Another Gimmick : Dolby Atmos Music ? How long will it last ?

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AlleyCat

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Reading this article left me befuddled. Why?

Dolby Atmos Music in Your Home (Written by Vince Hanada 01 2021)
https://www.soundstagesimplifi.com/index.php/feature-articles/187-dolby-atmos-music-in-your-home

The amount of hoops you have to get through - hardware and software and then still have to find material that is anywhere good enough to listen to, is unfathomable ?

Example : You have to get a Dolby Atmos receiver, if using/streaming Apple - you need to get compatible hardware, same for software, using other devices other than Apple with it?,.....and so it goes on.

How many speakers would you like, Sir?

Next, and more importantly : the quality of the content you listen to - there is no consistency ( same as in the past) with the material. Where and how many times before have we seen the results from the samples given in article before ?

Let's cherry pick an example :

"Another interesting mix is from Kraftwerk?s 3-D: The Catalogue album (Dolby Atmos, Parlophone Records/Apple Music). If you think your ceiling speakers don?t really contribute much to Dolby Atmos Music tracks, listen to ?Autobahn.? The song begins with a car starting up and driving from back to front. All kinds of sounds are pushed up to the ceiling, and this track is a cacophony of sound through all your speakers. Some of the sound is low resolution, about MP3 quality. This is manifested through a thin-sounding midrange and a lack of high-frequency extension. This was something I noticed at times with other tracks as well?if you?re a purist audiophile, and you?re used to sonic traits such as copious amounts of high-frequency air, you might be put off by the sound of some of the music in spatial audio recordings. When you look at Apple Music?s spatial audio literature, you can see they are trying to cover a number of different kinds of devices?headphones, iPads, computers, and home audio systems. It?s no surprise that some of the mixes are subpar from a resolution perspective."

Is that what we should be looking forward to ? The format /hardware/software/source material wars all over again ?

Mixed feelings ? Scratching your head ? Me too (and glad I am not buying into it, again!).

 

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