The basic idea of Atmos is having audio streams with spatial coordinates and then downmixing them to however many speakers you actually have and where ever they

The basic idea of Atmos is having audio streams with spatial coordinates and then downmixing them to however many speakers you actually have and where ever they happen to be placed. That's a great idea (and basically how games have worked for donkeys years). But even if you do get the object-based streams, it still contains a "bed" of 7.1(.2) audio channels that still require precise placement of your speakers. Besides which, even 5.1 content is mixed horribly by content providers (use the center channel for dialogue, people! And lay off the explosions for a bit..) What makes it ultra disappointing, is that the atmos brand is just slapped on any old thing. If it's not in a cinema, it's not 128 objects, but maybe 20. If it's atmos music, it's something else. And how does a tiny soundbar deliver on immersive sound from all of those channels and objects? Well-mixed 5.1 is still a joy to hear.