There are several audio formats available, but there’s been a major push of late toward Dolby Atmos. When you look at the highest tiers of streaming services or what audio format is available on a 4K UHD Blu-ray, it’s typically Dolby Atmos. Atmos has been in our homes for years now, and even your phone has access to it. However, not all Atmos mixes are created equally, and even if your TV says you’re listening to it, there’s a good chance you’re not getting the best experience out of it.
A lot of corners have to be cut to get it into homes, and sometimes it results in a lesser experience. At its core, Dolby Atmos is a directional-based audio format, and it benefits mightily by having speakers placed high up on your wall and even above you. This helps simulate the true intention, and it’s why listening to an Atmos mix from your phone’s speakers on Apple Music doesn’t hit the same.
Dolby Atmos is limited by your speakers
The more, the better
Since Atmos is reliant on direction audio, you want to place your speakers in a way that can show that off. For example, Top Gun: Maverick, one of the best showcases of Dolby Atmos on 4K UHD, has a lot of overhead effects thanks to the planes. If you only have speakers placed in front of you, that’s not doing much. If you have surrounds and overhead speakers, the format really shines.
A lot of soundbars claim to have Dolby Atmos, and, to be fair, they do. They’ll read the Atmos format just fine, but since they mostly rely on upfiring speakers, you either need to make sure your ceiling is at the correct height so the audio bounces to you, or you need to be okay with getting a lesser experience. I don’t think Atmos is one of those situations where any of it is better than none of it, because it can sound quite weird without the proper setup. That’s especially the case on your phone.
It’s not that expensive to add to your existing setup
It can be, but it doesn’t have to be
Building a surround sound setup isn’t cheap. You have to get a bunch of speakers, a subwoofer, a receiver, and you’ll probably want a good TV to go with it. This can easily blow far past the $1,000 price tag. I had a 5.1 surround sound system in my living room before going to Atmos, and believe me when I say that that was the most expensive part of it all. I just wanted to dip my toes into Atmos, so I ended up grabbing a cheap pair of satellite speakers from Amazon for about $40. I’m actually still using those to this day, and I’m in desperate need of an upgrade.
What you might not realize is that although Atmos brings height channels into the mix, most movies and shows won’t be using those speakers all the time. In fact, you’ll notice they are simply inactive for most of the watch time. This means you don’t have to get the best of the best speakers for your Atmos height channels. You can cut some corners there and still get a good experience. It’s perfectly fine to start with tiny satellite speakers, but I’d upgrade those quicker than I did if I were you.
It doesn’t need to be forced onto everything
No need to upscale
Something I did a lot when I first got my Atmos speakers hooked up was listening to a bunch of my favorite movies in the format. It didn’t take long for me to realize that a lot of movies don’t have an Atmos mix, but that didn’t stop my receiver. Thanks to my Denon receiver, I could upscale the audio and have it play through those Atmos speakers. It works, sure, but I suddenly got the feeling that the movies didn’t sound the way they were intended to, and I stopped doing this.
There’s nothing wrong with doing this if you’re okay with sounds occasionally coming out of the wrong speaker, but I just didn’t like putting up with things like that anymore. My receiver did a good job of having the audio sound correct, but I just wanted to stick with the original tracks. If that meant my Atmos speakers didn’t get any action during a movie, then so be it.
It’s not as good on streaming
It shines on a disc
Something a lot of people need to understand is that nothing on streaming looks or sounds as good as it can. I mean, it probably sounds as good as it can get for streaming. The reason for this is compression, and it’s what services need to do to make sure you’re able to get a decent experience at home. I don’t blame them for that, and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of streaming content over the years.
If you have a Dolby Atmos setup, you owe it to yourself to pick up some 4K Blu-ray discs so you can see what you’re missing out on. The big thing for me is subwoofer activity. Streaming services just don’t seem to activate it as much as a disc, and a subwoofer is actually one of the most vital parts of an Atmos setup. Many movies, like Edge of Tomorrow, shine thanks to the LFE (low-frequency effects), and that just doesn’t come through as good as it should on streaming.
