Will Atmos go away in a couple years?

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What you say @MidiMagic is correct. But this is the world we live in.

This reminds me when someone says:
"Man went to the Moon 50 years ago. Why do they not go again quickly?, it should be easier now!"

I can imagine that the whole NASA project management has to be rebuilt. Old documentation and computer programs (if they exist) cannot be understood by young engineers.
Almost everything has to be designed and planned from start. With new equipment, new HW, new space suits, etc.
NASA was going nuts trying to get 80386 chips, old INTEL peripheral chips, and MS-DOS 3.2 operating system copies after 2000 because it would have been dangerous to upgrade either the hardware base or the operating system on the Space Shuttle.

Remember when they needed COBOL programmers in 1998-99 because legacy software was written to treat 1999 as the "never expire" date and to use 2-digit years. I started out using FORTRAN and COBOL in the 1960s. I ended up changing only one program in 1999 for the 2-digit year problem.

And all of our D-Base databases quit working when Microsoft upgraded MS-DOS to 3.0. D-Base put its copy protection keys in an unused portion of the floppy disk format that became the storage location for the new folders (directories). Making a folder erased the keys. I have hated copy-protection ever since.
 
I have hated copy-protection ever since.
I have hated Intellectual Properly laws in the same.
I don't have a problem paying for the latest 5.1 PF Animals album, people went back to the masters, did all the work between it being thought of, to it being mailed to the buyers.

OTOH, I bought my 2 channel copy of the original master back in 1977. It is now mine and I'll do with it as I please.
I'll copy it, give it away, or post it on Napster if I so chose...

When I fixed your car or motorcycle, you paid me for my service and road away, maybe never to be heard from again.
If you want to get paid again, go to work and perform it live again tonight just like I did 5-6 days a week for 40+ years.
 
Max Cooper's music is one of those that has inspired me to want to expand my Atmos system.

I would love to be in a theater with a full Atmos complement of speakers and listen with all available speakers playing. Now that would be a mind altering experience.
Both Cooper's Emergence and Unspoken Words back to back could be great.

While there are winners and losers amongst the Atmos music I have listened to (and maybe some of my impressions might be because I'm currently limited to 5.1.2),
spatial or immersive audio, or whatever you wish to call it, seems much more adventurous when it's less traditional, i.e. traditional musical instruments. It's not that I'm saying I don't want to
listen to, say, xPropaganda in Atmos, because I do. ...and I do!

With the gracious help of @zeerround , a spare AVR, and some gadgets I hope to soon purchase, my goal is to expand my Atmos system beyond it's current 5.1.2 by at least two more speakers.
 
While there are winners and losers amongst the Atmos music I have listened to (and maybe some of my impressions might be because I'm currently limited to 5.1.2),
spatial or immersive audio, or whatever you wish to call it, seems much more adventurous when it's less traditional, i.e. traditional musical instruments. It's not that I'm saying I don't want to
listen to, say, xPropaganda in Atmos, because I do. ...and I do!
Yello-Point continues to be one of my most referents for Atmos 'adventurous'.

Surprinsingly for me, I never liked styles like Billie Eilish. But now, thanks to Atmos, I listen frquently Billie Eilish albums and also from her brother Finneas, or things like Rodriguez Jr. wilth Liset Alea. Also xPropaganda.

Yes, there are winners and losers, even with 9.1.4 as I have. It all depends on the mix, as we all know.

Lets enjoy. There are already enough atmos mixes either immersive or ping-pong effective, to leverage our investment in speakers installation. 5.1.4 is better than 5.1.2 :)
 
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Yello-Point continues to be one of my most referents for Atmos 'adventurous'.

Surprinsingly for me, I never liked styles like Billie Eilish. But now, thanks to Atmos, I listen frquently Billie Eilish albums and also from his brother Finneas, or things like Rodriguez Jr. wilth Liset Alea. Also xPropaganda.

Yes, there are winners and losers, even with 9.1.4 as I have. It all depends on the mix, as we all know.

Lets enjoy. There are already enough atmos mixes either immersive or ping-pong effective, to leverage our investment in speakers installation. 5.1.4 is better than 5.1.2 :)
And 7.1.4 is even better. ;)
 
I'd love to go 7 on the base, just no room for rear surrounds. :(
When I started to plan for the renewal of the Living Room, I said to my wife: "The couch must be somewhere in the middle of the room".
She said: "But there will be more room if we put it against a wall, as it was before".

I said: "Do you trust me?" - "Yes", she said.

The rest is history.
 
Apologies in advance but I have a yarn to share... lol

Having a bit of spare time and some distance from home, I visited a hi-fi store the other day. Not anything special for our audience here, I recognise, but I was dressed like I fell off the back of a truck because priorities (music > clothes).

I like this crew; so I think I will spare them being labelled today. Great range of serious hi-fi gear and one of the few to continue to stock Anthem, of whom I have an irrepressible affection.

So they have the gear; and naturally they have my dream upgrade AV receiver; and it is hooked up for sampling. What I need, though, is to be convinced of the virtue of Atmos. I have never heard Atmos: it is not a thing here in my bogan suburbs, even before partners enforced soundbars on the less hard headed among us. So I wanted to hear Atmos.

So here I am in a listening room. Lots of Krix going on which is great because I am also eyeing off them for ceiling speakers. There are only two ceiling speakers but it should at least give a feel. Two side speakers as well.

There's a media player hooked up. No music to demo with at all so I am limited to movies. Not great as a reference point. A movie is put on as a demo but the audio options are limited to 5.1/7.1. The atmos and side speakers are silent as expected. I try to find a movie with a playable atmos soundtrack; I fail. So the room is setup for Atmos, which a top end Atmos compatible receiver, and I can not actually sample Atmos.

The sampling experience was, for the most part, no better than my home system. The video setup was clearly superior - that is not hard - but in terms of audio it's up for debate which is better between what I am hearing and at home. Without some quality musical content I cannot even reach a conclusion.

I ask if there is any Atmos content we can sample at all. They do not know. I do not want to push my luck given that I am wearing thongs (flip-flops for the Americans) and am clearly at the low end of their clientele. But seriously? Stocking some of the best gear around and cannot even demonstrate it? I bite my tongue.

It turns out that the bulk of their customers seem to be doing media rooms. In ~90% of cases they do the Anthem installation and setup, which I found interesting as I had never thought of doing such a thing (and have been running ARC etc for six or so years).

Where is all this going? Well, some thoughts:

- The average hi-fi customer is relatively unaware of hi-fi and has no idea what they are doing;
- The average hi-fi customer wants a movie theatre and certainly differs from us music lovers in usage;
- I am personally far less bothered by aesthetics than the typical clientelle (eg. I certainly would never want a system in build into walls - I want to be able to change/move things);
- The prevalence of people who money (of whom I am not one) is certainly still driving a lot of hi-fi sales;
- Atmos is not going away in the near future as the setups they are doing are for Atmos - the customers will hear it in some form and will not want to go backwards;
- It is Atmos in movies that is going to keep this format alive;
- Combining the above, the current prevalence of excellent hi-fi equipment for music is therefore an accident;
- We are for the most part beneficiaries of a bizarre system of people wanting home cinemas;
- I, for one, hope this trendy home cinema movement continues for the foreseeable future so that we may continue to benefit :)

Alas, what I got out of this visit... hands on feel of the Krix ceiling speakers and more understanding of how to install them myself :)
 
Apologies in advance but I have a yarn to share... lol

Having a bit of spare time and some distance from home, I visited a hi-fi store the other day. Not anything special for our audience here, I recognise, but I was dressed like I fell off the back of a truck because priorities (music > clothes).

I like this crew; so I think I will spare them being labelled today. Great range of serious hi-fi gear and one of the few to continue to stock Anthem, of whom I have an irrepressible affection.

So they have the gear; and naturally they have my dream upgrade AV receiver; and it is hooked up for sampling. What I need, though, is to be convinced of the virtue of Atmos. I have never heard Atmos: it is not a thing here in my bogan suburbs, even before partners enforced soundbars on the less hard headed among us. So I wanted to hear Atmos.

So here I am in a listening room. Lots of Krix going on which is great because I am also eyeing off them for ceiling speakers. There are only two ceiling speakers but it should at least give a feel. Two side speakers as well.

There's a media player hooked up. No music to demo with at all so I am limited to movies. Not great as a reference point. A movie is put on as a demo but the audio options are limited to 5.1/7.1. The atmos and side speakers are silent as expected. I try to find a movie with a playable atmos soundtrack; I fail. So the room is setup for Atmos, which a top end Atmos compatible receiver, and I can not actually sample Atmos.

The sampling experience was, for the most part, no better than my home system. The video setup was clearly superior - that is not hard - but in terms of audio it's up for debate which is better between what I am hearing and at home. Without some quality musical content I cannot even reach a conclusion.

I ask if there is any Atmos content we can sample at all. They do not know. I do not want to push my luck given that I am wearing thongs (flip-flops for the Americans) and am clearly at the low end of their clientele. But seriously? Stocking some of the best gear around and cannot even demonstrate it? I bite my tongue.

It turns out that the bulk of their customers seem to be doing media rooms. In ~90% of cases they do the Anthem installation and setup, which I found interesting as I had never thought of doing such a thing (and have been running ARC etc for six or so years).

Where is all this going? Well, some thoughts:

- The average hi-fi customer is relatively unaware of hi-fi and has no idea what they are doing;
- The average hi-fi customer wants a movie theatre and certainly differs from us music lovers in usage;
- I am personally far less bothered by aesthetics than the typical clientelle (eg. I certainly would never want a system in build into walls - I want to be able to change/move things);
- The prevalence of people who money (of whom I am not one) is certainly still driving a lot of hi-fi sales;
- Atmos is not going away in the near future as the setups they are doing are for Atmos - the customers will hear it in some form and will not want to go backwards;
- It is Atmos in movies that is going to keep this format alive;
- Combining the above, the current prevalence of excellent hi-fi equipment for music is therefore an accident;
- We are for the most part beneficiaries of a bizarre system of people wanting home cinemas;
- I, for one, hope this trendy home cinema movement continues for the foreseeable future so that we may continue to benefit :)

Alas, what I got out of this visit... hands on feel of the Krix ceiling speakers and more understanding of how to install them myself :)
I knew you were Australian from the minute you said bogan!!
 
Apologies in advance but I have a yarn to share... lol

Having a bit of spare time and some distance from home, I visited a hi-fi store the other day. Not anything special for our audience here, I recognise, but I was dressed like I fell off the back of a truck because priorities (music > clothes).

I like this crew; so I think I will spare them being labelled today. Great range of serious hi-fi gear and one of the few to continue to stock Anthem, of whom I have an irrepressible affection.

So they have the gear; and naturally they have my dream upgrade AV receiver; and it is hooked up for sampling. What I need, though, is to be convinced of the virtue of Atmos. I have never heard Atmos: it is not a thing here in my bogan suburbs, even before partners enforced soundbars on the less hard headed among us. So I wanted to hear Atmos.

So here I am in a listening room. Lots of Krix going on which is great because I am also eyeing off them for ceiling speakers. There are only two ceiling speakers but it should at least give a feel. Two side speakers as well.

There's a media player hooked up. No music to demo with at all so I am limited to movies. Not great as a reference point. A movie is put on as a demo but the audio options are limited to 5.1/7.1. The atmos and side speakers are silent as expected. I try to find a movie with a playable atmos soundtrack; I fail. So the room is setup for Atmos, which a top end Atmos compatible receiver, and I can not actually sample Atmos.

The sampling experience was, for the most part, no better than my home system. The video setup was clearly superior - that is not hard - but in terms of audio it's up for debate which is better between what I am hearing and at home. Without some quality musical content I cannot even reach a conclusion.

I ask if there is any Atmos content we can sample at all. They do not know. I do not want to push my luck given that I am wearing thongs (flip-flops for the Americans) and am clearly at the low end of their clientele. But seriously? Stocking some of the best gear around and cannot even demonstrate it? I bite my tongue.

It turns out that the bulk of their customers seem to be doing media rooms. In ~90% of cases they do the Anthem installation and setup, which I found interesting as I had never thought of doing such a thing (and have been running ARC etc for six or so years).

Where is all this going? Well, some thoughts:

- The average hi-fi customer is relatively unaware of hi-fi and has no idea what they are doing;
- The average hi-fi customer wants a movie theatre and certainly differs from us music lovers in usage;
- I am personally far less bothered by aesthetics than the typical clientelle (eg. I certainly would never want a system in build into walls - I want to be able to change/move things);
- The prevalence of people who money (of whom I am not one) is certainly still driving a lot of hi-fi sales;
- Atmos is not going away in the near future as the setups they are doing are for Atmos - the customers will hear it in some form and will not want to go backwards;
- It is Atmos in movies that is going to keep this format alive;
- Combining the above, the current prevalence of excellent hi-fi equipment for music is therefore an accident;
- We are for the most part beneficiaries of a bizarre system of people wanting home cinemas;
- I, for one, hope this trendy home cinema movement continues for the foreseeable future so that we may continue to benefit :)

Alas, what I got out of this visit... hands on feel of the Krix ceiling speakers and more understanding of how to install them myself :)
Reminds me of the Quad days when I would go in and see an assortment of receivers with different decoders, and no quad vinyl.
I am forced to agree with you that most people are more worried about their home theater, whatever that means, than music listening. I have my TV and 5.1 in one room and my music system (4.0) on a different floor of the house. Most people I know find this ridiculous especially since I largely live alone. They don't get it.
 
Well some things you take on intuition. I bought my first quad system unheard and never looked back. Atmos turned out to be a happy accident.
But I get what you're saying. People primarily concerned with music playback are a group removed from, but benefit from, the movie crowd.
 
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