Sonos Arc, My Fav Height Movie Demos (yes they work!)

Films:

Unbroken - The audio from the bombing sequence at the beginning of the film is incredibly immersive and realistic.

Roma - Subtle but brilliant and surprisingly immersive. A great example of how a non-action film can have a very effective Dolby Atmos audio track. There’s a scene when they are putting out a forest fire and you can clearly hear trees burning/crackling above you.

Kong: Skull Island - The scene when they first encounter King Kong in their helicopters has a lot going on in the height channels.

American Psycho - Patrick Bateman’s voice narration throughout the film is played through the height channels.

Doctor Sleep - Very atmospheric. The most effective use of Dolby Atmos audio I’ve heard in a horror film. 

Blade Runner 2049 - Height channels are used extensively throughout the film. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s score sounds incredible in Dolby Atmos.

Best Dolby Atmos demo:

”Santeria” - There is a TON of height channel effects on this demo. This has the most discrete and clear height audio I have ever heard from the Arc. Unfortunately, this is only available on a Dolby Atmos demo Blu-ray disc.

Favorite albums in Dolby Atmos with great use of the height channels:

Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point

Kraftwerk - 3-D The Catalogue

Steven Wilson - The Future Bites

Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation

I love this reply Rashi! Yes Roma is excellent for just sitting quietly and appreciating that they have put you in the centre of the normal world in the movie. 
 

the sound director for Roma (Alfonso Cuaran)has done another highly rated sound track. Can’t remember what it is?

This thread is useful for us Beam Gen 2 owners now, seeing as we can now change the volume of our height channels.

I have saved Roma in my Netflix watchlist to watch later, to test it out 😊

The forest fire scene from Roma is around the 1:03:25 mark. For a few minutes you should hear the trees burning/crackling above you. While watching the scene, start with the Height Audio Level at 0 and turn it all the way up to +10. You should hear a difference. Then adjust the level so the height audio sounds clear but doesn’t overpower the other drivers on the Beam.

If you can’t hear any height audio, experiment with different listening positions to find that sweet spot. You could be too close or too far away from the Beam.

Also, make sure you have a premium Netflix subscription so you can get Dolby Atmos audio.

Adam project. Not the best movie but has some good test scenes. 

Ratatouille - start where the mice all run away is a good one. 

Toy story 4 - opening storm scene. 

Morbius while the worst film ever... when it comes out, the bat scene will probably be one of the best test scenes to use. Sounded absolutely incredible in the cinema. 

The king however is still 'Gravity' if you can find the disk version with Dolby Atmos. One of, if not the best for testing, it's absolutely incredible!

My go to movie however for testing any system is always the opening scene in Baby driver. Pretty much has everything you want in a scene. 

There are so many others. my favorites our 1917 and blade runner 2049

Please let us know when you’ve tried those demos, SarahN.

I would be ready to invest in a Beam 2 and would need any additional feedback regarding this new feature brought by update 14.6 of sonos S2 app.

My personal absolute favorite is probably the sounds during the opening credits of Kong: Skull Island.

You can hear a spitfire and a zero battling it out above your head,it's absolutely amazing. 

How have you heard this?

(Agree, The Future Bites mix is stunning)

on what Sonos Device did you hear it ?

Porcupine Tree has only released the first two songs from the new album, but they both sound amazing in Dolby Atmos especially the first song “Harridan”. But I would imagine that when the album is released on June 24, the rest of the album will sound just as good and will easily have one of the best Dolby Atmos mixes of all time. You can never go wrong with a Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos/5.1 mix.

I’m listening to the Dolby Atmos mix of the Closure/Continuation album on Apple Music on an Apple TV 4K. But I’ve already pre-ordered the Deluxe CD Boxset with the Blu-ray of the album in lossless Dolby Atmos. I expect it to sound even better.

Right, got you.  When you listed it as a favourite album in Dolby Atmos I thought that was what you meant and not just the two released tracks.  Thought you had some early access somehow.

Although I’m then confused again when you say you’re listening to the Closure/Continuation album on Apple Music?  I assume again you mean the two tracks?

Hope they (he...) get their act together regarding more of a tour in UK and not just London.

My apologies. I wish I had early access. I’m still only referring to the two songs on Apple Music.

Hopefully ticket sales will be so good that they’ll want to add more dates in the UK. Steven has mentioned that this will probably be their last tour. I am fortunate enough to have gotten pit tickets at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for a decent price. Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY excited.

The opening scene of Stranger Things 4, ep. 1 is some of the best ATMOS effects I've heard.  The crackling of the overhead lights is right over your head.  Highly recommended.