High-Def Digest: The Bonus View11.1 Archives - High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 6: Reconfiguring Everything (Again)

Josh Zyber — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 17:00:17 +0000

My seemingly never-ending project to incorporate an absurd number of speakers into my home theater has undergone another major overhaul since I last provided an update. While, no, I haven’t squeezed any more speakers into the room, I have rewired and re-assigned several of them – hopefully for the better. Most home theaters are content...

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IMAX Enhanced Audio Examined, Part 4

Josh Zyber — Thu, 23 May 2019 12:00:20 +0000

Earlier this year, the IMAX Corporation and DTS introduced the new IMAX Enhanced variant of the DTS:X sound format, and I wrote a few articles trying to get to the bottom of what it really is or does. Just as I thought I understood it, a recent firmware update changed some ways the format works....

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Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 5: The Front Wide Experiment

Josh Zyber — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:00:22 +0000

It’s been a while since I last provided an update on my ongoing attempt to expand my home theater beyond the conventional channel limits allowed by Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. Never satisfied, I’ve now crammed 17 speakers into my room. If you can believe it, in some ways this has actually simplified matters since my...

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IMAX Enhanced Audio Examined, Part 3

Josh Zyber — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 17:00:21 +0000

As I’m still trying to figure out the new IMAX Enhanced audio format, I’ve done some additional playing around and discovered a strange use that was likely not intended by the designers. If you really wanted to, you can activate the mode on DTS-encoded DVDs. You probably shouldn’t, though. Yes, I said DVD, not Blu-ray....

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IMAX Enhanced Audio Examined, Part 2

Josh Zyber — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 17:00:18 +0000

Last week I shared my first impressions of the new IMAX Enhanced audio format, available on select A/V receivers and two movie discs to date. Additional testing has answered some of the questions I had, but I’m not sure I like those answers. Both IMAX and DTS have been stingy with details about exactly what...

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Yet Another New Audio Format: IMAX Enhanced Makes Its Debut

Josh Zyber — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:00:24 +0000

As if home theater audio weren’t already confusing enough with the plethora of sound formats available on Blu-ray and Ultra HD, the IMAX Corporation has now introduced another proprietary format, called IMAX Enhanced. What’s unique or special about this one, and should you upgrade your A/V receiver to get it? I’m trying to figure that...

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Poll: Do You Use Front Wide Speakers?

Josh Zyber — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 12:00:14 +0000

In all the years I’ve had surround sound, I’d never given much thought to implementing Front Wide speakers between my main Left and Right channels and the Surround speakers. Recently, however, I gave it some consideration. Does anyone here use Front Wides? Is it worth the effort? This train of thought started as a result...

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Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 4: Is Eight Enough?

Josh Zyber — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:00:48 +0000

After cobbling together a complicated D-I-Y system that uses three A/V receivers to derive six height channels of Dolby Atmos audio, how much further could I expand my surround sound experience? Let’s go to eight! In previous articles on this subject (start here), I’ve described how I integrated two additional AVRs into my home theater...

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Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 3: Hacking Audyssey

Josh Zyber — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:00:14 +0000

Last year, I started a very complex project to expand my Dolby Atmos surround sound system to incorporate extra height speakers, more than most consumer A/V receivers support. One of the drawbacks I encountered in doing so was that Audyssey EQ room correction interfered with the process and had to be turned off. There is...

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Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 2

Josh Zyber — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 19:00:42 +0000

Having connected three home theater A/V receivers to expand my Dolby Atmos surround sound into a crazily convoluted 7.1.6 channel system, the next step was actually making it work. Sadly, that proved to have some unexpected challenges. Because consumer home theater hardware (the kind we humble 99-Percenters can afford, anyway) tops out at a speaker...

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Dolby Atmos Beyond 7.1.4 – Part 1

Josh Zyber — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:00:46 +0000

A little over a year ago, I began experimenting with ways to expand my Dolby Atmos surround sound system to beyond the 7.1.4 limitation of current consumer hardware. My continued quest to achieve the best Atmos experience at home has recently driven me to make additional upgrades. These days, my home theater is so crazily...

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No Such Thing As Too Many Speakers – Customizing a Dolby Atmos System

Josh Zyber — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 19:00:03 +0000

Aside from some obscenely expensive high-end boutique gear, the current generation of Dolby Atmos A/V receivers (as well as the coming wave of DTS:X capable models) top out at a maximum limit of 7.1.4 channels of surround sound audio. While that should be plenty enough for the majority of home theater users, some may find...

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