Dolby Atmos decoding hardware ???

[gene_stl]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/atmos-finally-decoded-in-pc-mac.32351/
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/imme...olby-truehd-atmos-on-windows-and-macos-r1092/
Seems complex and spensive. But this is a spensive hobby. Big toodoo over at ASR. I wonder what our august assemblage thinks about this.

https://daleproaudio.com/products/dolby-media-encoder-client-processing-software-1-year-license
Homer JAUs MMH is mentioned.
$400 for one year license. When it expires it still works but no updates.

 

[humprof]

I think this has appeared piecemeal in different threads over the past few months, but good to be reminded of it (and have it gathered in one place). 'Spensive, for sure. I won't be selling my Apple TV4K just yet.

 

[sjcorne]

Seems complex and spensive.

$400 for the Dolby software beats $3000 for a 7.1.4 AVR though.

 

[kap'n krunch]

$400 for the Dolby software beats $3000 for a 7.1.4 AVR though.

Especially if it’s a Schmarantz…I am never ever buying anything from them…not after my SR7012 died very conveniently right after the 3 year warranty was over

 

[gene_stl]

Especially if it’s a Schmarantz…I am never ever buying anything from them…not after my SR7012 died very conveniently right after the 3 year warranty was over

I just LOVE how they manage to time that. Both in consumer stuff and also the professional scientific crap I have to work on every week.
I also feel that way about Beckman Instruments whom I used to work for.

 

[sjcorne]

https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/2022/08/building-a-7-1-4-dolby-atmos-on-a-budget/

 

[ar surround]

$400 for the Dolby software beats $3000 for a 7.1.4 AVR though.

https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/2022/08/building-a-7-1-4-dolby-atmos-on-a-budget/

Thinking about this lately. It wasn‘t too difficult for someone like me who isn’t quite “old as dirt” to recently acquire the necessary equipment to expand from 7.1 to Atmos. But I remember back in the day that it was a long haul for me to go from a modest quad system to a Lexicon 7.1 setup.

I actually abandoned quad for 11 years in order to acquire a much better stereo rig. The main speakers and associated amplifier / preamp were very costly (for me, anyway) and precluded adding anything that would yield a quad system of comparable sound quality.

For most people, it’s now got to be even more of a dilemma given all the extra equipment needed for Atmos…Does one invest in better stereo components now and expand later; or purchase a full boat Atmos system of minimum quality. I use the term “minimum quality” because even a 5.1.4 system of “modest” quality must be expensive.

What is one to do?

 

[JimHansonDC]

One of the great features of my Trinnov preamp is the s/w based decoding of all formats. This is orders of magnitude cheaper. Now how to get all my physical disks into uncompressed manageable digital files, not for size but for function.

Any thoughts on that these days. I've tried most of the usual suspects and they all have really annoying incompatibility and UI glitches.

 

[himey]

Has anyone made 5.1.2 test files to check out?

 

[gene_stl]

Doesn't the Trinnov preamp cost north of US $16,000???

I have spent a LOT of money on my system and even took a look at the Trinnov and some similar units. But I don't see what they do to justify that kind of price.

 

[DuncanS]

Thinking about this lately. It wasn‘t too difficult for someone like me who isn’t quite “old as dirt” to recently acquire the necessary equipment to expand from 7.1 to Atmos. But I remember back in the day that it was a long haul for me to go from a modest quad system to a Lexicon 7.1 setup.

I actually abandoned quad for 11 years in order to acquire a much better stereo rig. The main speakers and associated amplifier / preamp were very costly (for me, anyway) and precluded adding anything that would yield a quad system of comparable sound quality.

For most people, it’s now got to be even more of a dilemma given all the extra equipment needed for Atmos…Does one invest in better stereo components now and expand later; or purchase a full boat Atmos system of minimum quality. I use the term “minimum quality” because even a 5.1.4 system of “modest” quality must be expensive.

What is one to do?

I bought a minimum 'quality' 5.1 system, then spend my money on discs, then when my disc collection was a few times the cost of the system, I bought better speakers, then a year or two later a 'better' amp. I'm sort of tempted to do the same for Atmos, but the number of music Atmos discs available isn't that great compared to the cost of getting an Atmos amp & 4 more speakers (I'd go for 5.0.4, no LFEs). I do have a Smyth A16 so not totally Atmos free (but I have had an issue with its last software update I need to get sorted )

 

[ar surround]

One of the great features of my Trinnov preamp is the s/w based decoding of all formats. This is orders of magnitude cheaper. Now how to get all my physical disks into uncompressed manageable digital files, not for size but for function.

Any thoughts on that these days. I've tried most of the usual suspects and they all have really annoying incompatibility and UI glitches.

Doesn't the Trinnov preamp cost north of US $16,000???

I have spent a LOT of money on my system and even took a look at the Trinnov and some similar units. But I don't see what they do to justify that kind of price.

Yes, any use of a form of the word “cheap“ doesn’t seem to belong in the same paragraph as “Trinnov.” It is most definitely high end.

 

[JediJoker]

third is that with Atmos streaming on the Music App on the Mac desktop computer nothing ever gets cut-off, even using an HDMI connection, i suspect because the Computer is doing the decoding rather than the AVR.

HDMI can't pass more than 8 channels (7.1 configuration) of LPCM audio, so if the computer did all of the Atmos decoding, it would not be able to pass the audio for the height channels. I think it's more likely that the software implementation differs from macOS to tvOS such that the Mac will continue to generate and pass a silent Atmos- or at least TrueHD-encoded stream over HDMI, even when playback has stopped, while the Apple TV will not.

 

[fredblue]

HDMI can't pass more than 8 channels (7.1 configuration) of LPCM audio, so if the computer did all of the Atmos decoding, it would not be able to pass the audio for the height channels. I think it's more likely that the software implementation differs from macOS to tvOS such that the Mac will continue to generate and pass a silent Atmos- or at least TrueHD-encoded stream over HDMI, even when playback has stopped, while the Apple TV will not.

i'm running 7.1.4 Atmos on the Mac Mini right now and the desktop Computer is definitely doing the decoding, the AVRs are receiving PCM rather than Bitstreamed encoded Dolby TrueHD.

i don't feel comfortable saying on the open forum how i'm doing the workaround, in case its not legit (its not the exact same method written about by sjcorne) to get beyond HDMI's limitations but i've Gapless 7.1.4 Atmos where the AVRs (2 of them) are not doing any Atmos decoding of their own.

 

[HomerJAU]

HDMI can't pass more than 8 channels

HDMI 1.4 is limited to 8 , HDMI 2.0 is 32 channels

 

[JediJoker]

HDMI 1.4 is limited to 8 , HDMI 2.0 is 32 channels

My mistake! Old information.

 

[fredblue]

My mistake! Old information.

fwiw i couldn't get Atmos tracks on the Music App on the Mac to output in anything but 5.1 via HDMI, no matter how much configuration jiggery-pokery i did in Audio Midi Setup, i couldn't get the 2 Front Heights working for 5.1.2 for some reason

 

[sjcorne]

HDMI can't pass more than 8 channels (7.1 configuration) of LPCM audio, so if the computer did all of the Atmos decoding, it would not be able to pass the audio for the height channels.

The easiest workaround for getting the height channels out of the Mac is to pick up a cheap USB interface with at least four line outputs (like the Behringer UMC404HD) and add it to an aggregate device with your HDMI output. Channels 1-8 can be sent out over HDMI and the rest over USB. Or - if you're concerned about latency - you could just send all 12 channels out over USB using a larger, more expensive unit with more line outputs. If I had unlimited budget, I would love to get something like Focusrite's Red 16Line with the R1 Atmos controller.

I still don't get why Apple Music on MacOS doesn't give you the option to send DD+/JOC bitstream over HDMI for decoding inside an AVR - curiously enough, the Apple TV+ MacOS app does have a "prefer AC3 passthrough" output option - but the flipside is they've made it possible to get full Atmos playback with older gear.

 

[zeerround]

Is anybody aware of any hdmi drivers that can do more than 8 Chanels or any AVRs that can accept more than 8?

I haven’t seen any (despite the 32 ch spec).

 

[HomerJAU]

I still don't get why Apple Music on MacOS doesn't give you the option to send DD+/JOC bitstream over HDMI for decoding inside an AVR

Have you tried Kodi for MacOS? Kodi for Windows does HDMI pass-through for Atmos/DTS etc

https://kodi.tv/download/macos