So, I just came back from our town's local ultra-hi-fi showroom... these folks are the tops in home theater & hi-end audio installations (around here anyway), and my goal was to listen to some ATMOS music playback on a really nice system in a really nice room, and (hopefully) be blown away in the same way that I was when I first listened to SACD 5.1 mixes of: Dark Side of the Moon, Rumors, and The Downward Spiral.
- Really nice room? ✓
- Really nice system? ✓
- Blown away? — not even close.
I called ahead a few days ago, explained my goals: (to see if ATMOS music listening was gonna be compelling enough that I'd really wanna go for it in my new home). When I got there, the sales rep / demo-er was mostly experienced in showing off theater systems & ATMOS for movies... he was so stoked to play me a dog-fight from the new Top Gun Movie. I explained the goal, and he had to switch gears. Sadly, the rig they had set up wasn't logged-into any of the streaming services, so that was a hassle, but (after 10-15min) they finally got signed into the streaming account... There were a bunch of playlists on Tidal with Dolby Atmos promoted, so we checked those out. A bunch of classic stuff & a mix of new rock & hip-hop.
Almost ALL of the tracks we listened to sounded a little confusing / distracting... There was a modern hip-hop/electronic track that had some really tasteful use of vocal delays that spanned the height speakers and moved to the back. That said, it was soooooooo not as engaging as the 5.1 mixes I fell in love with in the 2000's. I've heard that Pink Floyd's dark side should be seeing an ATMOS release this year (it's the 50th anniversary), so I'm curious to go back if/when that comes out.
Has anyone else listened to ATMOS music mixes in a nice listening environment? Any different or similar experiences? Is anyone on here actually mixing in ATMOS?