Dolby Atmos Ceiling Speakers Vs Upfiring

Let s talk about the difference between virtual atmos up firing drivers and dedicated in ceiling speakers.

Dolby atmos ceiling speakers vs upfiring.

Dolby atmos is the new hotness when it comes to home theater gear but there are a lot of different ways you can incorporate atmos into your setup. Atmos supports a maximum of 10 speakers 5 pairs in the height layer at any combination. It just makes sense to try them upfiring first as you don t have to drill holes in the wall. We always recommend placing discrete speakers in the ceiling for atmos as opposing to using upfiring methods.

Depending on the size of your room front heights might get lost quite easily i have 5 2 4 atmos setup with 2x middle ceiling speakers and 2x rear height speakers can t say there is a massive difference but i have them positioned as close to dolby s guides as possible. Run your room correction and set those speakers to at least 2db over the calibrated reading. Below are two popular configurations. Atmos isn t limited to overhead on ceiling though and unlike dts x claims to do actual will adapt to any combination of floor ceiling speakers so long as it s in a specified location.

Figure a is a ceiling mounted system that requires either two in or on ceiling speakers to be mounted above the viewers head. That s five traditional surround sound speakers one subwoofer and two extra speakers the configuration of which is open to debate. Don t expect the ceiling to come alive with sound atmos as a whole is more subtle than that. So most of the articles i ve read recommend in ceiling speakers for the very best atmos experience.

A dolby atmos configuration is 5 1 2. I sit far enough back from my tv that i think front heights wouldn t sound separate from my l r c channels. Both of these speakers are in our opinion a waste of engineering resources and should be avoided if you re serious about taking full advantage of the capabilities of dolby atmos. Dolby atmos enabled speakers produce slightly diffuse overhead audio that is quite lifelike and in some cases preferable to the sound that comes from overhead speakers audio experts agree that the overhead layer of sound produced by dolby atmos enabled speakers can be preferable to the sound originating from overhead speakers.

They also tend to indicate that a 5 1 4 system kicks the crap out of a 5 1 2 system. Dolby atmos system with as many as 24 speakers on the floor and 10 overhead speakers.