What is Your Opinion of Atmos Music?

@kota1 I have been trying to set up my atmos system for a movie in a few months and have been getting frustrated because it is still a moving target. No standard really but at the same time maybe that will release a lot of creativity. So far I've really been unimpressed with atmos music mixes with a few exceptions, seems like when they sound like good stereo they are better. I know the future is atmos it doesn't matter if we have 2 ears our brains interpret sound constantly, emotion is really the final goal walking down a path with headphones that make you shiver because you felt something come at you from behind is the emotional content that will be the future. Stereo people often talk about soundstage and depth with reverence, well atmos is a format that lives there, my hope is that the format isn't perverted so much that it becomes cheesy, I do feel like it's getting a bad start like @brianlucey said so far the quality has been pretty bad in music, movies have taken to atmos very well, but like when stereo came in it was used poorly, I hope creative adults in the room (maybe AES or SEMPTE) will set some good guidelines about mixing atmos.

@donavabdear , Atmos has competition from Sony 360, THX has an immersive codec, Sennheiser has Ambeo, and Xperia has DTS-X. I don’t think AES can be brand specific without causing a controversy. All you need is to go visit some studios and get a feel for it. The Dubstage is local, I think @brianlucey has extended an invitation in the other thread. There are online classes sponsored by Dolby and I am sure local stuff in LA. If I were in LA I would make a beeline to the Dubstage but you likely already have friends in the "mix" so to speak. You learn by doing and it looks like a blast from the videos I watch. What do you think?

@kota1 You've made a good point but Atmos seems to be what the stadios are falling over themselves putting in. I say the first display of Atmos many years ago touting object based mixing, I didn't take it seriously but if you think about it that's the answer because it can translate to only a few speakers and that's how your brain works anyway. Pan pots between 2 sources really don't make sense describing something in nature. Seems you are the expert at sound codecs, I don't know of any others that are in the race for me. What are some of the strengths of the other formats over Atmos?

@donavabdear

As for the strengths of the other formats I would say DST-X/ Imax Enhanced is more dynamic in movies but there is no music I am aware of in that format. Auro-3D is not being produced right now but they never really got traction. Sony is gaining traction in Sony 360 music on Tidal and as a Codec available on Sound United products. I think it is targetd more for headphones. Sennheiser Ambeo is mixed more for commercial venues. THX Spatial Audio is available as an upmixer in certain computers and phones. The elephant in the room is Dolby and when Atmos became available on Apple Music the demand for atmos mixes went through the roof. I would learn Atmos before learning any of the others. I’ll bet if you start going through Apple Music spatial audio mixes you will quickly learn the mixes you like. Find out who the engineers are that mixed those tracks and that would be a good starting point. Your community has been very approachable in my experience and I’ll bet an e-mail with a compliment about the mixes you liked followed up by a "If you were me how would you get started" will get you in the fast lane so I can start listening to YOUR mixes.

Atmos Music in a Benz: