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Atmos’ killer app? Sounds like, amusingly, headphones

I read a great article from a non-audiophile here. It raises a good point...if atmos can deliver 85% of the sound through headphones rather than speakers, then *that* is going to be massive. 

I had never thought about how if you had a good remaster, with the digital data, you could do some cool things with respect to actually having different “tracks” getting to your ears at the same time. Instead of having a mixed waveform simulating that, you can actually get individual waves. 

Granted, you will need to remaster tracks, but...I would really like to hear that on orchestral pieces. 
avlee
willemj
1,036 posts
 
I do watch movies (and opera) at home, but my preferred means is to just use my stereo system as a HT system. I think it works pretty well, and I also think that two really good but necessarily large speakers give a sound that is at least in some respects superior to a muiltitude of small ones. Five (or seven) large electrostats in my living room? No thank you.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I agree with Erik that center channel is probably the most important speaker in a HT system.  In movie audio production, the center channel is where the source of vocals are generated from.  However, the left/right channel also has a tiny bit of vocals. When produced, the movie soundtrack uses left/right channels for ambience.  The vocals are usually at about 10% and have a slight delay.  This gives you the reality of sound where the actor is speaking from, such as talking in a bathroom, talking outside next to a building, etc.  Without the left/right vocal ambience, the sound may be very mono.

I have listened to movies/shows using only 2 channel and the processor has to compromise by sending the center channel to both left and right, while at the same time playing normal left/right soundtracks.  What happens is that the vocals and sound have an "echo" effect.  It makes it harder to hear voices.

Left/right surround speakers do add ambience.  It makes the movie experience more immersive or "stereo like".  If you only have left/center/right, the sound is more "mono" in a sense because it is all coming from ahead of you.  The surround speakers put you more inside the movie experience.

I have been in full Atmos theaters with ceiling speaks and tons of surrounds.  The effect is interesting with sounds coming all over the place, but honestly, I would rather have an extremely great 5.1 system than an average 11.1 Atmos system.  For me 5.1 is enough to really enjoy movies, if the system is high-end enough.

avlee OP
84 posts
 
The article author doesn’t particularly focus on the multispeaker part of it. As he notes, there’s nothing special about multispeaker setups. 

If you *read* the article, he’s blown away by the *music*. 

Apparently, when done properly, Atmos delivers a great musical sound.  The author and the producers note that the software can help deliver discrete tracks (assuming they were recorded properly in the first place) to the listener. I don’t know if receiving two different waveforms is actually any different than receiving one convoluted one (and allowing the brain to pick the tones apart) but I’d like to see. 

Again, the author notes the headphone experience isn’t equal to speakers, but he mentions that it’s *close enough*.  And if enough music comes out with Dolby Atmos mastering, maybe that can help it gain acceptance. 

If Atmos was just about giving me more “swoosh” effects (which the author pans in the first paragraph) I was happy to pass. If, on the other hand, it can actually render a better sound stage, it’s somthing to consider. 

Again, I’d recommend reading the article. But do what you will. 
avlee OP
84 posts
 
The author even mentions that the remastered REM recording doesn’t sound 3D. In fact, he says it’s still basically stereo. But the detail and ability to pick out instruments is the real magic with Atmos. Granted, it could be a puff piece, but the website isn’t an audio website or interested in selling stuff. I read it for science news. 

Again, for the author, it’s about the sound. NOT about “surround sound”.
avlee OP
84 posts
 
One last nugget: I’m not quite sure how Atmos can generate individual waves with headphones and have them arrive at the same time, and neither does the author. I think we have to assume the headphone experience is using mashed up waves, but again, if it’s just 85% of the experience with speakers, a lot more people will appreciate that over folks who have more complex hifi setups like ours. *if* atmos mastered music can sound better, imagine Dolby Atmos mastered audio on Apple Music or Tidal. The reach could be massive. 

Not trying to evangelize anything about Atmos. I just thought this article would be a nice nugget for thought. 
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