I noticed that playback of apple music atmos tracks sounds great and with a wide soundstage on my single ERA300. Playback of stereo tracks sound much more constrained to the location of the single speaker.
I am well aware that true dolby atmos necessitates a surround speaker layout with ceiling speakers. It seems to me it should be possible to upmix stereo signal so that it sounds just as spatial as atmos from a single speaker. The upmixing in both cases is artificial anyways as it only simulates a spatial reproduction. My Denon AVR has plenty of upmixing schemes that I can chose from. Why does sonos not implement a similar upmixing schene?
Single ERA300 - atmos vs stereo playback
I understood Atmos sources to include elements specifically for up-firing radiators - which your single Era 300 possesses. So the audio sound stage should be “bigger” when playing Atmos rather than stereo sounds.
As you say, up-mixing is likely to sound artificial - so why would you want it?
And the mixes for some Atmos tracks leaves a lot to be desired, even when you’re listening to what the sound engineer delivers in the mix.
» As you say, up-mixing is likely to sound artificial - so why would you want it?
For background music it is nice to be enveloped by the sound. I prefer that over a more accurate reproduction originating from a point source. The issue is that a single ERA300 lets you localize the sound in the corner where it sits. I prefer a “cloud of sound” spread throughout the room. Pls note that I prefer this ONLY for background listening. For serious listening I have a high end atmos system (including ceiling speakers) downstairs.
The “envelop” option is only need for single speakers. For setups with multiple Sonos speakers the issue does not exist. Also it could be made switchable, so purists can turn it off.
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