It's different, not better/worse.
The point I'm making is that with a pair of stereo headphones and a good DSP, you can create very good positional audio.
It works by reverse engineering how your ears and brain interpret sound - timing & loudness.
Obviously, you only have 2 ears, and so the way you can hear where things are coming from is a combination of how long it takes to get to your ear, and how loud the sound is when it does.
It's the same reason why without proper configuration, Subwoofers often sound like they're making bass from a different location - you need to set the phase and loudness correctly to ensure it's in time, and as loud, as your main speakers. It's how room correction works, in addition to adjusting any peaks and other things.
By using this knowledge, Atmos and other immersive audio technologies are able to recreate the same effect of sound coming from different locations.
I've heard a £30K+ KEF system back to back with a really good set of headphones making use of the Dolby software on a PC and the effect was very similar, but obviously different. Open headphones will sound more natural, but still not the same as listening to something in a room, as you won't get the reflections/dispersion.
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