After Audioholics was on-hand at DTS Headquarters for the official reveal of DTS:X, we came back to put together the most comprehensive coverage of this new technology available. There’s no regurgitated press releases here, just true, first-hand perspectives.
Dolby Atmos Demo Disc
LG Dolby Vision is a promotional video, in Ultra-HD, for Digital Vision HDR and LG 4K TVs. Dolby Vision HDR supports 12-bit color depth, as opposed to the 10-bit color depth supported by HDR10. It also features higher brightness. HDR10 currently maxes out at 1,000 nits, while Dolby Vision can handle 4,000 nits. The best source for demo-ing Atmos is going to be the Dolby demo blu ray discs (though you obviously need a compatible blu ray player). They will send lossless Atmos to your AVR - and have been developed by dolby to really show off the full extent of Atmos with Dolby created demos, select scenes from a variety of movies, music and sports etc.
There’sa lot to digest with this slew of recent technology announcements fromDTS, so we’re going to do our best to break them down for you. First,we’ll outline what we consider the four main applications of DTS:X: Production,Theater, Home, and Personal. Then, we’ll take you through ourexperience at the demo and give you our listening notes. Finally, we’lladdress the main implications for individual consumers and answer somecommon questions.
Let's start out with DTS headquarters itself. Now this is a place I could see myself working at!
The Lobby of the DTS Headquarters, complete with a live DJ
DTS:X Home Theater, Cinema, Headphone Technology Details Emerge Production: The Multi-dimensional Audio tool (DTS MDA)
MDA is DTS:X for the producer. When a professional audio mixer is working on content in immersive audio, they have to choose an audio tool to specify which sounds go where in the overall mix. Will the sound be in front of you, behind you, over your head, or all of the above? All of that is determined by the initial mix, and DTS is proposing MDA as the best tool for making that mix.
Unlike Dolby with Atmos, DTS is making the MDA tool available for free to producers.
So, why would a producer choose MDA instead of another tool from another company? DTS is hoping that they have made a compelling argument for choosing their tool as it is easy to use, free, and produces a file that is not locked in a proprietary format.
DTS:X Multi-dimensional Audio tool (MDA) Interface
Using the tool is as simple as dragging a sound object around a circle. As you drag the object to the top of the circle, it comes from the front of your soundstage. Dragging it around the sides moves it to your sides and dragging it to the bottom...you guessed it, has the sound coming from behind you. The outside of the circle signifies ear-level, so as you drag the sound towards the center, it moves increasingly overhead until, at the center of the circle, the sound is positioned directly over the listening position. It’s easy enough for a toddler to use, and powerful enough, in the right hands, to make a truly immersive mix.
And now I’ll put on my infomercial host voice: “What would you expect to pay for this miracle product? $49? $19? How about, absolutely nothing?!” DTS is making the MDA tool available for free to producers in the hopes of spurring adoption at the head of the content production chain. Because the resulting file is open and the immersive sound mix can be imported into third-party tools, there really doesn’t seem to be a downside for producers. DTS MDA is well positioned to become a very popular content authoring tool.
Theater: The Return of DTS Cinemas
Who would have guessed that the company that provided the soundtrack for one of the biggest movies of all time, Jurassic Park, would find itself largely squeezed out of the commercial theater space? Well, that’s exactly what happen to DTS, but they’re looking to come back in a big way. The key to this will be blockbuster content and key partnerships, along with install flexibility.
DTS:X is adapable to Auro-3D or Dolby Atmos speaker layouts.
DTS is out of the gates with a few key partnerships. GDC Technology boasts the largest install base of digital cinema servers in the Asia-Pacific region, and the second largest globally. GDC will provide DTS:X installation and certification for approximately 350 screens throughout Asia beginning in May 2015. In the U.S., Carmike Cinemas will upgrade selected theaters to DTS:X in spring of 2015. Revealed at the demo event, IMAX theaters will also feature DTS:X technology and, on the content side, Avengers: Age of Ultron will be mixed in DTS MDA.
While this is a good start, DTS:X will still need to add more partners to become the dominating audio format. Helping the adoption rate is the flexibility of DTS:X to adapt to numerous room designs thanks to speaker re-mapping. If a theater has already made an investment in Dolby Atmos or Auro 3D upgrades and speaker placement, DTS:X can be adapted with minimal changes to speaker locations which will save cinemas money and eliminate the need to rip out and re-position existing speakers.
Home: Immersive Sound for Real Spaces
We here at Audioholics have been at the forefront of the conversation around object-based mixing formats like Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D in the home, and why wouldn't we be? We are enthused at the promise of a more immersive surround experience where a 360 degree soundfield is matched with audio channels overhead to give a fully enveloping sonic environment. However, many rooms in homes are simply not suited for overhead speakers, and the reflective speaker technology used to bounce sound overhead has been seemingly ill-conceived and underwhelming.
See: What are Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers? and Dolby Atmos In-ceiling vs Atmos-enable Speaker Demo Results
Dolby Atmos Demo Clip Download Software
We've gotta be real: the need for more speakers, and the awkward location of those speakers, is perhaps the biggest sticking point in the adoption of these next-generation object. Here's the issue: a standard 5.1 setup meets the requirements for speaker placement in both DTS and Dolby Surround. You can switch between the formats and the two can peacefully co-exist. No such congruence exists with Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D; those two formats have very different speaker layouts. However, DTS:X claims to map to your front, surround, and height channels no matter where they are. And let's face it, even with a 5.1 setup, most of us have had to diverge from the standard placement. I know in my system, my front speakers are all spot on, but my surround speakers are mounted higher than what would be ideal. With DTS:X, there is no recommended speaker placement, they just match what you have, or at least that was the underlying message at the presentation. We’ll have to see if this holds true in a real world listening scenario, and if/how the manufacturers will implement this.
DTS:X Channel Check
When pushed, DTS noted that a standard 5.1 setup with an additional 2 fronts height and 2 rear height speakers would be a good place to start, but there were no specific angles in the horizontal or vertical plane given. This is in contrast to Auro 3D's specific placement requirements, and Dolby's seemingly contradictory approaches of exactly placed ceiling speakers, or distinctly non-specific reflective speaker approach that bounces sound off the ceiling. If object-based mixing is to take off in the home, it seems like DTS:X presents the best chance of success given it's ability to adapt to an almost infinite variety of speaker placements.
Personal: DTS Headphone:X Sounds Like Real Speakers On The Go
DTS Headphone:X using psychoacoustics to trick your brain into thinking it’s hearing speakers in front, behind, and overhead through a standard set of headphones. I'm not going to bury the lead here: I was thoroughly impressed with DTS Headphone:X. In the demo, we had just finished listening to a standard channel check where a pictures of the various speakers is displayed, a speaker is highlighted on screen, and the corresponding speaker plays a voice saying 'left front', 'right surround', and so forth. So, after that channel check was played through real speakers in a real room, we were asked to put on headphones, and the channel check was played again. I think I made it almost 3 speakers in before, in the middle of 'center', I pulled off my headphones to make sure they hadn't accidentally left the real speakers on. They hadn't.
DTS Headphone:X Logo on Display
Now, that's not to say that the headphones sounded as good at the real speakers in a real room that we had just heard, but DTS Headphone:X sounded more realistic, at least on that demo channel check, than any other headphone pseudo-surround that I've heard.
A follow up clip from the film 'Divergent' was played. It was a scene where one of the characters is escaping from a box filled with water. Truthfully, I didn't find it a good clips for evaluation. Sure there was a lot of info in the surround field, but it was all rather non-descript like bubbling water and cracking glass. I would have preferred a clip with some dialog and distinct sound cues placed in familiar, realistic space to get a sense of how well DTS Headphone:X can transport the listener out of their head. Nonetheless, the demo convinced me that DTS Headphone:X could be a real benefit for personal listening.
DTS Headphone:X sounded more realistic than any other headphone pseudo-surround that I've heard.
Speaking of preferences, DTS Headphone: X can be adjusted for listener preference. The sound can be more on-ear, or more in-the-room, and the apparent size of the room adjusted. For anyone who is regularly banished to headphone use when trying not to wake family members or disturb close neighbors, DTS Headphone:X will do a fantastic job of bringing the speakers-in-a-room experience to headphone users. But, don't take my word for it, try it out today by visiting the DTS Headphone:X webpage for example clips, or download one of the smart phone apps that includes DTS Headphone:X technology.
Dolby Atmos can be attained with simply two additional upfiring speakers (as depicted here) or with an array of 32 to 64 speakers in a high-end space.
There is no question Dolby Atmos has put a charge in the immersive home theater experience for watching movies, but what about audio? Pre-Atmos, integrators’ surround sound audio demos were relegated to tracks from Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” But now thanks to a new initiative from Dolby, a variety of songs have been remastered to Dolby Atmos, giving integrators a growing selection to use for demos with clients, giving them another powerful reason beyond just movies to consider an immersive room environment.
That new Dolby Atmos audio initiative was on display recently when Dave Silkin, president of Digital Sales Metro, held a high-performance home theater event in New York City at Dolby Laboratories offices. During the event, John Russell, co-founder of Cortex VIP Systems, discussed some of the music applications Dolby is working on and its timeline for release.
Russell says integrators and music fans can expect the immersive audio market to explode over the next 12 months.
“There will be 10,000 audio tracks remastered for Dolby Atmos this year [2020],” according to Russell.
Dolby Atmos Demo Download
Related:Digital Sales Group, Metro to Showcase Amazing 64-Channel Dolby Home Theater
Dolby Atmos Demo Video
As part of his presentation, Russell went on to cite the remastering of the classic albums “Abbey Road“ from the Beatles’ and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” from Elton John this year as evidence of the trend.
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The Digital Sales Metro’s event was held at a Cortex VIP-built cinema in New York City at Dolby Laboratory’s offices. Demonstrating the immersive characteristics of Atmos-encoded music, Russell played Atmos tracks from Imagine Dragons (“Believer”) and INXS (“Mediate”) for an audience of integrators and designers to underscore how well music can sound in an Atmos environment.
In the commercial sound reinforcement market, top manufacturers including L-Acoustics, Meyer Sound and Astro Spatial Audio have been promoting immersive audio as a next-generation experience for concert-goers.
This means that immersive audio for music applications could soon be available at concert venues and on the home front, making now the perfect time for both residential and commercial integrators to get their demos set up and ready to impress.
While Dolby’s library of 10,000 remastered songs is still in the process of being built, here are 7 prime examples of Dolby Atmos-enabled remasters that are currently ready to rock for your demos:
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