Front Wides revisited!

[Raffaele Spataro]

Hello all, just revisiting the idea of having front wides vs having an additional set of atmos speakers. This debate is so controversial its been bothering me. I’m sharing my thoughts on this and want to know if you all have heard or took the opportunity to try it out. The rundown below:

Previously I had my system run on a 7.2.6 platform and it sounded great however when watching movies in atmos those extra speakers don’t turn on or get engaging because there is no support right now unless you upmix them to DTS Neural X just like what was said in the previous thread about front wides.

Now I’m running on a 9.2.4 platform ( Front Wides ) and obviously its the same result. I guess where I’m getting at is when playing games on my PS5 or Xbox and have it set to DTS Neural X those speakers are highly engaged and the panning of the speakers sounds fantastic. It honestly sounds better to me like this rather than my previous setup. However when watching content on Netflix or HBOmax etc..they are on and make my room sound bigger. Btw I’m not upmixing to DTS just Dolby through eARC on my TV. I would like to hear from everyone and their experiences and thoughts

 

[Lukas]

I personally only listen in the native format, even if some of the speakers will be not used.

I do not like the sound that those upmixers generate, even with high-end processing like a Trinnov.
It changes the tonality and there is always something that does not fit right.
In some movies, it is hardly noticeable in others very apparent. With music, it is even worse.

 

 

[laurence-chan]

Count me as a purist at heart.  If the native format doesn’t have actual sound information mastered for a particular group of speakers, then I don’t want an upmixer(DSU/Neural:X/auro3d) guessing with an algorithm what information it should send to unused bed channels or immersive speakers.  This is one of the reasons I chose to go no further than a 7.1.4 speaker setup, as these are the most often audio mastered channels and my room just won’t accommodate anymore.  Like Lukas, there is something that is just not right especially with music, so I prefer a CD for 2 channel listening, and a 5.1 SACD for just those 5.1 channels.  Besides there is very little audio content mastered audio above 7.1.4 for “at home cinema” enjoyment.

 

I can however understand that many home theater enthusiasts like to use these upmixers to matrix sound for unused speaker positions, I’m just not one of them.  I’m sure the OP is looking forward to the newest DSU algorithm as well as DTS:X Pro, so happy listening! :)

[Raffaele Spataro]

I can agree with everyone on here about using upmixers and yeah it does alter the sound dramatically, but for some they like this as everyone has different hearing and opinions. I recently discovered that on Amazon Prime, when watching content like the new Rings of Power those Wide channels are fully engaged in Dolby Atmos. Now everyone has their own opinion but man it sounds awesome. I personally think Amazon Netflix etc. have looked into the audio formats and listened to their customers about having those extra channels being engaged. Thats just me I could be totally wrong.

[laurence-chan]

If you are getting front wides when you are receiving an actual “ATMOS” stream, then that is actual data that is mastered into the actual audio track itself.  So, in other words, not matrixed or upmixed by DSU.  Thanks for that bit of information, as I was unaware that the Rings of Power was adding that to their Atmos stream.

[Raffaele Spataro]

You’re welcome and I’m glad to have giving the info, I will update more and more about this as things starts to unravel. BTW Marantz just revealed there new line up of AVR’s and they look amazing.

[Andrew Morrison]

9.3.6

I use 1961 monitors as wides and I do notice the difference if wides are part of the mix

with DA most of the time they are silent

with DTS:X Pro all speakers are used

[roman-tissera]

So you don’t use AV separates?

[Raffaele Spataro]

Most of the community on here are using separates as their pre/pro. Don’t know what your question is referring too.