Dolby Atmos gave me the reason I needed to say goodbye to streaming

Streaming continues to overtake physical media, and as much as I don’t like it, it’s just how things are trending. There are encouraging signs, but facts are facts. There are a variety of reasons for that, and ease of access can’t be ignored. You get access to hundreds of movies and shows just by signing up for a monthly subscription, and it’s tough to beat that type of value.

While you might be someone who likes to own their products, many people don’t feel the same way. Admittedly, I’m a bit of both. I certainly see the value in streaming, but there are days when I feel lazy and want to scroll through Netflix. It’s also nice to stumble across things I never would have otherwise, but that’s more likely to happen to me on Tubi instead of Netflix.

However, streaming has one big drawback, and it’s been pushing me more toward purchasing movies I want to watch physically instead of streaming them. Dolby Atmos is one of the best audio formats available today, and you’ll only get the most out of it if you have a disc. You’ll need to have a decent audio setup to truly notice a difference, but if you do, then it’s night and day between streaming and physical media. It’s one of the big reasons I’m not fully giving up on discs.

Atmos doesn’t compare on streaming

A lot of drawbacks

Dolby

Streaming brings a lot of positives, but almost none of them are in the quality aspect. The same thing goes for streaming music as it does for shows and movies — your quality is lower. This doesn’t mean something’s suddenly unwatchable, but you might notice your 4K streams aren’t as clear as they are on a disc. What you might not know is that this applies to the sound as well.

Streaming only has so much bandwidth to go around, and it has to cut some corners through compression. While I don’t expect you to have the tools to measure it yourself, streaming offers a lower bitrate than its disc counterparts. This means your audio doesn’t sound as good as it can from a disc. Let me be clear, it’s not a giant deal, but if you spent money on your audio setup, you probably want to get the most out of it.

The biggest difference I notice on Atmos compared to streaming is my subwoofer doesn’t get a lot of action as it does on disc. It’s largely muffled, and it makes this investment feel like it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t until I started to get more into physical media that it felt like I was getting the most of my investment. A show like HBO’s House of the Dragon sounds a lot crisper now, even though it streamed with Atmos. I still haven’t gotten around to picking up the second season physically, but I’m sure it’s an upgrade as well.

Obviously, that’s an additional cost on top of everything as you have to pick up a Blu-ray player and start buying movies. However, and you can take it from me, it’s worth making the jump. While I love the Apple TV 4K, and think it’s a perfect companion to a home theater, it doesn’t compare to actual discs. Some streaming services provide a better experience than others, and Apple TV+ streams at a higher quality, but a disc still reigns supreme.

Most 4K Blu-rays released today come equipped with Dolby Atmos sound, and you can even find select Blu-rays with it too. Blu-rays are typically cheaper than their 4K counterparts, so if you’re willing to sacrifice picture quality, you can go for those if you’d like. For me, it’s an easy decision because if you invest in your audio equipment, there’s no sense not getting the best sound you can get out of it.

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Do your research beforehand

You might have to open your wallet

Like many things, getting the best quality means you have to spend money. Picking up a 4K Blu-ray isn’t cheap, and with Best Buy and many other physical locations out of the picture, your choices are dwindling. I’ve noticed over the past year or so, there are far fewer sales than there were before, perhaps because of the lack of competition. You still have your usual suspects, such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, but even those don’t feel as good as they used to.

Let’s just say that the regular price for a 4K Blu-ray is between $20 and $30 a pop. It adds up very fast. A better way forward might be streaming a movie first to see if you like it, and then buying it when it goes on sale. I know that goes against what I was saying, and it’ll lead to you getting a worse first-time experience, arguably the most important aspect, but it’s not cheap to grab discs.

Another thing I’ll say is there’s a solid chance you’re not getting everything you need out of your Dolby Atmos setup. A lot of people rock soundbars, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you have one that comes with Dolby Atmos sound, you’re not getting the real deal. I’m not saying it doesn’t sound better than your TV speakers, because it absolutely does, but it doesn’t compare to having individual speakers.

Atmos requires a surround sound setup, and it benefits significantly from having overhead speakers, whether they’re directly above your head, mounted on your ceiling, or height channels in the front of the room angled down at you. A soundbar can do its best to emulate Atmos sound, but it pales in comparison to the real thing. I’m not saying you’ll be disappointed with your audio as it varies by person, but I wouldn’t spend hundreds on a soundbar unless I was picking one up for a spare bedroom, or I had limited space.

Although Atmos led me to pick up more movies physically than I anticipated, with many of them being blind buys, I understand it’s not feasible for everyone. I’m glad sales still come around sporadically, and movies with strong Atmos mixes like Top Gun Maverick or the original three Jurassic Park films can shine on my at-home setup.

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