How To Set Up Dolby Atmos On Yamaha Receiver

How to gear up your AV receiver and get the best audio

How to set up your AV receiver and get the best sound

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The AV receiver is the powerhouse of the home picture palace experience. It binds together the sources, the speaker package and what y'all see on screen. It brings movie house magic into your dwelling, cocooning you in a soundscape of humour, drama, crashes, bangs and wallops.

But AV receivers are imposing machines. If you lot're an AV newbie, it tin be daunting to know where to outset when y'all're confronted with a large metal box covered in a multitude of connections, sockets and acronyms.

So, whether yous have an amp ready to ready up or you're looking to purchase one, nosotros're hither to guide yous through all that intricacy.

We'll requite y'all tips on what to consider when choosing the correct AV receiver for y'all, what to look out for with the connections, talk you through the automobile-calibration process and requite y'all even more than tips on how to get the very best performance out of your new habitation picture palace amplifier. You lot'll be a pro in no time.

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Choosing and buying your AV receiver

AV receivers may await complicated, merely it can exist easier to pin downwardly requirements for ownership your new amp than most other howdy-fi or AV kit. They all look the same, subsequently all – a sturdy rectangular box – so at least you don't accept to brand many artful choices beyond perhaps black or silver.

You mainly need iii things on your checklist: how many speakers do you take, how many HDMI inputs will you lot need, and what's your budget?

Since y'all've (presumably) already made the big decision of having a surround sound system in your home, y'all probably already know how many speakers you can fit in – from a basic 5.1 to an all-out Dolby Atmos extravaganza. And so your option of amplifier will largely be dictated by this.

If you lot're merely ever going to have room/space for v speakers and a subwoofer (the minimum for a proper surround organisation), and so you don't have to look further than a five-channel AV receiver. If, notwithstanding, you're toying with the idea of expanding – adding some surroundings dorsum channels say, or perhaps you want an Atmos organization at some point – it's worth investing in a nine or 11-channel amplifier so you're future-proofed.

Thinking nearly installing an Atmos system from the start? Firstly, we envy you. Secondly, double-cheque your AV amp supports Atmos soundtracks – most amps at £500 and higher up should do equally standard by now.

We'd as well recommend looking for an amp that lets you accommodate four Atmos speakers (a 5.1.iv or 7.i.4 configuration), not ii (5.1.2 or 7.1.2, for instance, which you lot'll find in many £500-£1000 amps).

That does means yous'll be looking at amplifiers in the £2000 region – but it'll be worth it. Why? We don't find ii Atmos speakers plenty for a 18-carat Atmos effect, so if you're serious about getting immersive, overhead, 3D sound: get for iv.

Dolby Atmos: What is it? How can you lot get information technology?

Adjacent to consider is connections. Y'all'll desire to make sure you take enough HDMI inputs if you lot've got multiple sources – Blu-ray role player, games console, set-top box – and that they support the latest 8K and HDR specifications to allow a degree of futurity-proofing.

Nigh amps will come with some legacy analogue connections, also, if you've got kit that pre-dates HDMI, like a VHS histrion.

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Cost is plain a big cistron, too. You tin only buy what your budget dictates, later all, and that does simplify matters somewhat.

As a general rule of pollex: if the amp is around £350 and beneath, you'll go bones 5.1, a handful of HDMI inputs, and no internet.

Move up to the sweet spot of around £600 and yous become every single cutting-border AV feature – wi-fi, Dolby Atmos, DTS:Ten, 4K HDR passthrough, multiple HDMI inputs, all music streaming features – thrown in.

A grand and more: everything above, but more than power, bigger calibration of sound, more than speaker terminals, more fine-tuned audio calibrations and more than features.

How much should you spend in a given system? Every bit a crude guide, if you have a £k-£1500 speaker package at home, you should aim for a £500 AV receiver. Similarly, if you take your sights on a £2000 amp, your speaker package should exist in the £4000-£5000 region – essentially, double the amplifier's worth (and add a chip more than).

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What well-nigh everything else? Features such as wi-fi, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Tidal, DSD playback, FM/DAB tuners, hullo-res music streaming and multi-room are all up to personal preference (although virtually amplifiers, bar the virtually budget ones, come up loaded with nearly of these features anyhow), so cast an eye over the amp's specs sheet to brand sure it has everything yous want.

Plugging everything in

Y'all've bought your amp, congratulations! Now it'due south time to plug everything in.

The sheer number of connections on the back of any amp can be daunting, but take your time to get it all set up properly in ane go and you'll never have to do it again.

We'd recommend keeping the amp powered off when y'all're plugging in your speakers, subwoofer and sources. That volition stop whatsoever pops, shorting of circuits or any other possible impairment to your arrangement.

Most, if not all, amps have everything clearly labelled. Some, such every bit Denon's amps, helpfully color lawmaking the speaker terminals to brand plugging in v (or more) pairs of speakers easier. Surround backs, height or front width speaker terminals can double up every bit those for Dolby Atmos speakers, as well: these might be labelled equally "assignable", "5.one.2ch" or "Actress SP".

If you'll be playing 4K HDR content, look out for the "HDCP2.2" label above the HDMI inputs. In some cases, merely a couple of HDMI inputs will exist HDCP2.2 certified – make sure you lot plug your 4K Blu-ray player into these.

You'll also notice that each HDMI input has a source assigned to it: Blu-ray, DVD, CD, Game, CBL/SAT, media player and so on. This isn't just friendly guidance. This ways the manufacturer has taken care to optimise these inputs for those item sources. The Blu-ray input, for instance, might offering the shortest point path to the processor and so delivers the best performance.

Two more connections worth talking about: we'd recommend using the wired ethernet connectedness if y'all can, as information technology's more stable and reliable than wi-fi.

And the USB port in front? It'll play media files off a USB stick, simply we find information technology useful for charging our smartphones (if the amp allows information technology).

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Calibration

Here comes the lengthiest, fiddliest part of setting up your AV receiver.

Most AV receivers come up with a gear up-up mic. Plug that in and run the auto-scale when prompted – it will mensurate your speakers and your room, set the speakers' distances and levels and, in the case of fancier (read: pricier) amplifiers' calibration systems, optimise the speaker bundle's performance to friction match its surroundings.

We recommend running the car-calibration right after plugging everything in – get that fuss out of fashion in the very start, and so the sooner you can outset listening to your new dwelling movie theater.

Also, the system won't audio right until the calibration is done. Once the mic is plugged in, simply follow the on-screen instructions to the alphabetic character and let the calibration run its course. Some accept merely a handful of seconds, while others can take more than five minutes because they accept multiple measurements. We tend to become off and make a cup of tea for the longer ones.

How to ready up your dwelling house cinema speaker system

If yous have Dolby Atmos speakers installed, you demand to tell the amp so before calibrating.

Head into the manual speaker settings (y'all may have to delve into subfolders in the carte) to tell the amp if they're upward-firing Atmos-enabled speakers (such as the KEF R50s) or installed in the ceiling – then it tin can calibrate appropriately. The amp will ask for your room's ceiling height, so keep a tape measure handy.

You'll too need to tell the amp if yous're using one or two subwoofers. Set the subwoofer's congenital-in book control about halfway, run the calibration and and so accommodate accordingly if it sounds too bassy (or not bassy enough) when playing a pic prune.

If the scale flags upward a fault with one of the speakers during measurement (or doesn't recognise it when it'southward in that location), double-bank check it'southward plugged into the right last – sometimes information technology flags up when a speaker is out of stage.

Most scale systems these days are largely accurate, but it'south ever worth delving into the manual speaker settings to double-check the distances and levels, and tweak the results where needed. Trust your ears: if it sounds wrong, it probably is, so arrange abroad.

The chief affair you'll demand to change is when the amplifier hasn't recognised whether your speakers are large or modest (this happens a lot).

You can even get nerdy like us and adjust the speaker levels using a audio pressure meter level (or use the equivalent smartphone app (opens in new tab) – they genuinely work).

It's worth noting if you ever alter your speaker packet, change its position or move piece of furniture around in the room, you'll need to run the whole calibration again. So don't lose that set up-up mic.

We'd also suggest going dorsum into the menus and manually turning off any dynamic range compression (sometimes referred to as DRC) in the menus. This reduces the dynamic range of the amp and is really for tardily-night listening and so whatsoever huge bangs and crashes don't annoy the neighbours. If y'all're going to be mainly watching movies at more sociable hours, then you'll want to hear the soundtrack in all its glory, right?

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Surround audio modes and DSPs

Just every bit you're coasting the postal service-calibration high and are fix to striking play on your 4K Blu-ray, you might observe another couple of options: surround sound modes and DSPs.

DSP (digital audio processing) tin can vary from Dolby or DTS processing modes to specific Drama/Sci-Fi/Adventure/Game modes that boost certain aspects of the sound. You lot may even enjoy more fanciful furnishings that simulate the acoustics of a cathedral, a concert hall, an NYC jazz club or LA's Roxy Theatre.

This last grouping can be enormous fun to play around with. Yamaha has some of the best sound programs for invoking a specific environment and delivering a subtle however disarming effect.

But since we adopt not to colour the audio signal too much (if at all), we're going to focus on just a handful of sound modes that put audio quality at the fore. Await out for the 'straight', 'direct' or 'pure direct' modes on your amplifier – these tend to offering the purest signal from source to output.

The modes vary with each manufacturer, simply they mostly switch off any office of the circuitry that isn't needed, thereby reducing distortion and getting rid of any interferences – all in the proper noun of keeping the indicate path as pure as possible.

On the other manus, yous might find you need a specific fashion to play Dolby Atmos or DTS:Ten soundtracks (which are layered on meridian of the standard 5.1 or 7.1 soundtrack on Blu-ray discs). The Sony STR-DN1080 needs to be on A.F.D. (Auto Format Decoding) mode, for instance, to play Atmos or DTS:X – it'll say on the amp'south display when it'south decoding an Atmos soundtrack (if it'due south non, it's definitely not playing in Atmos).

One more affair: if you lot'll exist watching/listening to a diversity of content – films, sports, video games, stereo music – through your amp, information technology'south worth setting upwardly shortcuts with bespoke settings for each type of content you scout. A detail moving-picture show manner for films, ii-channel stereo manner for music but, another DSP for games – it'll save you lot from having to modify the sound settings all the time.

Press play

When we examination an AV receiver, nosotros let information technology 'run in' (i.due east. keep it playing for a day or ii) to go it sounding its all-time before any critical listening. Since you'll be living with your amp, you'll discover that it sounds ameliorate the more you use it.

So what are yous waiting for? Pop in your favourite film, grab some snacks, and enjoy your new, perfectly set up home movie house organisation.

Before we get, here are some general AV tips:

AV receivers are big and heavy objects, so give your amp enough space on your AV rack.
Brand certain it has enough of ventilation, as well, equally it can run hot during playback.
Keep the display turned off for a boost in sound quality.
Smartphone apps can be nice, but we prefer a trusty physical remote control. Bonus points if the remote is backlit.
Get look through every single folder and subfolder in the amp'due south carte – you'll observe loads of useful settings tucked away.
Employ quality speaker cables and HDMI cables to get the best out of your system.
Try to keep all the speaker cables from tangling with each other too much, to reduce any interference.
Check for software updates regularly.
Ignore the power ratings stated past the manufacturer. Every manufacturer measures them in a different style, so the results tin can be misleading. It may exist tempting to get for the largest number (e.one thousand. 200W per channel), merely the ability ratings on an AV receiver don't accurately stand for the functioning.
Top tip: earlier yous sit down to enjoy film nighttime, turn on the AV receiver most half an hour earlier to let it warm up – it'll audio considerably better than if y'all first playing information technology when information technology's cold.

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Ketan Bharadia is the Technical Editor of What Howdy-Fi? He's been been reviewing hi-fi, TV and home cinema equipment for over ii decades, and over that time has covered thousands of products. Ketan works across the What Hi-Fi? brand including the website and magazine. His background is based in electronic and mechanical engineering science.