Tag Archives: DTS:X

Finally a new DTS:X title plus some new Atmos and 4K releases

Sorry for being so late on this one, but here are some new releases information on object based audio and UHD Blu-ray.

The Secret Life of Pets

No date yet or official announcement for this one, but all confirmation confirms that this will be launched by Universal on Blu-ray 2D, Blu-ray 3D and Ultra HD Blu-ray all with Dolby Atmos.

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Nerve

Finally, we have a new DTS:X title announced ! Starring Emma Roberts, Nerve will be released by Lionsgate on Blu-ray with DTS:X on October 25th.

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Game of Thrones Season 6

Quick confirmation also on Game of Thrones Season 6 being offered with Dolby Atmos on November 15.

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Oblivion, Lucy and Lone Survivor UHD confirmed for August 9th

We already knew Universal was planning a bunch of Ultra HD Blu-ray titles, and they now have announced the first ones to come out in August.

Lucy and Oblivion will feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack as they were originally presented that way in theater. Lucy had that track available on the Hong Kong version of the Blu-ray and for having tested it it’s a very agressive Atmos soundtrack, one of the best I heard. For Oblivion, it will be the first time the movie is released with Atmos at home.

Lone Survivor on its side will feature a newly created DTS:X soundtrack.

There’s really a trend of Atmos being used for native Atmos movies in theaters and DTS:X for remixes (and the limited number of theater releases in the format).

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I updated the different lists on the site to reflect that new information.

Zoolander 2 On Blu-ray With DTS:X

Paramount will release Zoolander 2 on Blu-ray on May 24th with a DTS:X track.

Again, this is a remix from home as the movie did not receive an object based mix in theaters. I’m beginning to see a trend with more and more remixes done in DTS:X (except for Sony on UHD) while original Atmos being released that way. Anyway, the more object based tracks the better it is.

Zoolander 2

As usual, I update the list of DTS:X Blu-rays on the site.

London Has Fallen With DTS:X On Blu-ray

Universal Studios announced today that London Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman will be available on Blu-ray with a DTS:X track on June 14th

This is going to be a brand new immersive audio track as the movie was not mixed that way in theaters. It seems we’re starting to see more and more remixes done in DTS:X, which is great news.

London Has Fallen

As usual, I updated the list of DTS:X Blu-rays on the site.

DTS:X : First impressions

It is finally here. DTS:X, announced on December 31st 2014 and then delayed and delayed and delayed, has finally landed in our home theaters. Or at least for those who are lucky enough to have a Denon and Marantz receiver that already received the update. Because as of right now, there is no official date from the other receiver vendors (Yamaha said March, but no specific timeline yet while Onkyo/Pioneer are still very extremely quiet).

I did the DTS:X update to my Marantz SR-7010 as soon as the new format came out and spent a couple of hours experimenting with the new format and it’s up-mixer, Neural:X. I can say that the experience has been only positive.

Just so you know, my tests were conducted with a 7.2.4 layout in my dedicated home theater room, with a Top Front and Top Rear layout that has been installed according to Dolby’s recommendations for Dolby Atmos. An Emotiva XPA-5 powers my five main base layer speakers while the Marantz takes care of the surround backs and the four overhead speakers.

The first question I was asking myself when testing was of course if DTS:X would sound better or even any different from Dolby Atmos. I sampled both Ex Machina and American Ultra with their native DTS:X soundtracks. No surprise here : there is no obvious difference between DTS:X and Atmos over a 7.2.4 setup. I’m not sure the two movies used are great demo material for the format either, but some of the scenes in the opening for Ex Machina proved interesting from an ambiance perspective.

The second question for me was of course with the Neural:X up-mixer and how it compared to Dolby Surround. To test this, I started by being extremely impressed by the up-mixer with the DTS 2016 demo disc DTS Master Audio movie scenes. I don’t know if DTS had in mind to choose scenes that would work well with Neural:X but it was to the limit of asking myself if I should not lower the overhead speakers level.

Then the real tests begin. To test Neural:X against Dolby Surround, I used some material I watch often to compare audio changes, including the into to the first Hobbit movie and selected scenes from the bootleg edition of Almost Famous. I cannot say that I sensed a huge advantage to Neural:X compared to its Dolby counterpart, but it does offer a little bit more action in the overheads. I will happily use the new DTS up-mixer with any DTS based content and I would not regret Dolby Surround at all. The other advantage for Neural:X is with Front Wides in a 9.2.2 configuration, as they are not used by Dolby’s up-mixer.

In the end, I tend to say that the arrival of DTS:X has one main advantage : it should allow us to get even more object based mixes coming from studios. I’m really curious to see which format will be more present on Ultra HD Blu-ray. The format started with a lot of Atmos titles and only one movie in DTS:X, but I’m wondering if this is going to change over the next months as DTS:X becomes available in more receivers.

Daddy’s Home On Blu-ray With DTS:X

Paramount is strongly showing is support for DTS:X with the second announcement in a week. Not it’s time for Daddy’s Home, coming on March 22nd on Blu-ray.

Again it’s a new remix on the object based format as the movie was not released that way in theater.

I wonder if we are starting to see a pattern here with Atmos theater movies released in Atmos at home and 5.1/7.1 movies released in DTS:X. Let’s see how things turn out.

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As usual, I updated the list of DTS:X Blu-rays on the site.