Same here. I think Dolby Atmos will continue to be a theater feature, not a home one. Ditto for the competing Auro-3D system.
At Dolby, I think their upcoming Dolby Vision technology is more interesting and applicable to the home market.
Well I can't comment fairly on Auro, but after listening to Atmos Empire Leicester Square last year before it was closed and gutted into halves for a LIEMAX cinema one end its own Impact screen the other end where the famous star featured in the ceiling above the screen. Enough said on that I won't go there ever again.
Atmos on the JBL sound system 56kw was appallingly bad. It was more aimed for dogs cats and bats then for human listening. It was all toppy due to poorly set up aligned and EQ calibrated it had no stage bass channel authority what so ever. If the Stage channels had extra sub bass cabs for the stage channels JBL 4642 with MF and HF turned down or EQ attention a bit more so that it can be listened too and enjoyed. I had to cover my ears most the running time of STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS or STAR TREK INTO DEAFNESS as the A weighting levels had to be +90dbA and I have witnessed some offending cinemas with excessive high dbA across the LCR with my SPL db in the past.
No pun towards JBL or Dolby labs it was just not the same as the 1989 JBL THX that was light-years better it was like HI-FI quality only with glorified PA speakers, where's I can feel the stage channels low end pressing into my chest/body I kidd you not. The 56kw I have no idea where that had all gone amiss in setting it up it was a load of dbx4800 Crown JBL hot air.
If it ain't broken why fix it? '89 version was just spot and shame that technique couldn't have been applied to the 2007 JBL THX.
Oddly STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is still a bloody loud over mixed loud film. On my SDDS processor its almost reaching close to 0db OVER. The dialogue mix is poorly done at times where sound effects god knows how high there going. I have to get a remote for my Onkyo TH SR-875 so I can switch on the NIGHT MODE COMPRESSOR for offending loud mixes! Otherwise I'd end up with top end hearing loss. Mixers must be partly deaf on the top end as films are just getting brighter and brighter sounding. I'd rather listen to street traffic level sound with the SPL db for 1 hour at least its real and has gabs between each traffic passing by.
On another point with trail and error to get STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS to sounding just about right for the room size as homes don't have 1330 seats! 6 or 12 maybe 15 seats in some basements? Even that should have the levels custom suited or the room not large cinema size.
Go see the same film in multiplex take an SPL db with you and laptop anything with Spectrum Lab, and make a recoding of same scene in each LARGE MEDIUM and SMALL sized auditorium I bet you that same film will not feel the same it will have the same sound mix, but I don't think the audience would want it at 1330 seat size VOLUME making them all deaf. Its not funny its serious. You can think a cinema might not be as powerful a outdoors PA system? I have tinnitus due, to SENSURROUND in the 70's its mild level on/off most days even today I hear a bit of it. It sounds like narrow band HPF and LPF on ether end narrowing down on some high frequencies, inner ear. I can still hear up to 10,000 and 16,000KHz gets faint for my age that is not bad going as there are some with it far worse and I can only imagine how miserable they must feel.
Anyway enough of my rant as this Atmos Auro deal gives me a headache just thinking about it. Glad I'm clued up on it, if it was any other cinema goer, not know, what to look for and listen for, they surly be wasting £$800.00 to £$2000.00 and its not cos I can't afford it, the expectations of it isn't high enough to have me drooling.
