Is music mixed in Atmos genuine musical creativity, or just cheap gimmickry?

[Mort]

Why do some have a need to denigrate other people choices?

It's just a click bait title generating different answers depending on how the question is interpreted. Probably zero real differences in opinion.

 

[Multicore]

You mean stereo (2 channel) as opposed to mono?
What about mono being the greatest gimmick of all?
A sound that does not belong, coming from somewhere else or from some “media“, without a natural source.
What an abomination! ;-)

Stereo ... so stupid.

 

[Cbdb2]

I will accept/understand Atmos when live concerts are in surround, with different musicians in different parts of the venue, some up high above the audience, and some behind etc etc. Until then, it's a gimmick.

As one of the now few who actually listens to Quadraphonic LPs, I find that all Rock/Pop surround recordings are gimmicky, there being no good reason for the snares to be at the back or whatever. Equally, with classical symphonic recordings, there was some attempt to encode hall ambiance in the rear channels, but frankly, there's so little there as to be somewhat pointless.

The only exception I can think of, is Monteverdi's Vespers which were written to be performed by separate choirs and instruments, each separately located around the cathedral performed in.

Atmos for films I equally find something of a nonsense, as having the sound all around, but the pictures only in front is a distraction. It might work if there's surround vision as well as surround sound.

S.

Remember omnimax theatres? Not successful. We only see in front of us, so pictures behind you are useless or worse, annoying. Do you want to watch a movie and constantly be looking behind you so you dont miss anything? We hear all around. So a helicopter flying in from behind (Apocalypse now, the first major surround mix, blew me away), or a gun shot off to the right, sitting in the middle of a jungle, can be great dramatic effects. The sound has to support the story, not distract, so surround is a tool that can be miss used.
And the biggest advantage of surround is the dedicated center. Clear centered dialogue.

 

[EJ3]

I understand, that discussion is about multichannel versus stereo. I'd like to notice the other aspect, which is PCM versus Dolby (and similar). Usually (but not necessary) stereo is PCM, while multichannel is Dolby.

Dolby has an obvious advantage over PCM, which is a defined reference level and required headroom. I like to listen to Dolby Atmos mixes, because they are free of overcompression and clipping, which is not the case with stereo PCM.

Over compression (and the subset of loudness wars) and clipping has always been a problem with reproduced audio. And, unfortunately there has only been things that have very minor effects (if any at all [or worse, detrimental affects]) on making it better on the user's end.

Why do some have a need to denigrate other people choices?
Most people enjoy stereo listening and multi channel listening, both way need us to accept their disconnect to what it is to listen to real musician playing somewhere.
They can both be spectacular or fall completely apart depending on implementation and source material.
They both take dedication and efforts to reproduce great music, but at the same time they can both deliver the fix we are after. Their is no right or wrong, just different approach to a common goal.

We are fortunate to live in a time when we have those beautiful choices and alternative.
Stereo did not replace Mono, Multi is not replacing Stereo, what most use or not, does not matter to us as individual.

My audio hobby and poison of choice involve, a dedicated room with a single seat listening to very specifically positioned 2 speakers, it gives me hours of pleasure every day. I hope all of you out there can say the same about how you end up experiencing your music in your space.

100% agreed.
My personal choice involves a wider sweet spot for me + visitor('s) and being able to enjoy the volume (from 2 speakers and a pair of homebuilt subs) as I do my things around the house and out in the yard. (No, it's not loud enough to prevent conversations in my yard or for the sound to cross the street into the neighbors yard).