I keep thinking I won't comment every time I hear something in Atmos/DTS:X that impresses me.... and then I hear something that impresses me.

We've been doing the wildflower gawking thing the last 3 days in east TX, and I've been following March Madness with my iphone (sorry, T and Anthem, but your teams got a LOT further than my pretty sad U of TX team that didn't even qualify), and GEt forums the same way... no wifi, just cellular.

I tuned in to the UK/North Carolina game when I got home, in 9 channel, Dolby + Neural. It was like I suddenly got a mid court seat! It really felt/sounded like the crowd was right there around me...The excitement was palpable! I got hooked on the game. And what a game!!!! It felt so much like I was there!!!

I missed the surround/height stuff while we were gone. (Don't tell my wife! )

Rick

Today I played "Jupiter Ascending", a sci-fi Blu-ray about multi planets, family feuding, a gal not knowing she was royalty, duplicity, scheming, battles galore...

First, the plot: well, "boy falls in love with girl, girl sees it first" is not exactly new territory. So, a 2/5 for plot.

Most of the interest is in visuals of planets, space ships, space events, and audio of MANY battles, explosions, plus space debris coming at you, laser type weapons BZZNG past/over you..

Yes, the Atmos effect grabs you. And I FELT some LFE bass, even my chair shook! Deep as I've experienced.

A recommendation? So-so on compelling plot, but if you want a Blu-ray to rock your Atmos system and crank your subs, consider this one!

Rick

Last post before heading to NH early tomorrow AM. More from there later.

I've been listening to lots of favorite 2 channel FLAC playlists before leaving, all upmixed in Dolby Surround, so all nine channels including heights.

This afternoon I played a Leonard Cohen playlist including his I think last album, "You Want it Darker".

Sometimes I wander around while playing music. Not this time. I was glued to the PLP!

I've tried to describe before what 2 channel upmixed to 9 channel Dolby Surround sounds like. It's still front stage oriented, but the other channels coax the sound further into the room, so it's just THERE, concert hall like. I just love it, literally get mesmerized sometimes.

It does seem the newer mixed tracks present better in Dolby Surround than older stuff. For instance, Leonard Cohen's "The Complete Studio Albums Collection" of his earlier recordings sounds better played in 2 channel pure direct, and his (last?) album, "You Want it Darker", is absolutely memsmerizing in Dolby Surround. Haven't a clue what the upmixer finds in newer stuff to present it so much better.

For folks playing around with their Atmos systems, you may want to give a try to playing some of your favorite 2 channel music in Dolby Surround. YMMV. Results vary with different sources (older recordings tend to be less amenable to being upmixed). But for lots of newer masterings, the sound is just plain amazing!!!

Happy listening!!

Rick

Safe travels and have a happy summer up there Bro Rick!!!!!

Your comments are interesting, and I am picking up on something a little different than what you are experiencing.
Since I don't have an Atmos system, and I don't listen to music in a matrixed surround sound the way you do, NOTHING wrong with that, I just play it natural in two channel if it comes that way, or (since I am not a fan of two channel, I do love my surround sound) I buy it in surround sound if at all possible. The exception to that is Hi Res files, which I could buy in multi-channel but have no idea in the world how on earth I would play them back in multi-channel?????
BUT
you mention that the newer albums sound better in your surround sound setup, and the older albums MUCH less so.
I have the same albums (you are right on about the L. Cohen albums). I am finding the same thing across the board in a different way.
My Cowon Plenue M2 DAP which is how I do nearly ALL my two channel listening, as I am exercising, has some really fantastic EQ abilities to make poorer recordings sound MUCH better, boost their bass and bring out this or that, etc.
I almost always need to use that on older recordings. I nearly never need to use it, or EQ anything on my newer recordings.
I wonder why??????
Are newer recordings almost always better recording quality than the older ones? Here I am really not talking about classical, but in nearly every case talking about Rock, Blues, folk, country, pop, etc.
Anybody else experiencing anything like this?
Thanks and God Bless,
Wayne

I’ll finish my review of “Wonder Woman” here after posting some on theBlu-ray thread.

Discussed PQ and SQ there, amazing throughout. What did height channels add?

My Marantz AVR had a firmware update shortly after I got back from NH. Dolby Atmos got rolled into Dolby Surround when the screen shows the format being played. Don’t know why, but bass in Dolby Surround is not as impressive now in that mode. So, switched to DTS Neural:X, theDTS version of height. Wow! The bass came back, in spades! The T Ref/T1’s combo shook the house! Maybe the new Marantz firmware needs another update to bring back the bass in Dolby Surround, don’t know. But I’m sticking with DTS Neural:X as the height up mixer for now. Dolby Surround seems to present slightly more height info, but as a bass head, gotta’ have the bass!

Still love the added realism added by the heights... have to avoid ducking sometimes.

Rick

rjohn79395 wrote: My Marantz AVR had a firmware update shortly after I got back from NH. Dolby Atmos got rolled into Dolby Surround when the screen shows the format being played.

Rick

Sounds like an issue ... based on our use of Atmos processors/receivers. As you know, Dolby Surround is not Dolby Atmos. If the processor said "Dolby Surround" on the display and not "Atmos" it was simulating Atmos playback, not using the actual Atmos track on the disc.