The issue I have with Atmos mixes, they never mention if the 'bed layout' is 5.1 or 7.1...
Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos (SW Atmos mix; SDE exclusive blu-ray in February 2024)
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For those that don't have Atmos, do the fold down to 5.1's not sound good? I have Atmos, so I wouldn't know. (I'm asking this because some are asking about a 5.1 mix, which this doesn't have...or it's not mentioned)
I’ve never tried playing an Atmos mix on my 5.1 system… I guess I should try that 
JediJoker
Audio Engineer/Enthusiast
As far as I'm aware, all lossless TrueHD-based Atmos mixes/files use a 7.1 bed, while all lossy Dolby Digital Plus-based ones use a 5.1 bed.
It's a few years ago now but I have some examples of 7.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos... That being said, maybe this has changed now that Atmos music streaming services are here and things are being standardised.
I'd kill for a Wilson mix of High 'n' Dry!
I've heard some good ones and some bad ones, but my long-winded answer is that it varies depending on the way the Atmos mix was constructed and how the end user's 5.1 system is set up.
To start off, I've seen claims elsewhere on the forum that the height channel information in an Atmos mix is omitted entirely upon playback in 5.1/7.1 and that is 100% false. I think I proved that here using Gentle Giant's song "Design" from the Interview album. So if you bought an Atmos Blu-Ray to play on your 5.1 system, don't worry about any instruments or vocals going missing.
Whenever TrueHD/Atmos audio is played on a 5.1 system (regardless of whether the listener's AVR is Atmos-compliant or legacy), the two back speakers are always defined as "side surrounds" rather than "rear surrounds". Dolby's recommended placement for "side surrounds" is 90-110 degrees off the main listening position, while "rear surrounds" are to be placed at 135-150 degrees. This would suggest to me that whenever the mixer pans a given instrument to the side surrounds, their intention is for that element to sound like it's either directly beside or slightly behind the listener. Conversely, panning to the rear surrounds would place that element much further behind the listener's head.
So if you're listening on a 5.1 setup where the two back speakers are placed in the recommended "side surround" position (90-110 degrees), you'll hear correct placement of any side-panned elements but lose that extra dimension of having different things coming from even further back behind you. But if your two back speakers are in the "rear surround" position (135-150 degrees), you'll end up hearing things that are supposed to be beside/slightly behind coming from much further back. It's a compromise either way, but I think the 90-110 configuration usually yields more accurate results (assuming the mixer has made simultaneously use of the both the side and rear pairs - there are a number of Atmos mixes that only engage one or the other).
Take for example, "Love Ain't For Keeping" from Who's Next. The dedicated DTS-HD 5.1 mix places the rhythm section and lead vocal upfront, acoustic guitars in the 'phantom sides' (FL & RL, FR & RR), and harmonies in the rears. The Atmos mix expands on this by moving the guitars to the side speakers and backing vocals up in the rear heights. So I think Steven Wilson's intention in both mixes was definitely to have those acoustic guitars sound like they're directly beside the listener - to get that effect in 5.1 required using a phantom center, whereas in Atmos he could pan to a set of actual side speakers in that location.
So if you were to play the Atmos mix of this song on a a 5.1 setup where the two back speakers are placed in the "side surround" position (90-110 degrees), you'd hear both the acoustic guitars and harmony vocals from beside/slightly behind the main listening position. Conversely, with back speakers in the "rear surround" position (135-150 degrees) you'd hear the acoustic guitars and harmony vocals both coming from way behind you.
I'm a little surprised/bummed Steven didn't also deliver a dedicated 5.1 of this title, but thrilled to have the Atmos mix in lossless form
I was watching Planet Earth III on BBC1 on Sunday with the AVR and it showed up as DD & DD+ and I got sounds from the rear heights, which surprised me!
Interesting... Was this via satellite (DVD-S2), cable (DVB-C2) or terrestrial (DVB-T2)?
DVB-T2, I haven't had it on Sky yet, though I normally just listen to music through the AVR!
Unless some tests are being carried out in your area, DVB-T2 in the UK is distributed using HE-AAC audio...
Which transmitter region are you in? Are you sure you haven't set your TV's 'sound-out' options to output Dolby Digital Plus?
How quickly have we gone off-topic...
I haven't looked at the TV settings for a while, last AVR wouldn't work with it. I'm in Devon, Stockland mast as far as I can remember
ordered!
Ordered as soon as I saw it...having attended the Atmos playback premiere of the album (and having also asked the lady from Universal who was sitting in front of me if DSH would ever get a physical release) this was indeed a no-brainer.
I think maybe 'the powers that be' tested the waters with the physical release of Drastic Symphonies, which imho truly reveals itself in Atmos (and provides an opportunity to compare Ronan McHugh's 5.1 mix to the 5.1 downmix of the Atmos version if one is so inclined) and the sales figures made releasing the DSH Atmos album on Blu ray seem feasible. Following on, I only hope that the Atmos version of Pyromania gets added to that list, preferably as a general release like Drastic Symphonies (£14 from Amazon) or worst case via SDE (their stuff is £28 inc postage here).
All the above have been streaming via Apple music et al since their release. Now all that's missing is an immersive rework of Hysteria, but that's a massive undertaking as it's Leppard's Mount Rushmore. Possibly a job for Mr Clearmountain?
I think maybe 'the powers that be' tested the waters with the physical release of Drastic Symphonies, which imho truly reveals itself in Atmos (and provides an opportunity to compare Ronan McHugh's 5.1 mix to the 5.1 downmix of the Atmos version if one is so inclined) and the sales figures made releasing the DSH Atmos album on Blu ray seem feasible. Following on, I only hope that the Atmos version of Pyromania gets added to that list, preferably as a general release like Drastic Symphonies (£14 from Amazon) or worst case via SDE (their stuff is £28 inc postage here).
All the above have been streaming via Apple music et al since their release. Now all that's missing is an immersive rework of Hysteria, but that's a massive undertaking as it's Leppard's Mount Rushmore. Possibly a job for Mr Clearmountain?
Owen Smith
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Actually it's AAC-LC for the primary audio track, either 2.0 or 5.1. The audio described track for visually impaired is in HE-AAC.
Indeed, since very few (possibly zero) amps decode multi channel AAC the TV or PVR has to transcode to something else. My Humax HDR Fox T2 transcodes to Dolby Digital at 640kbps (the max for DD). Multi channel LPCM over HDMI is another common option, wish my box would do that. But it uses DD so the same output works over optical.
I ordered the Drastic Symphonies BR (and think about half the songs 'worked' given the symph treatment) and will be ordering this one. I hope the Atmos folds down well to 7.1. ( I have a few BRs with both 5.1 and Atmos mixes where I actually prefer the 5.1 mix. I don't have an Atmos system yet, just 7.3.)
Purchased/pre-ordered my copy yesterday as well. 2023 has been a pretty good year for quad, surround and immersive physical product releases. Let's hope 2024 is even MORE fruitful! Fingers crossed...
Owen Smith
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
The Atmos does not fold down, that isn't how it works. You simply play the 7.1 bed if you don't have an Atmos decoder, all sounds are present in the bed.
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