Poll: Atmos Music: Are You Going to Listen at Home?

[dobyblue]

I'm hoping that sometime next year I'll be able to afford a Marantz SR-6013, which is now down to $899 from its original MSRP of $1499

Congrats on the new ceiling installation!

For what it's worth, if you don't mind manufacturer refurbished (1 year warranty) Accessories4Less have the SR6013 for $749 and the SR6012 for $699. I am using the SR6012 with a 5.2.4 installation and love it, also using it for my Zone 2 system upstairs with an external Marantz MM7025 to drive the Zone 2 as the four Atmos speakers being added used up all 9 amps.

https://www.accessories4less.com/ma...9.2-ch-x-110-watts-a/v-receiver-w/heos/1.html
It would be great if Marantz allowed you to choose the option to have a power amp for the fronts of a 5.2.4 system and two of the SR6012's amps for the Zone 2 as I'd rather power the main channels in the HT that way, but such is life.

 

[stormchaser]

I've got precisely fourteen discs with Atmos and/or Auro 3-D mixes on them, eight on Sono Luminus and four on 2L, plus Abbey Road and Automatic for the People. So even if I decide that Atmos blows my mind, I can't say whether it will have been worth the expense, at least not yet. But I guess I can try out the upmixer, too. And my teenager, who noticed the new overhead speakers the second he walked in the door when he got home from school, is excited about what this will mean for his movie and TV-watching. So it's all good...

As you've heard from a few of us, the upmixers are fun to play with. Dolby Surround and Auromixer lead to very different experiences: from each other, as well as from stereo. You'll have lots of fun ahead of you.

 

[par4ken]

I
Don't get me wrong. I think the idea of an over 60 speaker system is full on bad ass! Sounds like it would be a fun ride creating a mix that made for a reason for the system to exist. It's just... Can we just get more 5.1 mixes please? And free of the hyped shit mastering that has damaged so many! THEN we can start talking about your 60-some speaker 3D systems.

I'm still stuck on four speakers, 5.1 fine, 7.1 maybe but do we really need height speakers, in a movie theatre maybe. They couldn't sell the idea of four speakers to the general public so they figure let's keep adding more and more and more and see how it goes. That's not to say that I wouldn't buy Atmos formatted music but I would have to downmix it, I just don't think that the general public will have any interest at all (and I hope that I'm wrong).

 

[humprof]

Congrats on the new ceiling installation!

For what it's worth, if you don't mind manufacturer refurbished (1 year warranty) Accessories4Less have the SR6013 for $749 and the SR6012 for $699.

https://www.accessories4less.com/ma...9.2-ch-x-110-watts-a/v-receiver-w/heos/1.html

Thanks for the good wishes. And yeah--I stumbled onto that accessories4less listing last night, myself. (They're actually offering a 3-year warranty, as it turns out.) I suppose I could load up the credit card, although I'm still not quite sure how to justify the purchase at all, since my 1607 is less than two years old--and I got it in part so that I would have more room--and more room for ventilation--in my stereo cabinet. With the 6013 I could get rid of my outboard preamp, though, since it'll let me connect my turntable directly. So I guess that would free up some space...

 

[Stupy]

When one can afford it...!

 

[Soundfield]

No thank you. I do not wish to have the Ability To Mutilate Original Sounds!

 

[PmikeK]

Hell yeah. Just ordered 3 Atmos blu rays.

 

[halbroome]

I could see the thought processses, humprof, that are leading to your eventual purchase -- I know, because my mind convinces itself that way, too!

Thanks for the good wishes. And yeah--I stumbled onto that accessories4less listing last night, myself. (They're actually offering a 3-year warranty, as it turns out.) I suppose I could load up the credit card, although I'm still not quite sure how to justify the purchase at all, since my 1607 is less than two years old--and I got it in part so that I would have more room--and more room for ventilation--in my stereo cabinet. With the 6013 I could get rid of my outboard preamp, though, since it'll let me connect my turntable directly. So I guess that would free up some space...

 

[humprof]

I could see the thought processses, humprof, that are leading to your eventual purchase -- I know, because my mind convinces itself that way, too!

I'm that transparent, eh? (I was never any good at poker, either.)

As you've heard from a few of us, the upmixers are fun to play with. Dolby Surround and Auromixer lead to very different experiences: from each other, as well as from stereo. You'll have lots of fun ahead of you.

I really haven't listened enough to earn the right to say anything yet, but when has that ever stopped me before? So here goes: I'm seeing and hearing lots of interesting things so far, especially with music I don't have a history with. (Generally speaking that means whatever my kid is streaming on Spotify through the AVR, although I've also hijacked his account to check out the new Beck, plus a couple of people's--Gramophone magazine and New Yorker music writer Alex Ross--picks for best classical recordings of 2019. Andrew Norman's Sustain and Riot Ensemble's Speak, Be Silent both "decode" really well in Dolby Surround.)

But I'm also having trouble overcoming both the familiarity bias and the loudness bias. That is: for years now I've listened to stereo sources in "All-Channel Stereo," so that's what I've gotten used to. And if I play a familiar album through the Dolby Surround or Neural:X upmixer, I notice two things immediately:

1. It's not as loud. (Of course not, since the signal is essentially being divided up 8 ways now, with only some elements going to each speaker, instead of being split 2 ways and replicated across 7 speakers, not counting the LFE channel). And it's well known that in an A-B comparison, one's ears tend to hear louder as "better."
2. It's somehow not as "dense," since both upmixers tend to isolate lead vocals and lead instruments in the center channel and spread other elements around the room in subtle ways--which, perversely, can make certain familiar details from the stereo mix harder to discern. (The upmixers also don't spread the bassline all around the room; see #1, above.) Maybe I should start by boosting the signal a few dB when I use the upmixers!

Anyway: I know things will vary from recording to recording, and I know I have to give my ears time to adjust to the new paradigm. And undoubtedly Santa needs to bring me that new receiver so that I can fire up all four overhead speakers and get the full effect!

 

[jamoke]

Nope.
Changed my vote from a Maybe to a No.

I had visions of upgrading my 7.2 system with 4 Atmos speakers as I am moving and can start fresh. I actually purchased the speakers and an extra amp.
Decided to skip the Atmos and just build a second surround system instead. I'm not a fan of Dolby Labs these days with the license-blocking and feature limiting power moves. Just gonna skip this dance and keep what already sounds great.

 

[jamoke]

Upon further review...

Changed my vote again from No to Other, as I just purchased a new $200 tablet that came with officially licensed Dolby Atmos technology.
I can't wait to try it out...real soon now.

 

[Goona]

Have a 7-2-4 set up.
Atmos and Auro 3D are much better than normal 5.1 discs

 

[AYanguas]

Have a 7-2-4 set up.
Atmos and Auro 3D are much better than normal 5.1 discs

Sure,

Unfortunately there are very few Atmos Music native mixes, and the few Auro-3D mixes emphasize the natural room recording reverberation instead of playing with discrete sounds moving around.

But I enjoy very much good 5.1 discrete mixes with the AVR upmixers DSU or Auromatic. Better Auromatic for Music.

 

[himey]

Have a 7-2-4 set up.
Atmos and Auro 3D are much better than normal 5.1 discs

Which ones are "much better"?

 

[Goona]

Which ones are "much better"?

ATMOS:- The Beatles Abbey Road, but Kraftwerk 3D Catalog is the best ATMOS I have heard.
Auro 3d:- The 2 Bernie Drexel are superb as well as Mando Diao-Aelita

 

[himey]

ATMOS:- The Beatles Abbey Road, but Kraftwerk 3D Catalog is the best ATMOS I have heard.
Auro 3d:- The 2 Bernie Drexel are superb as well as Mando Diao-Aelita

How large are your height speakers compared to the rest of your speakers? Lots of tiny speakers crossed over to a subwoofer makes me cringe. Three titles aren't enough to mount large speakers towards my ceiling. The 5.1 mix of Abbey Road gets me to where I want to go. I will reevaluate once there are 10+ quality titles like the Kraftwerk.

 

[Goona]

I have Elac Uni Fi F5 Floorstanders , uni fi center , and then all the rest including 4 height speakers are Uni Fi UB5 Bookshelf, and 2 Elac subs

 

[Goona]

I have Elac Uni Fi F5 Floorstanders , uni fi center , and then all the rest including 4 height speakers are Uni Fi UB5 Bookshelf, and 2 Elac subs

Front with LG 77 Oled C9

 

[humprof]

Unfortunately there are very few Atmos Music native mixes, and the few Auro-3D mixes emphasize the natural room recording reverberation instead of playing with discrete sounds moving around.

But I enjoy very much good 5.1 discrete mixes with the AVR upmixers DSU or Auromatic. Better Auromatic for Music.

Agree with you on almost every point. The really outstanding native Atmos mixes that I've heard so far are not pop/rock titles, but contemporary classical or "New Music." Practically every Atmos mix I've heard from the Sono Luminus and 2L labels knocks me on my ass. (Then again, so does every one of their 5.1 mixes.)

 

[AYanguas]

Agree with you on almost every point. The really outstanding native Atmos mixes that I've heard so far are not pop/rock titles, but contemporary classical or "New Music." Practically every Atmos mix I've heard from the Sono Luminus and 2L labels knocks me on my ass. (Then again, so does every one of their 5.1 mixes.)

I'm a prog rock fan so looking for that genre Atmos music.

I've found that some of the mixes that most uses the possibilities of Atmos are the two albums of Matt Darey, available in his web page. Not exactly Prog, but good electronic music.

Now waiting for the next Steven Wilson album . He is a reference of 5.1 mixes of classic prog albums, and finally is supposed to begin with an Atmos mix.