What HiFi and Atmos

Atmos? MQA? Apples and oranges…

My point in the comparison was not that they were similar technically, or even that they achieved similar goals, so of course MQA and Atmos are not comparable in those ways.

It was in the dimension of marketing innovation that these two brands look similar to me.

To my mind, both MQA and Atmos music create an answer for a problem that doesn’t exist. They are furhter similar in that at a very high level both these brands interjecting new technology in an old reproduction chain.

Atmos music may be profoundly different in technology than that was available 10 years ago, but it’s driving over old roads first attemtped by Yamaha and others which never went far.

Will Atmos music succeed anymore than music DVD or Bluray? I have a poor track record of making predictions but it will surprise me.

That’s a great complete home sound system! I could put a pair in every room in my house. I wish a pair of them were weather resistant though then I could even cover the deck. :)

Well you've certainly proven they have a lot of marketing materials out there. :D

Time will tell.

Now you are just trolling, I won’t go there.

It was clearly a joke, not a troll. If it was a troll it would have to be something like realistic. However the joke illustrated a sincere perspective and personal opinion:

5.1 speakers is as far as I’m willing to go. It’s not even about the money, it’s about wiring, speaker location, etc. It is a value choice.

I just don’t see the need en masse.

OK, that is a preference. Is it all about you? No.

Actually I was making a prediction. It’s not all about me. Others will do as they will and so long as it doesn’t cost me money that’s fine. I am however predicting that the majority of music listeners don’t care or need Atmos or Atmos systems. Will the Dolby branding however will push us towards that? I will be really shocked if they are that good a snake oil vendor.

Yes, you can listen to Atmos on 2 speakers, but then, why on earth have I interjected all the CPU and software required to translate object based recordings for music to 2 speakers?

At least MQA made some plausible claims for improving the performance of individual DAC's based on their performance characteristics.  Dolby Atmos for music listening leaves me scratching my head. 

I’m not against listeners enjoying 50 channel music if that’s their thing.

I just don’t see the need en masse. If it does take off it’s going to be like the Windows tax, when you could not buy a PC without also paying Microsoft, regardless of your choice of OS.

The other thing to keep in mind is that object based sound reproduction always puts a CPU and software between the speakers and the source, so the idea of bit-perfect reproduction goes entirely out the window.

I think what we really need are drone Atmos speakers.  So you can deploy them and have them move around to the ideal location without physically installing anything.  Of course, they'd have to be rechargeable.

PS - Yeah, I’m not taking Atmos seriously at all. I mean, it IS high tech, but for many reasons, for music, I see this as similar to MQA, a whole new marketing brand desperately trying to fulfill a need I never had.

I mean, wasn't DVD and then BluRay music 2 and 4x better than CD's?  How is that going? Nowhere.  Absolutely nowhere.

Even for movies getting to 5 speakers in the home is a big lift for most. Now you want height speakers too?  Hahahahahah. For the 10 seconds of effects in a movie that use them?  Please.  This technology is far better reserved for actual theaters than home technology.