Until recently, most popular surround sound formats offered either 5.1 or 7.1 channels, and surround sound music and movie sound tracks were mixed to work well with the standard speaker layouts. Some audiophiles and dedicated video fans chose to install more speakers, including more surround channels, and even speakers above the screen, but all the existing surround sound decoders could do was guess what to send to those speakers. The result was sometimes interesting, but usually less than compelling.

The latest immersive surround sound formats, the most popular of which are Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, have broken this barrier by encoding some or all audio content based on actual location rather than simply speaker channels. As a result, when decoded properly, this new immersive content can take full advantage of larger numbers of speakers, which can include both surround speakers in a wider variety of locations, and height speakers, specifically positioned to enable sounds to extend above the listener, for a truly immersive three dimensional listening experience.

 

 

 

In order to take full advantage of this new technology, a surround sound processor must both include the advanced technology necessary to decode it properly, and support enough channels to deliver a compelling immersive experience. The Emotiva RMC-1 provides support for sixteen audiophile quality fully balanced audio output channels, which can be configured as fifteen full-range channels and one subwoofer output, or thirteen full-range channels and up to three subwoofer outputs. In addition to this, the RMC-1 includes three expansion slots, which can accommodate up to twelve additional output channels, when and if they are needed, as well as a variety of additional input options.

The RMC-1, RMC-1L, and XMC-2 support all of the standard channel configurations specified by the applicable licenses for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, as well as continuing to fully support existing high quality surround sound formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Users familiar with the previous standards will notice a few changes in how they are decoded. All Dolby Atmos content will be decoded using the new Dolby Atmos renderer; and Dolby TrueHD and other Dolby Digital content will de decoded exactly as before; but the Dolby PLIIx surround synthesizer has been replaced with the more advanced Dolby Surround Upmixer. Likewise, DTS:X content will be decoded by the DTS:X decoder; and DTX-HD Master Audio and DTS Digital content will continue to be decoded as before; but the older DTS Neo:6 synthesizer has been replaced by the new DTS Neural:X upmixer. Recent updates to the licenses now also specify which upmixer may be chosen for use with each particular type of content.

 

DTS:X is an object oriented surround sound technology, and is the main competitor to Dolby Atmos in the USA. While the current version of DTS:X supports fewer channels and options than the current version of Dolby Atmos, the basic principle is quite similar, and updates are planned. We can expect both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to evolve over time, and the RMC-1 has both the channels and the processing power needed to stay up to date and continue to evolve with them.

Dolby Atmos And DTS:X Compatibility

The Emotiva RMC-1 provides support for sixteen audiophile quality fully balanced audio output channels, which can be configured as fifteen full-range channels and one subwoofer output, or thirteen full-range channels and up to three subwoofer outputs. The RMC-1 supports all of the standard channel configurations required by the applicable licenses for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. (We are also required, as a condition of the license requirements, to avoid offering specific combinations of channel assignments and upmixing options.)

	Dolby Atmos	DTS:X	Dolby Digital Upmixer	DTS Neural:X Upmixer
Dolby Atmos content	YES	X	X	X
DTS:X content	X	YES	X	X
Dolby Digital content (except Atmos)	X	X	YES	X
DTS Digital content (except DTS:X)	X	X	X	YES
Stereo Analog content	X	X	YES	YES
Stereo PCM content	X	X	YES	YES
Multi-channel PCM content	X	X	YES	YES
DSD content	X	X	X	X