Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization, your experiences?

[shmerls]

I want to add Atmos speakers at some point and so I’m wondering if Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization is a decent workaround for now or not? If yes, in a 7.2 system, which speakers output the height audio, does it approximate 2 or 4 height speakers, and does the additional height audio processing sacrifice any audio in a 7.2 system as when you’re not running Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization?

Lastly, might Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization be good enough to not add actual height speakers I ask meekly.

 

[kdp99]

I had it for a few months before l added physical speakers. I found it was a decent step up from plain 7.1, but nowhere near as good as the real thing. Perhaps 30% or so.

 

[shmerls]

Thanks. I was wondering why the Denon X4700H and X6700H don't have it. Now I see it makes sense since they are 9.2 and 11.2 respectively whereas the Arcams are 7.1 natively so it makes sense for them sorta since it sounds a bit gimmicky for them.

 

[kdp99]

Not sure if that is the reason, I have the Denon 8500 which can (and now does in my case) drive a full 13.1 system. However Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization was only added as a firware update less than a year ago, might be worth checking if the 4700 and 6700 got it via a similar update.

Seems as if it has been added

"OFFICIAL" 2020 Denon AVR Owner's Thread...

This thread is for discussion of the 2020 Denon AVRs: S960H/X2700H/X3700H/X4700H/X6700H * NOTE: The 2019 S650H, S750H, and X1600H will not be replaced and will continue through 2020 and therefore will continue being discussed in the 2019 Denon AVR Owner's thread. The X6700H will have a 3 year...

www.avsforum.com

 

[Krobar]

Thanks. I was wondering why the Denon X4700H and X6700H don't have it. Now I see it makes sense since they are 9.2 and 11.2 respectively whereas the Arcams are 7.1 natively so it makes sense for them sorta since it sounds a bit gimmicky for them.

It is added by newer versions of the Dolby decoder. Arcam added it middle of last year (as did Denon), just for reference most of the Arcam's actually support 16 channels (More than Denon).

I tried it briefly last year, the effect is quite nice but nowhere near as good as real height speakers.