Hey guys...
To answer your questions, I haven't fired up any music yet...just sampled a bunch of movies that I was familiar with on Netflix so far. I'm going to experiment with some music this weekend, since I'm pretty sure the Atmos is always engaged and applied to all stereo signals. (Haven't confirmed this yet, but pretty sure...)
As far as the sound stage, I'd say it doesn't really make the sound stage larger, what it does is enhance the imaging so that objects in space are better delineated and more 3D in terms of their placement around you. The other thing I've noticed that I'm really intrigued by is that certain sounds - particular vocals/dialogue - are much more natural and realistic. Im guessing it's the fact that the processing better approximates how we naturally hear, but again, Im still learning about this. I'm trying to form as many impressions as I can first and then research everything as to why I'm hearing what I'm hearing.
All I can say is that if you watch a lot of movies with headphones, you will very clearly hear the difference. At least I did...obviously it's subjective just like anything else. And since someone on CNet apparently made some ridiculous comment about how he didn't feel Atmos on a tablet was the same as a fully-equipped Atmos theater, I'll point out the obvious - this is a nice improvement over regular dolby plus/stero with HEADPHONES. As we all know, speakers and headphones provide very different experiences. Nobody in their right mind would ever assert that this is meant to replace an Atmos theater. That's just ridiculous.
