Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio) Music: My Opinion

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Hi

First of all let me preface this novella 🙂 by saying I do not consider myself an Audiophile; which by one definition are:

“…an exceptional breed of people who are fascinated by pure audio, motivated by sound quality and addicted to audio gadgets. Audiophiles take their passion for music one step further. They're curious about how songs are recorded and the science behind how sounds are reproduced”.

With that said let’s begin….

Some of you may have read my posts wherein I talk about “stereo separation”. IMO 99% of what one hears musically is not “stereo separation” in its purist form. What one does hear is music and vocals emanating from two speakers spaced at least 6 feet apart where there is a “sweet spot” in the center.

The listener has a sense that all instruments and vocals are “dead “center providing the optimum listening experience. The people to blame for this misconception of what is “stereo separation” IMO are the mixing engineers. They rationalize the mixing strategy by saying it provides a “wide” sound stage.

“True” stereo separation; IMO, is wherein the listener can pinpoint the position/location of instruments either to the left, center or right (or slight variations there abouts).

Granted back in the day there were studio musicians (known and unknown) that all came together in a room and laid down the tracks. Today vocal tracks may be recorded in Chicago, horns in San Francisco, drums in New York and the list goes on by location. Those recordings (i.e. tracks) are sent to a mixing engineer that places them all together to create a single recording. The finished product is played through two identical speakers with the resulting sound called “stereo”.

So where Am I going with this….

Early on…I was not (operative word being “not”) a fan of Spatial Audio for music. Mainly because of how it was explained and supposedly worked with music. The most prevalent explanation I read was that music appeared to be coming from all directions.

The above said…If I’m at a live concert I‘m not hearing different instruments coming from above or behind. To the contrary, I hear all vocals and instruments coming from the front stage. I can even localize the positions.

Spatial Audio like stereo can offer bad and good presentations (mixing). I have a set of Era 300’s set as a stereo pair. IMO, in order to appreciate Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) for music you need a reference point for comparison. I dare say most in this community aren’t old enough to remember “true” stereo separation. To offer assistance I suggest you stream the following in so called “stereo” and then again in “Dolby Atmos” (i.e. spatial audio) available via Apple Music.

Ready For Freddie by Freddie Hubbard: Circa 1962

In the stereo stream you’ll hear the music. In the Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) stream you’ll REALLY hear the music. The separation (i.e. positioning) of the instruments is incredible. Granted you’ll get a much better perspective (i.e. listening experience); if you have two Era 300’s in stereo pair. However, a single Era 300 will still blow your mind and your “A” will follow. 😅

Needless to say I’m now a convert to Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) music when it’s properly mixed. I wish there was a “Standard “by which music is mastered and/or remastered to meet specific Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) specifications. Believe me there’s a lot of “crap” being presented and masquerading as Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) music.

I hope this information was informative and provided a more comprehensive understanding/appreciation for properly mixed music. The future of Dolby Atmos (spatial audio) music I hope is a growing medium and not just a flash-in-the-pan like SACD and Mini-Disc. For those of you that can remember; hopefully, Sony doesn’t have a hand (somewhere) in this medium. Oh…did I mention BetaMax? But that was video.😂

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S

sjw

Local Superstar

I agree with that, but the edited, ‘clarifying’ post still says “The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content.”, hence my confusion.

AjTrek1Author

To clarify why the Era 300’s don’t sound as good as the Five’s…here’s my answer:

The Five’s have bigger drivers in all aspects. I had both setup in the same room as a stereo pair and did the A/B comparison. TO MY EARS…the Five’s do a better job with a good stereo recording. FYI, if you read some of the independent reviews they will voice the same. Again listening is prejudice to the end user so your opinion may differ.

However, if you don’t have a set of Five’s to compare to a set of Era 300’s who’s to know the difference real or not?

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

AjTrek1Author

I agree with that, but the edited, ‘clarifying’ post still says “The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content.”, hence my confusion.

You need to re-read my corrected post 🙂

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

melvimbe

I agree with that, but the edited, ‘clarifying’ post still says “The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content.”, hence my confusion.

You need to re-read my corrected post 🙂

@AjTrek1 One of your posts still says “The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content. “ The “because” part of you statement is inaccurate. When used as a pair, the Era 300 front facing driver is always active regardless of content. When used as rear surrrounds, the the front facing driver is never active, even with dolby atmos content.

The reason you said elsewhere, that a pair of Fives is better than a pair of Era 300s for stereo, is correct. The Fives have better/more/larger drivers and can handle lower frequencies better than the Era 300. However, the Era 300s are plenty good enough for a lot of spaces and preferences, with the bonus of spatial audio and audio input, especially when bonded to a sub.

Danny

S

sjw

Local Superstar

I agree with that, but the edited, ‘clarifying’ post still says “The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content.”, hence my confusion.

You need to re-read my corrected post 🙂

I did, it still makes no sense and contradicts subsequent sentences.

AjTrek1Author

Correction: The front drivers on the Era 300 do activate when used as a stereo pair. They are silent when used in a Home Theater’s application.

Old age is messing with my mind. I have corrected this in my original post as well. Sorry for the confusion.

@sjw

Is the above post the one you read? I don’t know to correct my error any better than what is written. That said where are you still confused? I’d like to further clear up any confusion for you if I may.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

S

sjw

Local Superstar

Correction: The front drivers on the Era 300 do activate when used as a stereo pair. They are silent when used in a Home Theater’s application.

Old age is messing with my mind. I have corrected this in my original post as well. Sorry for the confusion.

@sjw

Is the above post the one you read? I don’t know to correct my error any better than what is written. That said where are you still confused? I’d like to further clear up any confusion for you if I may.

No, it’s the original one I questioned - that both I and @melvimbe have re-quoted that still says “ The Era 300’s do not perform as well with stereo because the front facing driver only activates when it senses Dolby Atmos content.” In the one above you say you corrected it in the original post yet I still see the original post saying the same thing I’ve just quoted.

We’re just going around in circles with you saying you’ve corrected the original post yet I still see it saying the wrong thing. I don’t know what more I can do other than quote it as it’s still there - which original post are you referring to that you have corrected?

melvimbe

Correction: The front drivers on the Era 300 do activate when used as a stereo pair. They are silent when used in a Home Theater’s application.

Old age is messing with my mind. I have corrected this in my original post as well. Sorry for the confusion.

@sjw

Is the above post the one you read? I don’t know to correct my error any better than what is written. That said where are you still confused? I’d like to further clear up any confusion for you if I may.

What you quoted above says that you corrected your original post. What are you calling your original post? Post 11 (I think) in this thread starts off with an inaccurate statement and directly contradicts what you stated above.

I don’t care whether you go back and edit Post 11 or not, but if you’re wondering where the confusion is coming from, I believe that’s where it is.

Danny

AjTrek1Author

@sjw @melvimbe

I see your points. I have now corrected the post I believe is the one that caused the confusion. It would have been a lot simpler if the front drivers on the Era 300’s activated in all configurations regardless of content sent to them.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

buzz

Grand Maestro

@sjw @melvimbe

. It would have been a lot simpler if the front drivers on the Era 300’s activated in all configurations regardless of content sent to them.

This is a tough point, even if a silent or subdued front speaker is more appropriate for spatial sound delivery. New users want to make sure that they got their money’s worth and a muted front speaker is flagged. New to surround users of any product voice a similar complaint on day one if they are not smacked in the back of their heads by the surround speakers. The user is not satisfied until the surround level is jacked up, way out of proportion. The original Top Gun is a good choice for their first play.

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