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@donavabdear

This is a good question. You surround sound "bed channels" should be at ear level because you want to separate them from the height channels. if you have the bed channels near the ceiling they will bleed into the height channels and DSP won’t help that.

You have leeway with DSP if let’s say your front channels are closer to the MLP than the rear surround channels. DSP can add a time delay so the sound arrives at the same time. The same applies to the height channels if front height and rear height channels are different distances from the MLP. However, you need to keep a distance between the bed and height channels to clearly hear the sound in the height channels as separate from the bed channels.

Here is a tip about height channel placement. The Dolby diagram shows the top middle channels in alignment with frony L-R speakers. Don’t do that. Bring them in a bit closer to the center of the room to prevent sound from your surround bed channels bleeding into the top middle channels. Having them a little bit closer to center will anchor the height effects better.

The reason to learn 7.1.4 NOW is it is still early days and it will be both profitable and fun. Atmos is growing in both music and movies and you will have a crossover opportunity in both markets.

When I look at this pic I see your workstation the L and R speakers look fine (I know you brought the CC down a bit). The right surround speaker is about 110 degrees behind you, fine. You can place the left surround speaker on a stand to mirror it. The Genelec height speakers are not angled down toward the MLP and not in ideal locations. Given your MLP position I think a top middle/rear height configuration on your ceiling would work great as you have a high ceiling. If you get mounts similar to these you could mount the top middle channels above the MLP in alignment with your L and R front speakers (or a little more in toward the center) and point them straight down and the rear height speakers about the same distance (maybe a little closer to the MLP) as the ceiling lights in the middle of the room angled toward the MLP. Given your room I t think a 5.1.4 mix station will be fine for 90% of your projects. If someone wants a 7.1.4 bring the rear surround speakers out on a pair of stands and put them away when you finish so it doesn’t block the view of the fireplace from your lounger in your other system:

Try to get as close to the angle  as possible. DSP will help if your front angle is say 55 degrees and your rear angle is say 155 degrees meaning the distance to the MLP is different. In the pic the speakers are pointed straight down, if possible tilt the tweeters toward the MLP.

@donavabdear when you say bring it away from the walls do you mean speakers now somewhat up against the wall but will now be mounted some fixed distance from the wall but suspended?  Basics but DSP can compensate for boundary reinforcement but it can't compensate for boundary interference (though some active speakers do ..)