Does Dolby atmos makes 5.1ch speakers sounds better?

orangpelupa

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Wondering whether I can enjoy better sound simply by replacing my non-atmos Yamaha AVR with an atmos one. (obviously while playing atmos content)

Do Dolby atmos make 5.1ch speakers sound better?

I only tried atmos for headphones, and it does sound better than without atmos, better than windows sonic. Movies sound more immersive, and video games (especially cyberpunk2077) sound like VR games (so it felt like I'm really there, and able to know sounds came from all around)
 
I guess I can answer your question. For the first part, if you feel your receiver is in need of an updating, I say go for it! Especially if you can splurge a bit on the new piece of gear. For example in my case, I had a Pioneer VSX something or another and I upgraded to a Marantz SR7015 and WOW! The sound difference was amazing. Voices and music sounded like they had air behind them (think like a guitar amp). A big improvement overall.

Going from a 5.1 setup to a 9.1 setup, I can say the added channels make a significant difference as they fill out the sound, per se. But if you look at Dolby Atmos music releases, you'll find a better example of that technologies use. For instance, the recent Tears for Fears album that was recently released. They had a Dolby Atmos mixed version of that album released on Blu-Ray and the difference is night and day when compared to its CD brethren. In the Atmos mix, you can hear more of the intricate harmonies or of certain instruments in the surrounds where the Atmos speakers are fed ambient effects from voices or a wind instrument. Very very cool! Also, you'll find since Atmos is at a higher bit rate that whatever distortion you'd hear on a CD mix is gone! Not sure if it's a mastering thing or what, but if you compare Sting's Sacred Love album, the song Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) that there's a noticeable distortion/static at the 2:43 mark on the CD, but if you compare that same track to the higher bit rate releases (DTS, SACD, and DVD-A), that distortion/static is gone completely. So yeah, you can't go wrong brutha!
 
The better AVRs have Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization for speaker setups that do not have Height Speakers.


If you don’t want to add height or overhead speakers, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization is your best bet. Height Virtualization is a feature that basically mimics the Atmos height effects. Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization can provide more immersive and 3-dimensional audio. Unfortunately, height effects will be less subtle than Dolby Atmos with overhead speakers. Without height speakers, Height Virtualization technology is essentially tricking the listener into hearing overhead effects. This allows users without Atmos speakers to enjoy an Atmos soundtrack.
 
Turns out the avr market in my region is still behind the time. Even avr with hdmi 2.1 is still a rarity (and way more expensive)
 
Also, you'll find since Atmos is at a higher bit rate that whatever distortion you'd hear on a CD mix is gone! Not sure if it's a mastering thing or what, but if you compare Sting's Sacred Love album, the song Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) that there's a noticeable distortion/static at the 2:43 mark on the CD, but if you compare that same track to the higher bit rate releases (DTS, SACD, and DVD-A), that distortion/static is gone completely. So yeah, you can't go wrong brutha!
Just out of curiosity, are you referring to a slightly unsharp S in the vocal track at 2:43?

It sounds to me like it's just mixed with too high gain and the track is clipping, higher bitrate should not really play a role in such case. But surely sound engineers pay more attention when mastering for the higher quality release, since those paying for better stuff have less tolerance for sloppiness.
 
Just out of curiosity, are you referring to a slightly unsharp S in the vocal track at 2:43?

It sounds to me like it's just mixed with too high gain and the track is clipping, higher bitrate should not really play a role in such case. But surely sound engineers pay more attention when mastering for the higher quality release, since those paying for better stuff have less tolerance for sloppiness.

I was more pointing out the part where Sting says "in a stolen caaaar, at the traffic light." The word car sounds like it was being pushed hard and was clipping. But if you pop in the surround versions, that clipping is gone. I verified it with the SACD and DVD-A versions I have.PXL_20221126_130334036.jpg
 
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