Dolby Atmos It is one of the most popular surround sound technologies on the market. There are many devices and services that offer support, but you really know how it works, all its advantages and the requirements minimum to enjoy it. If not, we will explain everything to you.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a object-based surround sound technology that Dolby introduced in 2012 along with the Pixar film Brave and was initially only available in Dolby Teather.
Over time, this technology spread and the idea of surround sound became more popular and accessible. So much so that it was no longer something exclusive to theaters but was also designed to enjoy the best sound experience at home.
Before continuing, it must be clarified that it is not the only proposal that seeks to achieve that spectacular surround sound. Its great rival is DTS-X technology, which has also been advancing considerably all these years. But now we focus on Dolby's proposal.
Dolby Atmos proposes a surround sound experience. That means that the idea is that you feel how the sound arrives from practically any point of the room or room in which you find yourself, that surrounds you as if you were in the very center of the action.
To achieve this effect, the minimum that is needed is to expand the usual surround sound options until now. That is, expand the classic 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems. Something that can be done by adding as many extra speakers as you want. Or almost, because the limit is 64 speakers.
These 64-speaker setups are logically for larger spaces such as theaters and movie theaters where virtually the entire space is covered by speakers at various heights. Some are on the wall and some are directly on the ceiling. With this array of speakers and the different settings, that unique and special surround sensation is achieved.
How Dolby Atmos works in the home
Leaving aside installations compatible with Dolby Atmos such as cinemas, theaters, performance halls, etc., to enjoy this technology at home what we are going to do is need yes or yes it is a device compatible with said technology.
Normally these are made up of several speakers that adapt to the needs of the users. So much so that there are even solutions that avoid having to place speakers on the ceiling or at different heights.
The latter is achieved with specific modifications in those that are available for project sound in different directions. This plus advanced algorithms allow the sound wave to bounce off walls and ceilings to achieve that same enveloping effect or, at least, to try to make it as similar to what would be achieved with an advanced set of speakers.
Dolby AtmosMusic
Ok, now another question, you know what is dolby atmos music? As you can imagine, this is basically the same, but applied to music and not to content such as movies, series, documentaries, etc.
As we have said, Dolby Atmos is based on sound applied to objects. Therefore, when creating music compatible with Dolby Atmos Music, what is being done is add information to each object (instruments) about the position in which it is located and by which speaker or group of speakers it should sound in a Dolby Atmos-compatible setup.
This is a technology that services like Tidal or Amazon Music HD offer, so if you have speakers or other sound equipment you could try it.
Dolby Cinema
Since we have talked about Dolby Atmos, we also think it is interesting that you know Dolby Vision and what implication both have in what is later known as Dolby Cinema.
Dolby Vision is like Atmos, a technology that seeks a better multimedia experience. The difference is that here it affects the image and not the sound. So the advantages are in how the image is reproduced in terms of color, brightness, contrast, saturation... so you can get the best possible quality.
Thus, when image technology (Dolby Vision) is combined with audio technology (Dolby Atmos) is when you get a total experience that they call Dolby Cinema.
Dolby Atmos compatible equipment and services
Nowadays Dolby Atmos is a widespread technology that little by little is gaining more ground and support both from manufacturers of hardware and software and services. So it is not difficult at all to access equipment capable of enjoying this sound improvement.
At the speaker level, before there were few teams that provided support and those that did had a high price or needed an unfeasible number of speakers for many homes. Today there are sound bars that are compatible thanks to this way of projecting the sound to achieve the same effect.
In matters of players, from Apple TV to Microsoft consoles, the Amazon Fire TV Stick and a large number of televisions, players and even mobile phones are compatible.
Of course, to these you will have to connect a set of compatible speakers or, at least, headphones capable of also offering surround sound. So it's quite easy to enjoy after the Dolby Atmos content that is also beginning to be common in services such as Netflix, Prime Video, Rakuten, Sky, etc. What's more, even when you just want music, Tidal and Amazon Music HD have compatible songs too.
Dolby Atmos is really worth it
Asking if Dolby Atmos is worth it is like asking if there is an improvement between mono or stereo sound. Logically it is not something essential, but when you try it and you can enjoy it, you do appreciate its true value and potential.
In addition, Dolby Atmos has interesting plans for the future that would even affect the use of virtual reality. Ultimately, to obtain a more realistic experience, it is important that we experience the different sound situations in the same way that we do in reality.