2. amps-preamps
  3. 186058-162255

Do NOT Blow Your Entire Budget on Two Channel Audio

Yes, two channel audio is here, and is not going away. However, object based audio is delightful, widely available on Tidal and Apple Music, and should be in the listening room of every music lover on the planet, not just "audiophiles. If you plan to be a music fan a year from now start building your object based audio system today. You will need:

1) A receiver/processor capable of Dolby Atmos.

2) A subscription to Tidal or Apple music.

3) A Firestick, ATV, or Nvidia Shield.

4) A minimum of 7 timber matched speakers and a subwoofer.

Once you experienced stereo would you ever go back to only mono? No, you would build a system capable of either mono or stereo. Now that object based audio has arrived do the same thing. Build a system capable of mono, stereo, AND object based audio. When Elton John heard Rocket Man in an object based format for the first time why did he demand to convert his entire catalog to Atmos? If you don’t know, then you need to go listen to Rocket Man in a good Atmos setup ASAP.

So, take your budget, DIVERSIFY, and get a good Atmos capable receiver or processor. Object based audio is NOT last decades surround sound or home theater. It is for MUSIC first, if you need a recommendation on how to allocate your budget feel free to post a question. Most importantly, you don’t NEED two systems, one for music and one for movies. A good object based audio system can play two channel music just fine. A two channel system on the other hand can’t play object based audio without a proper processor or receiver.

Greg Penny talks mixing Rocket Man in Atmos.

https://youtu.be/ggzfcUKDqdo?feature=shared

 

kota1
kota1 OP
2,706 posts
 

@fittebd

This acoustic treatment "recipe" worked for me and you can see how I implemented in my profile. I used combo panels on the front wall:

donavabdear's avatar
donavabdear
508 posts
 

@fittebd 
Imaging the sound as different size ping pong balls based on frequency, the balls hit you in the head directly but the more important part is how they hit you from the first reflection, the second and the pressure of the opposite walls. Imaging the back wall a trampoline that can really bounce the balls back to you without loosing much power at all. You want to hear your room you don't want your room to be an anechoic chamber in which you will go crazy (nearly) in 1 hour. Your room is as important as your speakers they are both boxes that sound plays in. Subs in corners are 16 times more efficient, I put my 3rd sub for LFE in the corner and love it, the other 2 subs support my speakers for it's really important that they are time aligned perfectly (as much as possible).

donavabdear's avatar
donavabdear
508 posts
 

@fittebd 
Ouch you have a square room, what if you moved everything 45 degrees ? Weird I know but if your room is to small there is nothing that will work.

https://www.acousticfields.com/acoustic-treatment-for-a-square-room-recommend/

 

facten
2,885 posts
 

"Now understand that Dolby Atmos played via Amazon Music or Apple Music is compressed on all channels."

 

Help me understand how listening via an Atmos system to the worst version of a recording is a better experience that listening to better recorded versions on 2 channel?  Thanks

kota1 OP
2,706 posts
 

@facten

I can’t speak to worst vs best. When you stream music on Tidal you have choices ranging from hifi/44 khz (redbook), masters (MQA), Sony 360 (immersive) and Atmos (immersive). You can try every type of file and pick what you like. This thread is about budgeting your system so you can play ALL of them since you are paying for all of them regardless. Some people prefer the Beach Boys Pet Sounds in mono, that’s OK too.

 

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