Short and sweet , Spatial Audio, Atmos Audio

mantis

So I'm really trying to get back into this hobby. It's a uphill battle but there is a few things I noticed that is like bringing back formats that once where super cool and kinda never took off.
SACD multi channel, DVD audio , JVC XRCD just to name a few. These new formats remind me of them. Very open very nice very cool experience. I don't know how many of you have a Apple TV 4K that you can fool around with Apple Music with these formats, they are lossless and I gotta tell you, they sound damn good.

Clipdat

I'm not big fan of multichannel for music listening personally.

However that being said, the rising popularity of Atmos and multichannel music can only serve to help our hobby. Perhaps when someone randomly hears a demo of it it'll entice them to spend some money on their HT that they otherwise wouldn't have. Maybe then eventually they'll do a dedicated 2ch system, etc.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that with a properly setup 2ch system, you will actually get plenty of spatial, imaging, and wrap around your head effects - all without any surround speakers at all.

treitz3

No doubt. I heard a dog barking on an album Ron Cook came by and listened too while auditioning my rig. Damned dog was 30 feet back behind me to the right and the spatial locational cues were laser focused.

Tom

mantis

Clipdat wrote: »

I'm not big fan of multichannel for music listening personally.

However that being said, the rising popularity of Atmos and multichannel music can only serve to help our hobby. Perhaps when someone randomly hears a demo of it it'll entice them to spend some money on their HT that they otherwise wouldn't have. Maybe then eventually they'll do a dedicated 2ch system, etc.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that with a properly setup 2ch system, you will actually get plenty of spatial, imaging, and wrap around your head effects - all without any surround speakers at all.

I do agree with you but I really was huge into SACD and DVD audio back in the day and thought that was the next evolution of music which we all know basically failed. But this new version which is basically exactly like them, is wonderful.

mantis

treitz3 wrote: »

No doubt. I heard a dog barking on an album Ron Cook came by and listened too while auditioning my rig. Damned dog was 30 feet back behind me to the right and the spatial locational cues were laser focused.

Tom

I was playing around with it today and was really impressed. So many classics sound so more open and airy with Atmos. Really uses all the channels well and moves things around so nicely. The Beatles stuff sounds killer.

pitdogg2

Back in the day I had two rigs set up, a 2ch and HT6.2. They both had their place and yes I enjoyed my multi-channel set up with SACD and DVD-Audio. Some of my SACD's/DVD-Audios were intoxicating in the sweet spot. They both had their place and enjoyed both immensely. At this time in my life and more than likely in the future, I'll never be able to set up an Atmos system, Atmos will be out of reach.

Emlyn

The huge benefit of course compared to physical media that can cost $30 or more a pop is that Atmos Music or Spatial Audio streaming makes the surround product available to so many more people for no extra money if they want to take advantage of it. It may prompt more people to set up a proper Atmos capable system with in ceiling speakers. From what I understand Spatial Audio doesn't necessarily require an Atmos capable system but can be used with headphones. Not sure about how that works.

jbreezy5

treitz3 wrote: »

No doubt. I heard a dog barking on an album Ron Cook came by and listened too while auditioning my rig. Damned dog was 30 feet back behind me to the right and the spatial locational cues were laser focused.

Tom

What kind of dog was it? Did you pet it?

jbreezy5

Clipdat wrote: »

I'm not big fan of multichannel for music listening personally.

However that being said, the rising popularity of Atmos and multichannel music can only serve to help our hobby. Perhaps when someone randomly hears a demo of it it'll entice them to spend some money on their HT that they otherwise wouldn't have. Maybe then eventually they'll do a dedicated 2ch system, etc.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that with a properly setup 2ch system, you will actually get plenty of spatial, imaging, and wrap around your head effects - all without any surround speakers at all.

I agree with this in theory, however, I have been fooling around with this on my surround system using Youtube with no real goal in my mind; just experimenting.

My Yamaha receiver will automatically setup the appropriate speaker/DSP arrangement based on the signal it is fed, when the “Straight” button is selected.

I can also push the “Music” button to choose a variety of 2-channel, 7-channel, and other hall effects. I was surprised to find improved imaging/soundstaging, as well as, a warmer/fuller overall sound that was more pleasing than 2-channel when 7-channel was selected (no hall effects). Mind you I only run L/C/R in this system, and the sub is not engaged when using the “Music” settings.

I can't really explain why this would be the case when listening to something recorded in stereo, but I consistently prefer the playback this way.

This configuration is stereo pair Dynaudio Audience 82 (dual 8” woofers per speaker) and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 as center (only has a 5 1/4 midrange/midbass driver); which in terms of voicing sounds more similar than different to my Dyns; additionally, I have calibrated the speakers with YPAO room correction.

End result doesn’t fit what I would expect, but it sounds good. 🤷🏼

jdjohn

And here I thought this thread was going to be about open-baffle speakers (i.e., the other Spatial Audio).