Here is a pic of a home version using speakers from SVS. No cutting holes in your ceiling, easy to mount, and will work with all of the immersive formats (atmos, dts-x, and auro-3d):

This is a pic of the setup at Abbey Road when they were remixing Pink Floyd in immersive audio, Notice the height speakers need to be on tall stands because they are heavy powered monitors with amps inside them. I use the same setup for my system as I use active speakers as well. I don’t like the stick the speaker in the ceiling approach as it is inconvenient and you lack flexibility to position and tilt them:

If you read this article I posted above they are interviewing the studio owners and engineers about mixing in atmos. I was VERY lucky to have corresponded with the owner of The Dub Stage and Galaxy Studios about not only my room setup but my room treatment. My intention was to be able to recreate what they experience on the mixing stage in a way that translated to my own listening room. It was not difficult, just needed to take it step by step. The results are very satisfying and I still listen to both atmos and stereo, depending on what I’m listening to. I can select the format I want through my Marantz processor.

@marshinski15 Back in the day, Pink Floyd placed speakers all over an arena or stadium, and mixed the music accordingly. Anyone who ever attended one of those shows would know how superior the sound was compared to a straight "soundstage in front of me" experience.

@marshinski15 , absolutely true about stereo. Some music is being mixed in Atmos and the engineer is trying to convey the artists intent. If you read the article I linked to above here is how Giles Martin describes it:

We start off with the stereo. I feel immersive audio should be an expansion of the stereo field, in a way. I like the idea of a vinyl record melting and you’re falling into it. That’s the analogy I like to use. And if you have lots and lots of things all around you all the time, it can get slightly irritating and confusing, depending on what the music is.

and then

With Beatles mixes, because we have, I suppose, the money to do it, and the luxury of time, what I and [engineer] Sam Okell tend to do, opposed to using digital effects, is we’ll place speakers back in Studio Two [the Abbey Road space where the Beatles originally recorded]. And we’ll re-record John’s voice in Studio Two, so what you’re hearing are the reflections of the room he’s singing in. It brings the vocal closer to you.

Now this is for a pre-existing stereo mix that is converted to atmos. For music that is being mastered in atmos you have the artist right there and the engineer asks them about their intent. One atmos mix is backward compatible with the speaker setup of the listener, it could be stereo, 5.1, in your car, headphones, etc.

See:

I have but two ears. I like to listen as though I was at a live performance. Stereo, with the source filling in the soundstage in front of me.

Who goes to a show a is surrounded by musicians? 

@sdw , congrats on your new receiver. When installing your height channels there is a universal layout that you can use for both atmos and auro. Have you installed height speakers yet?

@kota1

Great link, thanks.

I’m already looking forward to a trip to the cinema once something catches my interest.

Object based systems such as Dolby Atmos do seem to be a genuine advance over 2 channel recordings when it comes to a convincing representation of spatial sound.

For many audiophiles, a life-like 3d image has always been major goal.

Perhaps the obvious wire issue could be dealt with by some form of Bluetooth connectivity?

Anyway, it’s high time since we had some advance over the work of Alan Blumlein, one of early audio’s great heroes.

"In 1931, Blumlein invented what he called "binaural sound", now known as stereophonic sound. In early 1931, he and his wife were at the cinema.

The sound reproduction systems of the early talkies only had a single set of speakers – the actor might be on one side of the screen, but the voice could come from the other. Blumlein declared to his wife that he had found a way to make the sound follow the actor."

Thanks, that's good to know. I recently bought a new Yamaha AVR (Aventage RX-A6A) and I know it does some upmixing, including to Auro 3D. I'll check it out first, but will keep your suggestion in mind.

@sdw , I agree with needing more material but have found an excellent work around. The upmixers in a processor are decent but the X-Box has an upmixer that will provide an actual Atmos, DTS, or DTS-X stream. It is fantastic and the X-Box Series S is small and around $300. I stream every movie in atmos or DTS even though most of them are using dolby 5.1 soundtracks. I have not tried gaming on it yet but it has every streaming service I use and it also has Plex, Tidal (through Plex), Amazon Music, Deezer and Spotify. You can also stream via DLNA. Basically I can make every track Atmos music by playing it through the X-Box.

I listen to stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos. Done right, 5.1 and Atmos are outstanding. A whole new dimension in sound, much preferred. The only problem is a lack of quality material. Hopefully that will improve with time.

Atmos does provide a 3D soundstage. Instead of just expending left to right and front and back it expands with a height dimension. An object based format is a more precise way for the engineer to mix the soundstage in 3 dimensions.

I like stereo too, especially in the mornings listening at low volumes.

3D movies = Atmos music.

Except for that I ignore Apple music and I tried Tidal, don't like it and do not believe in the MQA scam. I've heard a true Atmos setup and it's too "speaker intensive" for my lifestyle. Not interested.

Have at it.

@fuzztone you are correct, the majority of movies and shows streaming today are mixed in 5.1.

The majority of immersive/surround MUSIC streaming however is on apple music and tidal and mixed in atmos.

5.1 is sufficient for surround and the only really considered submissions for surround Grammy's. I probably enjoy more surround music than movies here.

Not near as much as 10" two ways X 2.

@cd318, 5.1 surround sound has an advantage of adding the center channel. Stereo was originally 3 channel and as you know two channel depends on a phantom center. Having a center channel in place makes the system a bit less dependent on a phantom center but that is a preference, not a necessity. Atmos adds another dimension of sound coming from above you. Think of what speakers on the left and right do, Speakers above and below give the engineer more possibilities to mix with. Objects are placed in the mixing software and are rendered as closely as possible to the mix with YOUR speaker setup. Here is a clip about object based sound:

@kota1 

I've not heard Dolby Atmos myself but a friend of mine who has thinks it will be the next big thing.

The idea of a more immersive sonic experience certainly sounds interesting to me. Spatial audio seems to be the way forward and omnidirectional speakers do seem to be a clear step up from poorly designed boxed ones.

Can I ask what are the main differences to 5.1 and what do you mean by saying that atmos is 'object based'?

Interesting responses, and I agree, they are both capable of providing an engaging and immersive experience. Fortunately it isn’t necessary to eliminate either one of them. But they ARE different, stereo is channel based and atmos is object based. The limitation of atmos is having to use so many speakers but for people who already have home theaters it is easy to try. If you subscribe to apple music or tidal atmos music comes with your subscription so it isn’t necessary to buy a bunch of blue rays or SACD. I don’t think this format will die out the way "surround" music has withered. The mixing engineers are creating new content constantly.

“What is Your Opinion of Atmos Music?”
@kota1 
Nope, not needed for music in my experience. Been there, done that! Let the Dolby Atmos be limited to Movies. A well appointed 2-channel system is perfectly capable of providing immersive and natural experience. 

@tablejockey I agree completely. Another gimmick? 

What better reason to keep the money flowing - introduce another "groundbreaking format" for the masses.

Yet another reason to get another "better" DOSM, Sgt Peppers....oookkaaay.

Isn’t a properly setup stereo convincing enough? A legit room/system setup with multiple subs are the only thing necessary for an "immersive" experience to my ears.

An announcement from Universal Music:

“This is a completely new way to create and experience music, freeing artists to be more expressive and experimental with their recordings,” said Todd Pendleton, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby Atmos Music envelops the listener, bringing you inside the music and creating a visceral ‘wow.’”

“UMG and Dolby are fundamentally expanding how we experience music,” said Michael Frey, UMG’s President of Operations, Global Studios and Technologies. “Artists will be able to share their music directly as intended and created in the studio. Dolby Atmos Music give artists the power and creative freedom to express their story like never before.”

Dolby Atmos is integrated at UMG’s iconic studios, including: Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, Abbey Road Studios in London, and Berry Hill Studios in Nashville. UMG labels around the world are all working on creating immersive music content in Dolby Atmos.

Will I have to buy a new Power Cord that will bring a greater sound stage to Immersive recordings? 🤣

Here is an interview with the engineers at Abbey Road on remixing Pink Floyd in immersive audio:

@ebm , that’s funny :) Here is a link to an interview of Giles Martin (George Martins son) on remixing the Beatles in Atmos:

Happy in the stereo world. Lived through the quad days of audio. Never invested in 5.1 or 7.1. Familiar with Atmos, but not interested.

Who??