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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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Upmixer Face-off: DSU vs. Neural:X vs. Auro-3D

Josh Zyber — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 12:00:27 +0000

As part of my testing of the flagship Denon AVR-X8500H A/V receiver, I finally have access to all three of the competing immersive sound upmixer formats and was able to run a comparison to see exactly how they each work on a normal movie soundtrack. My prior A/V receiver, the 2014 Denon AVR-X5200W, was a...

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Denon AVR-X8500H Unboxing

Josh Zyber — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 15:00:33 +0000

Our friends at Denon sent me a very nice new toy to test for review: the flagship AVR-X8500H A/V receiver. Setting this thing up and putting it through its paces is going to take me a while. In the meantime, here are some photos to tantalize you. With a hefty MSRP of $3,999.00, the AVR-X8500H...

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Weekend Roundtable: Xmas Wish List 2017

Josh Zyber — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 20:00:13 +0000

We’re right on the verge of Christmas and Santa has already started packing his sleigh. Do you have any last-minute wish list items you’d like the jolly fat man to put in your stocking this year? M. Enois Duarte If we’re going with the most far-fetched possibilities, I want a brand-new 4k remaster of ‘Terminator...

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Watching 4k Ultra HD on a 1080p Display

Josh Zyber — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 12:00:51 +0000

At least in theory, Ultra HD Blu-ray players are designed to be backwards compatible with viewing on any HDTV or 1080p display. However, most professional reviews only focus (for obvious reasons) on true 4k High Dynamic Range, Wide Color Gamut playback, assuming that’s what most readers are interested in. Those who may need the downconversion...

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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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