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Posted

Since the home theater flooded last year and I had to rebuild it, I decided to upgrade from my old 7.1 setup to a 7.2.4 Atmos configuration. During the course of construction and equipment acquisition, I collected a few Atmos music discs, and was understandably excited to audition Atmos music at home.

Well.

To say that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. I have learned that Atmos mixes come in two (2) varieties. This first (and most common - unfortunately) is the obnoxious practice of throwing a cacophony of sounds and instruments at random speakers, literally abusing the surround and Atmos speakers. Such things as a guitar stating at right-center, then bouncing over your left shoulder, or the snare being dead center, but the hihat behind you. Stupid stuff

The second (and spectacular) use of an Atmos mix is SUBTLE use of the surrounds and Atmos speakers to create a sense of space and ambiance. THIS is what I experienced a couple nights ago with two very different discs:

Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines. I’ve been a fan of Tori’s since Little Earthquakes debuted when I was a kid. The sound of this disc in my Atmos HT is simply stunning. The mix creates such an intimate sense of space, and the details of her vocals and piano are amazing. There are some subtle percussion bits sprinkled around the room, but far from annoying or unrealistic.

Thompson Twins - Into the Gap. Laugh if you want, but I have a soft spot for ‘80s synth-pop (the music of my high school years). This one is a much more aggressive Atmos mix that Tori Amos, but man - it’s crystal clear, hits like a hammer, and the singing ability is quite a bit better than I remember. Demo material for sure.

Both of these discs came from the same place - SDE Shop out of England. https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/tori-amos-unrepentant-geraldines-sde-exclusive-blu-ray-audio/ Needless to say, I have several more on the way.

PLEASE feel free to post any great finds you’ve come across for Atmos music mixes - seeing (or hearing, as it were) what’s possible with this format, I’m definitely IN!

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Posted

Crap, this is just like the good old days when Quad was king.

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Posted

Good to hear that you’ve got the Home Theater back up and functional. I can’t wait to  hear it.

 

You are having the same experience that I have searching for multichannel discs. Some are pure money grabs often employing gimmicky nonsense. One example that comes to mind is Metallica’s Black album in multichannel. I bought the CD when it was originally released and listened to it thousands of times over. So I was excited when I found the multichannel disc only to be immediately disappointed. The multichannel mix added nothing. In fact at times it was downright distracting. In one song they had a guitar solo circle the room - moving to each speaker for the duration of it. I haven’t pulled it out since my initial listening.

 

Mark I would recommend looking at the liner notes and find out who did the atmos mixes that you like. You might find, as I did with multichannel, that there is an engineer who knows how to do it. In my case I will buy pretty much anything mixed by Elliot Scheiner

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Posted

With my system (Marantz SR5015) I have experimented with albums that were "just normal recordings" in the various surround sound modes that my Marantz has available. The sound from them was unique and interesting, but for the most part it's just 2 channel playback at the moment.

 

@Daddyjt @PhilDent Here is an interview with Elliot Scheiner.  The first paragraph of his interview,

 

"After speaking with Elliot Scheiner for almost an hour, one thing was clear: he loves rock music, especially in surround sound. His passion for music drives his work, which has earned him world-class recognition including 2 Emmys, 8 Grammy wins and 27 Grammy nominations. It also inspired him to create the first 5.1 system for cars with Panasonic and Acura. But, as passionate as he is about 5.1, he has some reservations about Atmos technology for music."

 

A very interesting interview especially the part where he was asked "Would you ever create an album in Atmos or Auro 3D?"

 

Q&A with Elliot Scheiner: 5.1 Mixing Pioneer | IAA

 

Needless to say, this renewed my interest in Atmos recordings, and I will be checking my record store today for two specific recordings.

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Posted

I have discovered another Atmos gem - Tears for Fears release of Songs for a Nervous Planet. Both Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith are still very much engaged in their music, and while Roland sounds great, Curt Smith seems to have not aged a day, vocally. He literally sounds identical to his ‘80s prime.  This disc is a fabulous mix of new, old, studio and live recordings, and is mixed by Steven Wilson (who also did Tori Amos and Thompson Twins) - thanks for that tip @PhilDent!

 

I didn’t count, but theres got to be 30+ tracks on the disc too - great stuff!

 

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/tears-for-fears-songs-for-a-nervous-planet/

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

These are the three copies of Atmos related recordings that I just received.

 

17934_pink-floyd--the-dark-side-of-the-m

 

The best of the Doors

 

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Posted

Have you tried Amazon Music?

 

Their premium music service has a decent Atmos library. 
 

You may be able to sign up for a free trial. 

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