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New Dolby Atmos processor. Poor sound quality

I have just bought a new Dolby Atmos processor. Rather expensive . Launched recently.
And I hate the sound.
l have been used to  Bass and Treble tuning
The unit has for each of the 14 channels  : Frequency-Bandwidht-Gain-Crossover- Polarity.
I do not understand anything about that.
It doest not come with EQ Auto Corrector tuning. There will be an upgrade availlable in a few months ,at an extra cost of 2500$. It must be done by an autorised dealer.

Is it possible to make adjustement by myself to change the sound.
Or should I hire a audio tecnician .
l am from Canada and I have bought the processor directly from the US manufacturer. They do not have dealers in Canada. So , l can’t go and talk to my dealer as it should normaly be done.

Thanks

p.s.  This is a interview about tuning adjusment .

Gordon Shackelford – Krell

Published on: August 19, 2017

Technology Insider Group


Nearly every custom project I’ve ever dealt with was based on the reality that the folks who are paying for these systems don’t have the time or inclination to learn all about custom install. They simply and rightly expect a reliable setup that functions flawlessly, is bulletproof, easily controlled and whose performance screams value and money well spent. This is why the recent push for do-it-yourself smart home products baffled me, because it goes against the grain of the true value-add that an excellent integrator brings to the scene. Even the simplest do-it-yourself setup is too complicated for most of the customers I’ve dealt with. Whether it is Nest, Sonos or Harmony remote controls, my clients could never be bothered with anything more than basic instructions involving as few button pushes as possible.


http://technologyinsidergroup.com/tag/gordon-shackelford/



zzrider

Showing 5 responses by auxinput

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I agree.  There's not much we can do if you don't disclose the name of the processor.  HT Processors nowadays are usually somewhat complex to setup.  The EQ function can be challenging to work with.  It sound like the unit has a fully parametric EQ/filter mechanism.  This really requires in depth knowledge of acoustics and frequency response.  It may be that you need somebody with RTA software, such as Room EQ Wizard (REW), to measure what each channel is doing. 

That being said, if you're not getting good sound out of it, then a few possibilities:

1. The unit is brand new and needs to be broken in (burn in of all electrical components).  Give it 100-200 hours of constant running before making a decision.  Since the unit is fresh, it could sound bright/harsh/thin and without bass.  It can go through many changes during break-in.

2. The unit could just be poorly designed. I have actually had a couple very expensive processors in my system that just could not cut the mustard (contrary to many other opinions).  One was a Theta Casablanca IV, which was very expensive and came with Dirac room correction.  I just could not get it to sound good - it was very bright/solid-state/sterile sounding and just did not even come close to sounding as good as my very old Krell HTS 7.1 (the Krell just sang!).  The other was the Bryston SP3, which I could appreciate, but was too laid back in the mids/early highs to be exciting and engaging enough.  I think the Bryston had a poorly designed DAC/digital board (they used a generic off-the-shelf DAC/DSP board solution).

3. The new HT Processor sound could just not be the type of sound you're looking for.

What processor did you use before?

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Hi zzrider - that ACT 4 is so new that I don't think anyone here has direct experience with it.  I was also asked about this processor by a friend and I could not comment on it.  There aren't any "internal pics" on the net to show us how Acurus has architected the electronics.  It's so difficult to say what your problem is. I would suggest:

1. Let the unit run for 100-200 hours (maybe 8 days straight) to burn in all the electronics and electrolytic capacitors.  You are likely to get a significant change in sound quality - usually an improvement.  Then make a decision.

2. Think about what it is that you don't like about the sound.  Is it a bright/sterile character that you don't like?  Or is it a lack of bass or certain frequencies?  Maybe you can learn more about the parametric EQ in the unit so that you can tune certain frequencies.

Give it some time and try to work with the unit.  I found that sometimes I have had to sit with something for a couple weeks before I decided on whether it was good or not.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
bright/harsh can definitely be a characteristic of new equipment.  After burn-in it should settle down a lot.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
can someone explain to me why whenver I ran any sort of EQ, it just made my listening sweet spot smaller, and the bass really messed up if you stood up? sort of like it applied some kind of effect where the bass was really loud as if my head was at the back of the room.
@d2girls - this is pretty much the same experience I had when I was trying to get Dirac room control setup.  It does funny things to the phasing and frequency response so that the audio sounds like it's in your head instead of way out in front of you.  Some of these room correction systems try to affect phasing because they are trying to fight room nodes or first reflections.  The end result can be poor audio quality.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
bi0drain is trying to indicate that if your bass management in ACT 4 is not configured properly (i.e. subwoofer not loud enough or improperly configured), then the sound could be thin/weak and without punch/power.  However, I think that is completely different than bright/harsh.
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