Ep. 47 Dolby Atmos Setup Major Mistakes | Fix your Home Theater and drop Jaws!! Home Theater Gurus

👉✅Mistakes are killing your Dolby Atmos and they are far too common. Achieve Atmos the way it SHOULD be HEARD! Home Theater Gurus top Atmos mistakes. Is a 7.1.6 worth it? Should you use wall speakers for Atmos? Dolby Atmos Major Mistakes.

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[hometheatergurus]

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[tikkorome]

I'm the Dolby Atmos mastering engineer at Deadly Mix Studios.

I just wanted to watch a couple videos like this to see what information consumers are getting online so that I can take it into consideration when I'm working, but I figured I should stop and mention that this is actually really good information overall for consumers.

I would add, though, that your "do what sounds best" advice should definitely come with an asterisk.

In the example where you said it, yes, not much else really matters if something is blocking the direct signal. Otherwise, it's VERY important that the system is setup based on math in accordance with the recommendations provided by Dolby. It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that consumers do so.

In order to ensure objects appear in their intended locations, speakers need to be where your Atmos decoder system) expects them to be. All the speakers work together to create the sonic illusion that a given object is moving/positioned in the space around you. If a speaker is not where it's expected to be, the effect doesn't work. This is especially problematic for moving objects because the mastering engineer designed that movement to occur in specific locations over a specific period of time. If they're too close, the sound occurs in the wrong location and the time of travel remains the same, but the distance traveled is shorter, which will make the speed slower and out of focus, or won't seem to move much at all; depending on the size ofnthe error. If the distance is too far, the speed will be in the wrong location and seem faster because it travels a greater distance in the same length of time.

[samgipson]

I watch the video and moved my speakers around ran room correction. It made a huge difference in discrete sounds and atmospheric sounds and music. I have a unfinished basement ceiling and I’m so glad I haven’t finished it yet because I probably would’ve never change them if I had to run wire and replace drop ceiling panels. I can’t believe the difference. I couldn’t find my laser so I used a tape measure extended from SPEAKER and pointed it at the listening position to get my aim right. Right now I’m using small box speakers. When I get the ceiling done I’m going to purchase ceiling speakers that are able to be aimed at the listing position. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise. This is really a game changer! Night and day difference. I never really heard the atmospherics until I change my speaker position and angles🤯

[louietheo]

This is the most informative no BS video I’ve seen on this topic.
So much learnt from this video that I had no idea about - and now I understand why I am so underwhelmed with my atmos setup. My speaker choice and placement is all wrong, but now I know how to fix it.

Thank you

[Dave-weyl]

This is the single most upgrade I’ve done to my home theater for the greatest result. And it didn’t cost me a dime. If you haven’t done this you are missing out on a great experience. Thank you

[doublesynchrohelix]

Obviously with floor standing speakers, subs, even wall mounted speakers (to a degree), we can move them around the room, run correction again, run REW, and move things over and over. With holes in the ceiling, that's not exactly an option, unless you have a drop ceiling I guess you have some trial and error and replacement without breaking the bank or getting divorced... This single video changed my whole understanding (cost me a bit more money when I thougt my gear collection was over, lol) but super glad I watched this right before install up top. Was literally about to router my ceiling holes when I wanted to triple check YouTube for any last bits of advice. Just ordered my middle Atmos row, comes tomorrow, all 6 holes will be cut by then! Thanks, sincerely, this video is gold to me and you have a new subscriber and donor.

[JeanSebastienGrise]

Thanks to your advices I moved my top channels from a 90 angle to 60 degree angle instead of having them in line with the mains as suggested by Dolby home setup. What a difference, while listening to Audiosphere demo I was trying to reach for the sound with my hands. Thanks man!

[cableguydan]

Great video, Steven. A real breath of fresh air - a video purely based on accurate information.

I installed my height speakers (top front / top rear) back in around 2018 and fell for one of those Dolby images (I should have read the supporting documents better) and installed in ceiling speakers firing straight down. I calculated the correct angles from the MLP, but fired them straight down. 🤦‍♂️

I hope your video spreads far and wide. Many people say how useless Atmos is, yet they purchased the cheapest in ceiling speakers they could get (because height channels don’t matter, right?!?!?) and didn’t follow the correct angles. Doh. ☺️

[mustangfred]

I have been researching this speaker placement for several weeks now. I am only running a 5.1.2 setup and have multiple marks on my ceiling as to where to place my Focal Dome's for my top front. Got the lazer out to place them exactly in line with my front mains and rear surrounds. I watched this video at a good time cuz I was finally gonna screw them in tonight. Thank you so much for this video. Makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

[colindixon]

WOW! I have a very small room, just 13' x 10' and 7'6" high ceiling. Using 7.1.2. Just moving my speakers up 1' and changing the angle in to the listener, instead of the opposite the front speakers, made a HUMOUNGOUS difference to the Atmos sound.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
I'm now looking to upgrade to a 7.1.4 and know exactly where I will place my ceiling speakers!!!

[NES]

You've perfectly addressed 2 issues I've been dealing with, the confusion with Dolby's pdf regarding the width of the height speakers, it looked like it was contradicting itself and I wasn't sure which to follow, it made more sense to me to go angle based rather than based on the width of your mains, but you reaffirmed this with logic. Also with the tone winner channel limitations, I've been non stop thinking of choosing either wides or middle heights, but your explanation points out that I'm really choosing to fill either a 90 degree gap or 60 degree gap, looking at it this way makes it an obvious choice, thank you so much for breaking down the science.

[Pkda]

This was the most informative video I've found on speaker placement. I'm still quite a few years from building my own dream home theater but it's alright, I'm patient. I'll definitely implement this knowledge. Thank you

[stephenyoud]

I calculate the angles and distances quickly on my phone calculator using the Tan and Inverse Tan functions. Rotate the phone to landscape format to flip it from basic to scientific mode and access all the Sin, Cos and Tan functions.
Rem the Tan of the Angle = the ratio of the distance OPPOSITE the angle (the ceiling distance forwd or back from above the seating position) divided by the distance ADJACENT to the angle ie ( the distance from the seating position to the ceiling, or wall).
So for a 30 deg angle for/backwards at a ceiling height above ear level of 1.67 metres, you take the Tan of 30 and multiply by 1.67m to get 96 cm. (for and backwards from the seating position. I calculated all my ATMOS speaker angles from our new house building plans.
if you have a known speaker position already (distance from an overhead or centreline "O") and a height or wall distance ("A")and want to find the angle. Divide O /A and use the Inverse Tan (on iPhone press the 2nd button on the Scientific calculator and then Tan (which then appears as Tan-1, to get the Angle that that speaker position makes. I reckon on ear level being about 1m above the floor.
And an aide memoir for calculating angles of right angled triangles, where Sin = O/H, Cos = A/H and Tan =O/A is:
Six Old Hags Came And HadTea One Afternoon, O = the side opposite the Angle, A = the side adjacent and H = Hypotenuse

[DavidGonzalez-rskt]

Blessings and Thank You for taking the time to go into detail about the importance of properly placing Atmos speakers, amazing, peace

[doublesynchrohelix]

Thanks man... you cost me another $1100 right when I thought I was done to buy top middles lol... i had 2 extra amp channels and 2 more channels in my MC1 processor I wasn't going to use but EXACTLY as you said... "you don't need top middles in a small room" is all I heard in fact Jonathon on Youthman's 3 guy podcast style vid just last week said "you won't gain anything from adding a middle atmos row" when someone in the chat asked the exact question addressed here. As soon as you pull out the white board and explain the angles, my whole world came together with a sigh of relief as FINALLY making sense! Between conficting YouTube vids, (especially) Dolby's literature, and chatting with friends who have Atmos, I was in a constant gray area of understanding... the thing with this Ep. 47 is, we don't have to take your word for it, the angles and gaps if voids of channels are left, or speakers are placed on walls, etc, it just makes sense physically! We just needed someone to explain it better as you have and I thank you.

[JasonHendry]

would recomend droping background audio from a viewer perspective its distracting for you very good info. lower it maybe 70 percent.

[jsngb]

Thank you!!! I placed my top mids according to your measurements and very pleased with the sound im getting. Its a very different experience for sure. I can now distinguish and feel the sounds coming off those speakers.

[MrBonger]

There’s still so much misinformation out there. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people telling others that the ceiling speakers need to be inline with the main speakers. I would have done just that if I hadn’t seen this video. Thanks for this. Very informative

[ajsdfk]

Thank you. I'm building a home theater right now. Running wire tonight. And what Gene was telling me six months ago about Atmos placement makes sense now.

[airman]

One of the main reasons I replaced my system was to add atmos. I have a finished basement and put my atmos speakers where it was convenient at the time and was underwhelmed with the results. I have been watching your other videos and have been moving speakers around using string to aim them. Now it's time to move my atmos speakers and they are located way different from the original position based on this lesson. Cant wait to run room correction and see the difference. I have been really enjoying your channel, thanks to Youthman who sent me here. Thanks for all the advice!