Im new to the whole AV buz, I've got a B7 and I understand that it supports/decodes Atmos. Planning to buy Samsung hw-n950 and its manual states that I need an "external device" to get Atmos. Is that true?
Do I Need a Receiver to Get Dolby Atmos with My LG OLED B7?
Lsolomon2089 on 02/05/2019 - 12:17
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What happens if the source is in 5.1, do the 2 up firing Atmos speakers (5.1.2) do anything?
You should get Atmos using the B7 and in built apps over ARC, but it will be lossy.
You can get lossless using a device like the NVidia shield, plugged directly into the soundbar.
Source: I own the soundbar and a Shield, no OLED though :(ps: the soundbar rocks.
Any tangible benefits? They r around the same price and the Samsung has many more speakers.
It sounds like the TV supports Dolby Atmos sound feeds where available (i.e. it will pass them in and out of your HDMI and SPDIF), but in order to actually get any benefits from Atmos, you will need the actual hardware. Sound isn't just magically invented as some people think, it comes from speakers, and no amount of voodoo magic will be better than an actual speaker positioned from where it needs to be.
A soundbar (Atmos-compatible) would be the minimum requirement to hear any real difference. But if you're going to go Atmos properly, it really should be experienced via an Atmos AV Receiver if you are really interested in the benefits of Atmos, which is "immersive sound". Atmos speakers should be mounted on top of your front speakers facing up (to bounce off the roof) or you will need ceiling-mounted speakers.
This is costly and for most people unnecessary, I'm a pretty serious sound audiophile and I'm not quite sold on the whole Atmos thing, and many other aren't. It seems to be 50/50 if people can even tell the difference, and the content doesn't always support it either.