Does all the equipment in a home theater need to have Dolby Atmos to utilize it?

[tomaskaret91]

Hi! 

 

I'm helping my mom and dad to buy a soundsystem for their TV and bluray player. They want Dolby Atmos, but their TV and bluray player do not have it.

 

Does the TV and bluray player need Dolby Atmos verification to be able to utilize it if they buy a soundsystem that supports it?

 

The soundsystem and bluray player are to be plugged into the TV via TOSLINK and HDMI respectively, so they can use apps on the TV and have sound through the soundsystem. 

 

Thanks in advance for all replies. 

 

 

Edit: fixed a typo in the title. 

[Pixel5]

the bluray player either needs to support it or need to support sending the audio directly as a bitstream and let the AVR do the decoding of the audio.

The TV does not really matter unless you actually have any TV channels that send in dolby atmos which i highly doubt.

 

the most important part is the AVR and the attached speakers as well as their positioning.

[tomaskaret91]

39 minutes ago, Pixel5 said:

the bluray player either needs to support it or need to support sending the audio directly as a bitstream and let the AVR do the decoding of the audio.

The TV does not really matter unless you actually have any TV channels that send in dolby atmos which i highly doubt.

 

the most important part is the AVR and the attached speakers as well as their positioning.

Thanks for replying. 

 

Is there a certain specification I should look for in the user's manual for the AVR? 

[circeseye]

if your actually wanting to go with atmos the receiver needs to be 5.1.2 or 7.1 or better AND say its atmos.
the 5.1.2 the .2 speakers are in the middle like of the ceiling on each side of sitting area
7.1 the speakers are on the sides along the walls like 5.1 only 2 are in the middle of the front and rear
at least thats what ive gotten out of reading how to set up them 2 types of atmos receivers

 

[Pixel5]

7 hours ago, tomaskaret91 said:

Thanks for replying. 

 

Is there a certain specification I should look for in the user's manual for the AVR? 

the biggest question is first what kind of speaker setup you want only when you know this you can select the right AVR to go with it that supports dolby atmos.

 

if you are going to do all the work to install ceiling speakers and wire it all up i would suggest going with a 7.1.4 setup as installing two more ceiling speakers is not that much more work when you are already doing all this work to begin with.

 

Generally there is the question of the budget, if the budget is tight i would suggest to go for less speakers and better quality, i setup myself a 5.1 system that does not support atmos and i bought some used speakers to keep the total cost below 1000€ for a full atmos setup with quality speakers i would expect a price close to 2000 bucks plus the work and time required to wire everything up.

[tomaskaret91]

4 hours ago, Pixel5 said:

the biggest question is first what kind of speaker setup you want only when you know this you can select the right AVR to go with it that supports dolby atmos.

 

if you are going to do all the work to install ceiling speakers and wire it all up i would suggest going with a 7.1.4 setup as installing two more ceiling speakers is not that much more work when you are already doing all this work to begin with.

 

Generally there is the question of the budget, if the budget is tight i would suggest to go for less speakers and better quality, i setup myself a 5.1 system that does not support atmos and i bought some used speakers to keep the total cost below 1000€ for a full atmos setup with quality speakers i would expect a price close to 2000 bucks plus the work and time required to wire everything up.

We were only thinking of a simple setup with a soundbar, subwoofer and maybe two speakers in the back. I was inspired by one of LTT's recent videos where they set up something similar.

 

My mom and dad want a soundbar + subwoofer, but I was thinking if they wanted Dolby Atmos as well, what would it take to make it work properly.

[TheFlyingTraut]

The Atmos soundbars will plug directly into your tv, and you should plug the 4k player (if you are buying one) into the soundbar as they have inputs on the back. It will play Atmos through the soundbar if the player and movie are atmos compatible. That is the easiest solution. Atmos soundbars are generally around $1,000, but very simple and clean setup. Especially if it's for someone who doesn't do technology very well and have to worry about a receiver to run through and settings to adjust and all that jazz. Yes it's nicer, but value also has a spot in simplicity.

[circeseye]

to work properly it will take a atmos receiver....enough speakers....room positioning (seating area to speakers)....and content.....not to mention tweaking the speaker settings to get it sounding just how you like it.
i will say this...this can get to be an expensive hobby ...since they really havent dipped there feet in yet i honestly would try out 5.1 first (yea still go ahead and grab a receiver that does atmos) and if they want more grab the extra speakers needed then

[Pixel5]

8 hours ago, tomaskaret91 said:

We were only thinking of a simple setup with a soundbar, subwoofer and maybe two speakers in the back. I was inspired by one of LTT's recent videos where they set up something similar.

 

My mom and dad want a soundbar + subwoofer, but I was thinking if they wanted Dolby Atmos as well, what would it take to make it work properly.

ah than its a totally different story and you dont even need any AVR because the sound bars have this stuff build in.

but yes in this case both the TV and the Bluray player will need to support dolby atmos and simply connect directly to the soundbar.

[tomaskaret91]

13 hours ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

The Atmos soundbars will plug directly into your tv, and you should plug the 4k player (if you are buying one) into the soundbar as they have inputs on the back. It will play Atmos through the soundbar if the player and movie are atmos compatible. That is the easiest solution. Atmos soundbars are generally around $1,000, but very simple and clean setup. Especially if it's for someone who doesn't do technology very well and have to worry about a receiver to run through and settings to adjust and all that jazz. Yes it's nicer, but value also has a spot in simplicity.

Alright, thanks for the reply.

[tomaskaret91]

9 hours ago, Pixel5 said:

ah than its a totally different story and you dont even need any AVR because the sound bars have this stuff build in.

but yes in this case both the TV and the Bluray player will need to support dolby atmos and simply connect directly to the soundbar.

Hehe, sorry if I was too unclear in the beginning of the post