It’s Dolby Atmos certified though :~)

https://www.audiocu.com

https://audite.de/en/product/CD/97827-j.s_bach_trio_sonatas.html

https://audite.de/en/product/CD/97814-sparks_of_spirit.html

(listed as Immersiv atmos)

And the price is remarkable.

The Dobly Atmos Renderer is required for playback. This track is from the Trio Sonatas

After some years of development we are now launching a digital room correction service. The idea is to process room measurements and propose the best filters to improve the listening experience. Details are available on our website: www.homeaudiofidelity.com

As there is no need to insert new hardware or software in the reproduction chain you can take 100% benefit of your audio system.

Compared to existing solutions (Dirac, Trinnov, DEQx, etc...) we have developped specific algorithms focused on the spatial dimension of the stereo reproduction (directivity issues, crosstalk reduction).

As soon as you have available measurements you can test our solution for free.

Don't hesitate to contact us !

Thierry

Now, selecting 5.1.4 for ten channels or 7.1.4 for twelve channel playback works perfectly! 

The easiest way to notice the difference is to play a ten channel file on a twelve channel system. These files are for sale from Spirit of Turtle records as 5.1.4 DXD studio masters, and they sound fantastic. Previously, the channels of the album would be placed in channels 1 through 10, leaving channels 11. and 12 empty. However, that isn't correct because it places two height channels in the rear channels. A space needs to be added for channels 5, and 6 to make playback correct. The new JRMC config options do just that. It's really nice. 

From the change log:

"28. Changed: 10 channel is now 5.1.4 and 12 channel is 7.1.4.  JRSS does not currently fill the height channels."

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,139663.0.html

You can see the option here and the output on my playback system in the bottom screenshot.

Question: Why don't you use digital room correction?

P.S. There are no wrong answers :~)

MAGNIFICAT is now available in Dolby Atmos TrueHD

Auro-3D was the format of our early days of immersive audio. At the time when MAGNIFICAT was first released in 2014 Dolby Atmos was not yet available to the consumers. 

Now we have brought out the original 5.1.4 master files and created an MKV that holds both the Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos TrueHD.

Originally mixed to quad in the 70's and issued on various formats back then including LPs, 8-Track tapes, and sometimes Reel-to-Reel tapes. These are of course all-analog "period" mixes, and often with the original album producers and engineers involved.  These Blu-Ray discs feature not only the 4.0 Quadraphonic 70's mixes in 24/192kHz, but new Hi-Resolution remastering of the stereo mixes as well.  They come in SACD style "Super Jewel" cases which I think is pretty cool.  And in my opinion the previous releases have been very high-quality, and solid musical choices, with no duds in any way.   Great music - and all with very fine sounding 4.0 quad mixes that hold up well next to the more modern 5.1 surround things we've seen over the past decade plus.

A great thing here is the series has been (since June '23) releasing 4 titles every three months with the next four Quadio BRs coming up for us on Jan. 19th 2024.  Not only that, but look at the strong artist/album titles that they have issued below.  It's all about the music for me really regardless if it is in immersive surround or just high-res stereo.  These titles really do hit the spot imo.  In fact I think that Rhino's "Quadio" series qualifies as the finest reissue series of 70's original quad masters ever undertaken by any label.  Title for title the quality of the 4.0 mixes, mastering and choice titles from Warner, Reprise, Atlantic labels is pretty stellar. 

Randy Newman – Good Old Boys (coming Jan. 19th 2023)
Reprise – MS4 2193
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 2193

War – The World Is A Ghetto (coming Jan. 19th 2023)
United Artists – UA-DA178-H
Quadraphonic 1973
Rhino BA2 726002

Average White Band – AWB (coming Jan. 19th 2023)
Atlantic – QD 7308
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 7308

Gil Evans – Svengali (coming Jan. 19th 2023)
Atlantic – QD-1643
Quadraphonic 1973
Rhino BA2 1643

America – Holiday
Warner Bros. Records – W4 2808
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 2808

Spinners – Spinners
Atlantic – QD 7256
Quadraphonic 1973
Rhino BA2 7256

Gordon Lightfoot – Sundown
Reprise Records – MS4 2177
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 2177

Charles Mingus – Mingus Moves
Atlantic – QD 1653
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 1653

Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Warner Bros. Records – WS4 1887
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 3104

Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Warner Bros. Records - BS4 2685
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino BA2 2685

J. Geils Band - Nightmares and other tales from the vinyl jungle
Atlantic – QD-18107
Quadraphonic 1975
Rhino BA2 18107

Jefferson Starship - Red Octopus
Grunt - BFD1-0999
Quadraphonic 1975
Rhino BA2 585303

Aretha Franklin – The Best Of Aretha Franklin (now a long out of print title)
Atlantic – QD 8305
Quadraphonic 1973
Rhino Handmade - RHM2 8305

Chicago – Chicago Transit Authority (now a long out of print title)
Columbia - GQ 33255
Quadraphonic 1974
Rhino Handmade – RHM2 520771

Great info for two channel fans as well, to better understand the state of immersive audio. 
 

Here’s one Q and A that shows the popularity of immersive audio. 

 

https://headlinermagazine.net/jeff-huskins-mixing-lainey-wilson-bell-bottom-country-dolby-atmos.html

https://josephcrowe.com/products/3d-cad-files-horn-no-1994-es450-biradial-for-jbl-2446-2-throat

And there's my three Rythmik F12 subs. 

Will play DVD and BD movies on my pc's BD drive and use JRiver player settings to downmix the Dolby Digital or DTS-MA multichannel audio to 3.1. 

My concern is that numerous center channel speaker brands say that "up to 70%" of movie audio is mixed to be reproduced by a center speaker. But if that's true then how much of what audio is typically fed to the main speakers?

And how would this change when I downmix to 3.1?

For now this is just informational, but I'd love to get to the bottom of why these releases are so maxed out. 

As a reference, here's Pearl Jam's latest album Dark Matter, with peaks shown. This is a heavy rock album. The stereo version likely peaks above 0 dB. The Atmos version, like all other Atmos albums, leaves plenty of headroom. 

Mind Games Atmos:

You can see the left, right, center, and right surround channels all peak over 0dB.

Gimme Some Truth Atmos:

You can see the left, right, center, and right surround channels all peak over 0dB.

Abbey Road Atmos:

You can see the left, right, and center channels all peak over 0dB.

https://magicvinyldigital.net/2024/01/27/norah-jones-visions-first-single-running-2024-review-test-tidal-max-flac-amazon-dolby-atmos/

Quote

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested: Tidal MAX Flac and Amazon Dolby Atmos.

The waveform of Tidal Max Flac clearly shows the use of a dynamic limiter, as confirmed by the dynamic range measurement with a DR5, compared to the Dolby Atmos 2.0 version with a DR14.

https://magicvinyldigital.net/2024/03/16/norah-jones-visions-album-review-test-tidal-max-flac-amazon-dolby-atmos-vinyl-record-color-vinyl-record-japanese-sacd/

For those of us with 2-channel or headphone rigs, the only "acceptable solution" for a similar situation like this should be ripping the lossy Atmos version somewhere. After that, we're gonna get things done with Dolby Reference Player and Music Media Helper.

No decent lossless releases at the moment, while they might not consider releasing the TrueHD Atmos version anywhere else.

 https://www.stereophile.com/content/okto-research-dac8-pro-da-processor 

But like most DACs, the Okto’s balanced outputs only deliver ~ 4.1 volts, which KR found insufficient to drive his power amps (Benchmark AHB2, NAD C298) with DIRAC Live 3 enabled. Thus, all balanced outputs of this processor would need to supply a minimum of 10 volts/channel to offset DIRAC gain losses of almost 20db  https://www.sowter.co.uk/decibels.php , as KR mentioned in his review of the Topping Pre90. https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier

Unfortunately, there are no 8-channel preamps available, either from audiophile or pro audio brands. KR's fix was to buy three Topping preamps, which as shown in Fig. 3 its balanced outputs deliver very low distortion, and which virtually continues decreasing well beyond 10 volts.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier-measurements 

But stacking three Pre90 preamps doesn't seem the most elegant solution, and KR mentioned that struggling with the Pre90's crappy remote is no fun.  

So unless I find a reputable builder to affordably custom design a MCH preamp, the only alternative would be a MCH processor with a DAC section at least as good, but ideally far better than the Okto, and with all balanced outputs delivering at least 10 or 12 volts/channel.

If yes, how likely could its own master volume/mute remote control allow reducing all balanced outputs to ~ 5 volts or less without any loss of resolution and perceptible dynamic range?  

If yes, which model (s) would also have a pair of high quality potentiometers for selectively setting levels of the front and rear/side speakers-like the ones John Curl used for designing the JC-2 preamp https://www.partsconnexion.com/tkd-potentiomters.html , which JA raved about going head to head against his Levinson 380S? https://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/308para/index.html See p. 10-11. https://parasound.com/pdfs/JC2Manual.pdf

Theta Digital are the only MCH processors I’m aware of which might have DAC sections at least equaling the Okto DAC 8 Pro, though I doubt its preamp performance would match that of the Parasound JC-2.

Please suggest brands/models.

Ideally, such processors would also be customizable, allowing omission of video and unbalanced connectivity, thereby minimizing final cost.

it is possibile for you that are using Dirac Live, to share an image (and possibly paste the TXT) of your target curves?

That will be useful to me to understand what kind of curve is the most used and most appreciate.

Actually I am using the stereo version of Dirac and a slightly modified curve taken from this document:

https://www.minidsp.com/support/community-powered-tutorials/263-custom-dirac-live-target-curves

The result is good but sometimes I think the sound is too bright.

Thank you!

Would be good to hear experiences of others who have done this.  
 

On assumption that Oppo’s volume control is in digital domain, I guess there may be an issue in matching amp power to speakers, so that I’m not attenuating so much as to compromise resolution?  I’m most likely to go with  a Hypex MP MCH  amp from Nord, but while I’d be tempted by the 350 w variety, maybe the 150w or even 75 w would be better?  Speakers likely to be Kef Q350/650c/150 in a fairly small room.
 

Grateful for any input, thanks.

Hey Everyone, 

My AVR850 is broken. I heard a loud popping sound and then the burning smell coming out of the receiver. I found an official service center in Oxnard, CA already but I am looking for a local one around me where I don't have to deal with shipping.

Does anyone have suggestions ?  

Thanks! 

I have been a Dolby Atmos fan ever since I heard my first Dolby Atmos blu-ray a couple of years ago. My enthusiasm shifted into even higher gear when I obtained an Apple TV 4K device and was able to access and play back the huge number of Dolby Atmos recordings on Apple Music last summer. However, there's one thing I can't do right now, and that's playback downloaded files of Dolby Atmos albums on my computer. My current set-up may explain why I'm unable to do this:

For Dolby Atmos blu-rays, I simply play them in my Sony UDP X1100es player, which is HDMI connected to my pre/pro.

For Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, I play them via my Apple TV 4K device, which is also HDMI connected to my pre-pro.

For the vast majority of my other music files EXCEPT Dolby Atmos, I use my Mac MIni (M1) as the source, which is USB connected to my exaSound e38 8-channel DAC, which then connects to the pre/pro through its analog connections. It supports up to DSD 256 and DXD. (Since my MCh set-up is 5.1, I am using only 6 of the 8 channels on the exaSound DAC.) The HDMI port on the Mac Mini goes directly to the TV and is used for video only.

What I would LIKE to do is play back Dolby Atmos files via my Mac Mini too. I've already downloaded a couple, one of which is from the Audite site (24/48, presumably lossless). I've checked the "Info" on the various tracks of the album I downloaded and it does indicate that there are 12 channels on each track (7.1.2). So I'm ready to go, right? Well, not really. The connection goes through my DAC, which does not support Dolby Atmos (and only supports 8 channels anyway) - so that's out.

What else I've tried: I thought I could just copy the downloaded Dolby Atmos album onto a thumb drive, and then connect that drive to the USB port on my blu-ray player in order to play it. But alas, no success: the files (tracks) do show up, but they are not recognized as playable by the player.

So you can perhaps see my problem: I'm already using the Mac Mini's HDMI port for the video connection to the TV. And I'm wondering what the simplest (and cheapest!) way to help myself get to this goal.

What I'm considering doing now is buying ANOTHER Mac Mini and connecting it to the pre/pro via ITS HDMI port, using one of the many HDMI ports now free on the pre/pro at the other end. (I could copy the Dolby Atmos file to the new Mac Mini.) It wouldn't be that expensive and it should work - right?

Do folks here agree with my plan? Or would there be a better way - but remember, it has to be simple and cheap. I don't want a lot of extra complication at this point. And one final question: I believe I read I could use VLC Media Player to play the Dolby Atmos files. But I'm also considering Logic (pre-installed on the Mac Mini) to use (for the time being) as a player for the Dolby Atmos files. Would that give me any advantage (or disadvantage) over VLC Media Player?

Please feel free to throw darts at this any way you feel! And thank you so much in advance if you choose to respond to this post!

https://www.ubergizmo.com/2024/06/lenovo-tab-plus/

https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/tab-plus-music-lovers-dream-tablet-eight-speakers/

Quote

An essential device for music lovers, the Lenovo Tab Plus transforms virtually any location into a personal entertainment sanctuary with 26W of crisp stereo sound. Featuring Eight JBL Hi-Fi speakers, including four matrix tweeters and four force-balanced woofers housed in 4 speaker boxes totaling 22cc, the tablet brings any bedroom or living room to life with deeper, more pronounced bass and clearer treble. In addition, it is tuned by Dolby Atmos and supports high-res audio of 24-bit and 96kHz frequency when using headphones.

Not a bad option for hotel rooms or camping sites etc. since it's just under 300 bucks

https://www.androidauthority.com/lenovo-tab-plus-bluetooth-speaker-3453079/

Quote

Despite its impressive sounding speaker system and solid design, the Tab Plus is priced at an affordable $289.99. As you might suspect, this means the tablet compromises in a few other areas. The processor is the most obvious compromise. While the MediaTek Helio G99 isn’t a bad SoC, it doesn’t quite match the specs you’d find in a high-end Android tablet or iPad. This MediaTek chip is also paired with 8GB of RAM, which is more than adequate for a tablet designed for entertainment and media consumption.

As much as I admire, and drool over, Chris Connaker's ultimate immersive setup, it is not something that I can afford.  Mine is an AVR driven 5.3.4 setup with mainly used gear costing less than USD10K.  

Just wondering how many other users here have relatively modest setups?

Dive Deep Into Morten Lindberg's Immersive Recording Techniques

Grammy Nominated Natalia Schlesinger Demonstrates His Techniques On An Orchestral Session

This Dolby Atmos 2024 "Women In Atmos" Short provides a detailed look into how Natalia and her team used Lindberg's immersive recording techniques for an orchestral piece by Maestro Julio Reyes Copello.

The entire composition was based on spatial audio, where the arrangements, recording and overall production was influenced by Dolby Atmos.

During her presentation, Natalia displayed pictures and graphs showing the orchestral immersive recording session, including an array of microphones completely surrounded by the musicians. The microphone array represented a 7.0.4 bed configuration when recorded and monitored in Dolby Atmos.