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expired Posted by goosedude • Nov 24, 2020
expired Posted by goosedude • Nov 24, 2020

Dolby Atmos for Headphones Add-On (Xbox / Windows Digital) for Dolby Access App

$11

$15

26% off
Microsoft Store
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Deal Details
Microsoft.com has Dolby Atmos for Headphones Add-On (Xbox / Windows Digital) for use the Dolby Access app (free download) on sale for $10.49. Thanks goosedude

Note, requires installation of the free Dolby Access app (free download) to use this add-on feature.

Description
  • "Dolby Atmos for Headphones is an add-on for the Dolby Access app, Dolby Atmos for Headphones enables your Windows 10 PC to deliver a premium, immersive headphone experience. You’ll get the full Dolby Atmos moving audio experience with games, movies, and shows designed for Dolby Atmos, and an enhanced surround sound experience for all your favorite 5.1- and 7.1-channel content."
Compatibility:
  • Windows 10 PC
  • Xbox One / One S / One X
  • Xbox Series S / Series X

Editor's Notes

Written by RevOne | Staff
Offer ends 12/3/20.

Original Post

Written by goosedude
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Microsoft.com has Dolby Atmos for Headphones Add-On (Xbox / Windows Digital) for use the Dolby Access app (free download) on sale for $10.49. Thanks goosedude

Note, requires installation of the free Dolby Access app (free download) to use this add-on feature.

Description
  • "Dolby Atmos for Headphones is an add-on for the Dolby Access app, Dolby Atmos for Headphones enables your Windows 10 PC to deliver a premium, immersive headphone experience. You’ll get the full Dolby Atmos moving audio experience with games, movies, and shows designed for Dolby Atmos, and an enhanced surround sound experience for all your favorite 5.1- and 7.1-channel content."
Compatibility:
  • Windows 10 PC
  • Xbox One / One S / One X
  • Xbox Series S / Series X

Editor's Notes

Written by RevOne | Staff
Offer ends 12/3/20.

Original Post

Written by goosedude

Community Voting

Deal Score
+136
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Top Comments

vwbeetlvr
1794 Posts
1397 Reputation
The x-box comes with real dolby atmos for real speakers. This is simulated Dolby Atmos for headphones only.
BrainDoc
2936 Posts
932 Reputation
You can. I have it installed on two computers and use it with multiple headphones on those devices.

EDIT: I wouldn't pay for this. I received it free with a headset purchase but it's not that much better than Windows Sonic. For $11? Maybe worth it but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.
66Days
413 Posts
77 Reputation
I just did a quick test of both Atmos and DTS. Testing left right audio was useless as off provided sufficient information. Depth (distance from me) and angle (above or under me) were the values I ended up testing. I thought about making a more detailed youtube video, but since SlickDeals brought this deal to my attention I figured I would share my early results and then let you all tell me if it's worth making an longer video.

Headphones: Corsair VOID wireless and ATH-MX50
Game: Assassin's Creed Origin. Selected because it is marketed as a game for Atmos for headphones.
Method: I went into a city with a lot of ambient noises and found a donkey. With my eyes shut I ran away while pressing left and right and spinning my mouse for 5 to 10 seconds. I kept my eyes shut and then when the donkey started walking I would follow the sound and try and track back to the animal.

I repeated this for off, sonic, Atmos, and DTS for both headphones.

Then I climbed a building and stood by the edge. With my eyes shut I waited for a hay cart to come by and tried to jump into the cart.

Again I repeated this for all four for both headphones.

Results: Keep in mind the subjective nature of this and the very limited testing sample.

Overall sound quality. While the overall sound was marginally better with any 3D sound tech vs off I couldn't really tell much difference between the quality of the three options.

Non-voice sound effects had a better sense of depth with DTS than the other two 3D solutions. Noticeable but not significant (subjective use of the word, not statistical). I was repeatedly closer to the hay cart with DTS than the other two options.

Voice sound effects were identical for characters that were walking about, but there was a sense of distance. NPC yelling from a fixed point were very strange as their volume seemed to increase as I moved farther away from them until I could no longer hear them. This negated any depth information their sound provided.

Conclusion. Overall the distance a sound was coming from did seem improved with 3D sound enhancement vs off. In limited sampling no single 3D sound solution seemed the best. Angled sound was less impressive. DTS did seem the best of the three but more so when trying to locate birds above my head than people under me. In both above and below testing it was an acceptable improvement but not impressive.

This limited test suggests that, for gaming at least, Sonic is sufficient for improving sound.

Let me know if it's worth me taking the time to try more tests.

157 Comments

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Nov 24, 2020
822 Posts
Joined Jan 2010
Nov 24, 2020
maverickSD
Nov 24, 2020
822 Posts
Quote from ArT9806 :
What games out there even support atmos. I already bought it because Atmos is incredible on my sound system so figure I would try for headphones, but does COD cold war even support atmos? I havent seen that as an audio option in any game...8.5.2
I believe this is the list, but it's not specific about Windows vs Console. So the big one is Cyberpunk 2077, interestingly it lists COD WarZone and MW but not Cold War. Similarly, Origins but not Odyssey or Valhalla. I don't know enough to say whether there's an improvement in non-supported games.

https://www.dolby.com/experience/games/
Nov 24, 2020
35 Posts
Joined May 2018
Nov 24, 2020
adrian_licea
Nov 24, 2020
35 Posts
I've had this for a couple of years and it never seems to work for me. The toggle will incorrectly tell me that I need to set it up through the app to continue. But it wont let me to set up in the app and redirects be back to the toggle where it starts all over again.

It's been like this for me for over a year, but it works well when it does work.
Nov 24, 2020
150 Posts
Joined Nov 2017
Nov 24, 2020
ArT9806
Nov 24, 2020
150 Posts
Quote from maverickSD :
I believe this is the list, but it's not specific about Windows vs Console. So the big one is Cyberpunk 2077, interestingly it lists COD WarZone and MW but not Cold War. Similarly, Origins but not Odyssey or Valhalla. I don't know enough to say whether there's an improvement in non-supported games.

https://www.dolby.com/experience/games/
thanks for the list. I guess it was worth the 10 for cyberpunk alone. need to test out warzone. I dont know what to expect. I have astros that have a dolby simulated surround which I use in some games but in others it sounds terrible. Hope atmos lives up to its name because it sounds incredible coming from a real sound system8.5.2
Nov 24, 2020
150 Posts
Joined Nov 2017
Nov 24, 2020
ArT9806
Nov 24, 2020
150 Posts
Quote from 66Days :
I just did a quick test of both Atmos and DTS. Testing left right audio was useless as off provided sufficient information. Depth (distance from me) and angle (above or under me) were the values I ended up testing. I thought about making a more detailed youtube video, but since SlickDeals brought this deal to my attention I figured I would share my early results and then let you all tell me if it's worth making an longer video.

Headphones: Corsair VOID wireless and ATH-MX50
Game: Assassin's Creed Origin. Selected because it is marketed as a game for Atmos for headphones.
Method: I went into a city with a lot of ambient noises and found a donkey. With my eyes shut I ran away while pressing left and right and spinning my mouse for 5 to 10 seconds. I kept my eyes shut and then when the donkey started walking I would follow the sound and try and track back to the animal.

I repeated this for off, sonic, Atmos, and DTS for both headphones.

Then I climbed a building and stood by the edge. With my eyes shut I waited for a hay cart to come by and tried to jump into the cart.

Again I repeated this for all four for both headphones.

Results: Keep in mind the subjective nature of this and the very limited testing sample.

Overall sound quality. While the overall sound was marginally better with any 3D sound tech vs off I couldn't really tell much difference between the quality of the three options.

Non-voice sound effects had a better sense of depth with DTS than the other two 3D solutions. Noticeable but not significant (subjective use of the word, not statistical). I was repeatedly closer to the hay cart with DTS than the other two options.

Voice sound effects were identical for characters that were walking about, but there was a sense of distance. NPC yelling from a fixed point were very strange as their volume seemed to increase as I moved farther away from them until I could no longer hear them. This negated any depth information their sound provided.

Conclusion. Overall the distance a sound was coming from did seem improved with 3D sound enhancement vs off. In limited sampling no single 3D sound solution seemed the best. Angled sound was less impressive. DTS did seem the best of the three but more so when trying to locate birds above my head than people under me. In both above and below testing it was an acceptable improvement but not impressive.

This limited test suggests that, for gaming at least, Sonic is sufficient for improving sound.

Let me know if it's worth me taking the time to try more tests.
LMFAO the donkey test had me cracking up. 8.5.2
Nov 24, 2020
230 Posts
Joined Aug 2016
Nov 24, 2020
prophitdesigns
Nov 24, 2020
230 Posts
Quote from kickendter :
Just use Hesuvi which is free
Hesuvi is one of those pieces of software that's amazing for those it works for. It's hit or miss. Entirely dependent on your setup as it requires hardware that is capable of real 5.1/7.1 to function.

Without going into detail, none of my existing audio adapters supported hesuvi, and my mobo supported it, but meant that I lost microphone and line in functionality due to only having 3 audio ports.

If you're on windows, hesuvi is a good free alternative option (if it works) before buying software like dolby atmos.
Nov 24, 2020
424 Posts
Joined Jan 2009
Nov 24, 2020
magneticmagnum
Nov 24, 2020
424 Posts
Personally, I think Atmos sounds much better than Windows Sonic. Playing videogames, I could hear footsteps above and below me, where as with Windows Sonic, I could not as easily.
Nov 24, 2020
376 Posts
Joined Mar 2011
Nov 24, 2020
bambi005
Nov 24, 2020
376 Posts
So once you buy it and installs, how do you activate it or does it active automatically?

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Nov 24, 2020
9 Posts
Joined May 2019
Nov 24, 2020
zulex79
Nov 24, 2020
9 Posts
Is this Dolby Atmos for Headphones also work on soundbars which supports Dolby Atmos?
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Nov 24, 2020
sukru
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank sukru

Quote from chomskyknows3 :
Yes. Simulated. Most (not all of course) headphones are probably stereo. This must send a discrete signal toward the top edges of the headphone speakers somehow (for Atmos, which just means ceiling speakers)...so if there is rain or a plane flies over you in your game, it'll sound like it's coming above you. This, assuming the game supports Atmos to begin with...
Humans have two ears, and all sound is stereo.

However our brains use use tricks to discern whether sounds come from front or behind, above or below.

These software just reverse that process.

I would highly recommend you a haircut (on your headphones):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA
1
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Nov 24, 2020
sukru
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts
Quote from zulex79 :
Is this Dolby Atmos for Headphones also work on soundbars which supports Dolby Atmos?
If you set HDMI for headphones, it would downmix it to stereo, and would work there.

But why would you want to do that? Xbox already supports bitstream Dolby Atmos output (but not on DD+).
Nov 24, 2020
5 Posts
Joined Aug 2020
Nov 24, 2020
FantasticGoat9696
Nov 24, 2020
5 Posts
I have a hyperx cloud II headset With 7.1 sound. Is this dolby sound an upgrade?
Nov 24, 2020
9 Posts
Joined May 2019
Nov 24, 2020
zulex79
Nov 24, 2020
9 Posts
Quote from sukru :
If you set HDMI for headphones, it would downmix it to stereo, and would work there.

But why would you want to do that? Xbox already supports bitstream Dolby Atmos output (but not on DD+).
I dont have Xbox but a soundbar with dolby atmos. I wonder if I watch movies in my PC this would work.
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Nov 24, 2020
sukru
Nov 24, 2020
897 Posts
Quote from zulex79 :
I dont have Xbox but a soundbar with dolby atmos. I wonder if I watch movies in my PC this would work.
That is an entirely different beast.

Are you using PC -> TV -> Soundbar connection over HDMI, then there might be a way:
https://forums.tomsguide.com/thre...er.437928/

Nov 24, 2020
18 Posts
Joined Feb 2016
Nov 24, 2020
cliners
Nov 24, 2020
18 Posts
Quote from sukru :
That is an entirely different beast.

Are you using PC -> TV -> Soundbar connection over HDMI, then there might be a way:
https://forums.tomsguide.com/thre...er.437928/Ye
Yes I am using PC - HDMI - TV - HDMI(ARC) - Soundbar

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Nov 25, 2020
278 Posts
Joined Dec 2011
Nov 25, 2020
dvdrsmth
Nov 25, 2020
278 Posts
Mono or die!
2

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