There’s an ongoing tug of war in video and audio formats, with consumers given a choice of license-free options that are quite good versus licensed formats that come at a higher cost and are supposed to be better. Dolby formats fall into the latter category, as the company boasts Dolby Vision for video and Dolby Atmos for audio.
There’s a lot of brand recognition that comes with Dolby Atmos; it’s also a pretty attractive name that piques curiosity, and its association with theater sound makes it even more appealing. Notably, Dolby Atmos is frequently listed as a premium feature, whether on streaming services, smart TVs, or audio devices. It does indeed offer some impressive sound features, but maybe not exactly everything that consumers expect or deserve for the price. Here’s why it’s not worth using yet.
How does Dolby Atmos work?
Spatial sounds provides an immersive audio experience
To understand why Dolby Atmos probably isn’t the best way to enjoy audio, it’s important to understand its background. It was first created for movie theaters, providing immersive sound to a cinema full of engaged viewers. A major draw of Atmos is its spatial, 3D sound component. Audio is meant to feel like it’s all around, coming from any direction or place in your environment. It’s terrific in theaters because sound effects and dialogue can mirror locations on the screen, making it feel like you’re within the story.
Dolby Atmos is also available to enjoy via your television as well as music apps. The main alternative to Atmos is DTS:X, another 3D, spatial audio format, albeit one that is license-free and more accessible. Dolby Atmos requires more home speakers, speaking ceiling options, in order to achieve the overhead spatial audio component, while DTS:X adapts to your specific speaker placement.
Dolby Atmos is not a lossless format
Marketing confuses consumers
Dolby Atmos has its attractive qualities, but its features are sometimes conflated or confusing. For whatever reason, it’s commonly believed to be a lossless audio format. Perhaps it’s because Atmos is often lumped into a list of premium aspects of apps and streaming services that consumers assume Atmos to be lossless.
However, it can be lossless in some situations. If you’re streaming music from Apple in Dolby Atmos, you will be listening to compressed audio. Compression is typically going to take place across any streaming service, whether it’s video or audio, due to bandwidth limitations. A Bluetooth connection is not going to provide lossless audio. Instead, physical media will almost always be of better quality and fidelity. And it’s possible to enjoy Dolby Atmos with physical media; Blu-rays players can provide lossless Dolby audio with proper encoding.
Dolby Atmos isn’t universally supported
Check your devices, consoles, and services
With any video or audio format, you have to make sure that every step along the entertainment train, from start to finish, is compatible. In order to enjoy Dolby Atmos, the source material has to be designed for Atmos, and your output device, any kind of speaker, has to be built for it as well. And if you want to enjoy Dolby Atmos with shows or movies, then your smart TV, physical media player, and HDMI cables need to be suitable as well. Any step of the train that isn’t compatible means Dolby Atmos won’t work.
It can be hard to make sure everything is aligned. Most new earbuds support Dolby Atmos, as do many speakers, but as it’s a premium feature, it can make the investment costly. Source materials can be trickier to find. While Apple Music supports Atmos, Spotify does not. Neither does YouTube. Truly enjoying Dolby Atmos means taking time to make a lot of services and technologies fit together.
Mind your environment for spatial audio
Check acoustics and sound movement
The big draw of Dolby Atmos is its spatial component, where sounds will feel like they’re overhead and all around you. That immersive quality can be very attractive to some consumers, but you want to be mindful of your environment also. How you set up speakers, and even more importantly, how your room is designed, will influence the quality of the Dolby Atmos experience.
A simple square or rectangular room with flat ceilings and few irregularities will best support experiencing spatial sound. High, arched ceilings, multiple windows, or strange angles are going to dampen the sound. 3D audio also isn’t ideal in open-concept spaces. You can definitely achieve that immersive quality at home; just make sure you have the right space before you invest in speakers and services.
Smart TVs complicate Dolby Atmos setup
Streaming services, consoles, and connections need to align
I’ve touched on it a bit, but when you want the home theater experience with Dolby Atmos, there are a bunch more considerations. Most new smart TVs have Dolby Atmos (although not everyone has the video format Dolby Vision), which will help if you have a compatible Blu-ray player. However, you need to exercise caution if you stream media exclusively.
Most popular streamer services typically offer Dolby Atmos, although some prioritize DTS:X. Atmos is typically only available on the highest tier of any specific subscription service, meaning you will have to pay more in order to use this feature. Additionally, not every title in the streamer’s catalog is going to be available in Atmos. And lastly, if you’re streaming, you’ll want to make sure you have a wired internet connection and an HDMI 2.1 cable hooked up from your eARC port on your TV to your Dolby Atmos-compatible speaker. A wireless connection is not going to cut it.
Dolby Atmos can provide a theater-like experience at home; it just requires a lot of research, prepartion and execution to pull off.
