What Is Dolby Atmos? Traditional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound uses 5 or 7 speaker channels, plus a subwoofer. When you watch a movie or play a game with surround sound, that movie or game is actually sending 6 or 8 separate channels of sound to your speakers. Dolby Atmos is an improved type of surround sound.
It isn’t mixed into several separate channels; instead, sounds are mapped to virtual locations in 3D space, and that spatial data is sent to your speaker system. A Dolby Atmos-enabled receiver then uses specially calibrated speakers to position these sounds. Dolby Atmos systems may include ceiling-mounted speakers above you or speakers on the floor that bounce their sound off the ceiling, for example. This feature requires Dolby Atmos-enabled hardware, notably a Dolby Atmos-enabled receiver. Microsoft also just added Dolby Atmos support to the Xbox One, and many Blu-ray discs include Dolby Atmos audio. RELATED: Windows 10’s Creators Update also added a separate feature named “Dolby Atmos for headphones”. This feature promises improved positional audio in any pair of headphones or earbuds.