth the time of day and then ironically start singing the praises of RP1...

It's strange when you think about it and makes me question a lot of advice given on here. Some also seem to think four are needed overhead for RP1 and get angry when a six channel setup only uses two and some have disconnected or altered their setup to use only four. My own testing with RP1 show two overheads produces much tighter imaging where the boxes under the bridge sound like they just missed my head. With four, it's a few feet away because my front row seats are not directly between the front/rear heights and too distant to image tightly.

At least if it used all six overheads it'd tend to image directly overhead no matter where you sit (if that's what bed overheads do at the cinema).


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