Anybody Else Attempted 'True Dolby Atmos' at home?

LoweTek

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May 30, 2005
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Central Florida
Sometime this week or next, I'm taking delivery and installation of a 5.2.4 speaker setup where there are the three LCR. four overhead speakers, (the '.4'), the bi-directional surround pair as close to ear level as I can get it in my room, and of course the subs. I actually have two subs, so '.2' of the 5.2.4. I have heard a well tuned Amos install at a showroom and have tried to get the effect at home with hybrid speakers (pointing up at the ceiling to approximate a ceiling speaker with the reflection) and it's just not the same.

I see so much more Atmos soundtrack content out there on streaming services and have tried a few 4k Blu-Rays which are clearly better than regular Dolby 5.1 even in my hybrid setup.

Anyone else taken the leap? How was your experience and the quality of the outcome?
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Jul 12, 2008
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New England
I’m using stereo HomePods connected to an AppleTV 4K. With eARC, it’s also audio output for Xbox and PS5. It’s not true Atmos, but it’s very nice (and so much better than the cheap sound bar I was using on my old flatscreen). Happy listening!
 

saintnick912

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Oct 30, 2004
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I haven't gone that far, because I don't really have a ceiling in the space where my system is set up. I'm running a 5.1.2 setup, with two high speakers in front. My surrounds are bi-directional and mounted fairly high up by necessity. I have a monstrous center channel which is the biggest win over my old system. It sounds pretty good in the Atmos demos but I haven't really noticed it much in real content.
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

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Sep 9, 2006
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SS Botany Bay
For upfiring Atmos channels, but even for high or ceiling mounted Atmos channels, it's usually necessary to increase the levels of those channels by at least 2db over what the calibration software like Audyssey suggests. It definitely helps.
 

Daniel_Son

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May 25, 2021
1,679
San Diego
I’m using stereo HomePods connected to an AppleTV 4K. With eARC, it’s also audio output for Xbox and PS5. It’s not true Atmos, but it’s very nice (and so much better than the cheap sound bar I was using on my old flatscreen). Happy listening!
I'm looking to upgrade my TV speakers and this is intriguing. What's your setup look like? Do you need a smart TV to use these?
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Jul 12, 2008
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New England
I'm looking to upgrade my TV speakers and this is intriguing. What's your setup look like? Do you need a smart TV to use these?
My TV is the LG C1 65." I'm generally hard-to-please and umimpressed with technology, but I really like it. It's great. You don't need a smart TV to use HomePods as speakers, but the LG C1 65" is particularly well-suited for this setup. It's HomeKit enabled, so by default you can do things like turn on/off the TV and change inputs using an iPhone or iPad. But with HomePods as your speakers, the TV also responds to "Hey Siri" commands. You can say things like, "Hey Siri, pause." "Hey Siri, turn it up." "Hey Siri, turn off the TV." "Hey Siri, rewind 30 seconds." Siri has a bad reputation, but it absolutely nails this use case. The microphones on the HomePod are so good and so responsive -- you can speak at a normal volume even with the volume turned way up, and the response is instaneous. It's probably my favorite feature of this whole setup (besides the sound quality!)

What you need:
  • A TV that supports eARC (recommend a HomeKit-enabled TV such as the LG C1)
  • An Apple TV 4K device.
  • Two HomePods. (Not HomePod minis. Technically, the HomePod minis will work for this. But the original HomePods sound so much better)
  • An internet connection
Step 1: Plug in the TV. Connect it to your home network if you want to take advantage of HomeKit features.
Step 2: Connect the Apple TV 4K to the TV through HDMI. Use the port on your TV labeled eARC.
Step 3: Connect the Apple TV 4K to your home network
Step 4: Perform initial setup on the HomePods. Make them a Stereo Pair in the Home app on your iOS device
Step 5: Pair the HomePods with your Apple TV.

With these steps done, you'll have room filling, home-theatre quality audio for your TV on any content played through your AppleTV 4K device. It won't sound as good as the setup LoweTek is going for, but it's exceptionally good for using only two speakers.

Then, the cherry on top:

Step 6: Enable eARC on the Apple TV.

Step 6 makes it so that any device plugged into the other HDMI slots on your TV will use the HomePods for audio. So game consoles, Blu Ray players, cable boxes, etc. will sound as good as the Apple TV device.

The hardest part of this setup is finding the HomePod speakers! Apple discontinued them (but they're still providing firmware updates! I got one yesterday), and the prices are high. I paid $300 for a used one on eBay, which is more than the $200 I paid for a new one off the shelf years ago. They're hard to find, but they're easy to use and they sound great.

Apple is rumored to be making another HomePod, but who knows?
 

Daniel_Son

Member
SoSH Member
May 25, 2021
1,679
San Diego
My TV is the LG C1 65." I'm generally hard-to-please and umimpressed with technology, but I really like it. It's great. You don't need a smart TV to use HomePods as speakers, but the LG C1 65" is particularly well-suited for this setup. It's HomeKit enabled, so by default you can do things like turn on/off the TV and change inputs using an iPhone or iPad. But with HomePods as your speakers, the TV also responds to "Hey Siri" commands. You can say things like, "Hey Siri, pause." "Hey Siri, turn it up." "Hey Siri, turn off the TV." "Hey Siri, rewind 30 seconds." Siri has a bad reputation, but it absolutely nails this use case. The microphones on the HomePod are so good and so responsive -- you can speak at a normal volume even with the volume turned way up, and the response is instaneous. It's probably my favorite feature of this whole setup (besides the sound quality!)

What you need:
  • A TV that supports eARC (recommend a HomeKit-enabled TV such as the LG C1)
  • An Apple TV 4K device.
  • Two HomePods. (Not HomePod minis. Technically, the HomePod minis will work for this. But the original HomePods sound so much better)
  • An internet connection
Step 1: Plug in the TV. Connect it to your home network if you want to take advantage of HomeKit features.
Step 2: Connect the Apple TV 4K to the TV through HDMI. Use the port on your TV labeled eARC.
Step 3: Connect the Apple TV 4K to your home network
Step 4: Perform initial setup on the HomePods. Make them a Stereo Pair in the Home app on your iOS device
Step 5: Pair the HomePods with your Apple TV.

With these steps done, you'll have room filling, home-theatre quality audio for your TV on any content played through your AppleTV 4K device. It won't sound as good as the setup LoweTek is going for, but it's exceptionally good for using only two speakers.

Then, the cherry on top:

Step 6: Enable eARC on the Apple TV.

Step 6 makes it so that any device plugged into the other HDMI slots on your TV will use the HomePods for audio. So game consoles, Blu Ray players, cable boxes, etc. will sound as good as the Apple TV device.

The hardest part of this setup is finding the HomePod speakers! Apple discontinued them (but they're still providing firmware updates! I got one yesterday), and the prices are high. I paid $300 for a used one on eBay, which is more than the $200 I paid for a new one off the shelf years ago. They're hard to find, but they're easy to use and they sound great.

Apple is rumored to be making another HomePod, but who knows?
This is awesome, I really appreciate it! I've got a Roku right now but I'm certainly not married to it - might be time for an upgrade.