[SOLVED] Sony UBP-X800m2 - playing lossless Atmos from files (USB)

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No announce on WWDC but Appleinsider who had the first message about this issue confirm me there is stll a passtrhough named in the coming beta releases
 
This has been a long and fairly complex thread, but here's some info some may find useful. As others have mentioned here, the Sony X800M2 player will not play full Atmos channels from a USB drive - I have confirmed that mine neglects to transmit the Atmos height channels audio. The instruction to use M2TS format files is not useful for those of us that do not wish follow a complex set of steps, using multiple apps, to convert MKV to M2TS. Out of interest, I contacted the folks at Immersive Audio and asked if there was any chance they would consider putting out Atmos releases in M2TS format as an option to MKV. Jonathan at IAA kindly responded and said that they were not aware of the M2TS format and that MKV has been tested by them on many systems to successfully transmit all Atmos channels. One system he mentioned was the Neumi Atom 4K media player, a simple, affordable device that supports USB drives and micro SD cards, and will play MKV Atmos files. (There are other similar devices out there.) I just ordered one, as it seems the only way I'll be able to hear full Atmos from MKV downloads. Another option that folks have mentioned is to use VLC or a similar app on your Mac or PC to play Atmos MKV, but I've also read that the Mac platform similarly fails at transmitting all Atmos channels from MKV files. So the Neumi device is currently my best option.
 
Well, the Neumi Atom 4K looks cool and is certainly very affordable. However, it can only handle up to 4TB HDDs. For some that could work well, for me I have crossed that bridge long ago!
 
This has been a long and fairly complex thread, but here's some info some may find useful. As others have mentioned here, the Sony X800M2 player will not play full Atmos channels from a USB drive - I have confirmed that mine neglects to transmit the Atmos height channels audio. The instruction to use M2TS format files is not useful for those of us that do not wish follow a complex set of steps, using multiple apps, to convert MKV to M2TS. Out of interest, I contacted the folks at Immersive Audio and asked if there was any chance they would consider putting out Atmos releases in M2TS format as an option to MKV. Jonathan at IAA kindly responded and said that they were not aware of the M2TS format and that MKV has been tested by them on many systems to successfully transmit all Atmos channels. One system he mentioned was the Neumi Atom 4K media player, a simple, affordable device that supports USB drives and micro SD cards, and will play MKV Atmos files. (There are other similar devices out there.) I just ordered one, as it seems the only way I'll be able to hear full Atmos from MKV downloads. Another option that folks have mentioned is to use VLC or a similar app on your Mac or PC to play Atmos MKV, but I've also read that the Mac platform similarly fails at transmitting all Atmos channels from MKV files. So the Neumi device is currently my best option.
It won't play ATMOS from an MKV file over a network either - as I discovered to my irritation.
 
Well, the Neumi Atom 4K looks cool and is certainly very affordable. However, it can only handle up to 4TB HDDs. For some that could work well, for me I have crossed that bridge long ago!
Note that another form post here by Blackwood says "their website says the max for the SDs are 512GB and 4TB for a USB drive. But their chart on Amazon says 1TB for SDs and 8TB for USB drives. I e-mailed them and they said it’s their website that’s out of date, not Amazon." For my purpose playing music MKV files it’s pretty ideal. Eventually I might rip some 4K movies, but I normally play those from disc on the Sony player.
 
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What does the player do? Just play the Dolby TrueHD stream or play nothing?
I have no idea about the technical aspects of what is transferred. I am only concerned with it being able to play MKV with full Atmos channels, and apparently it does. I assume this is at full audio quality, which would be Dolby TrueHD, yes? All the manual says is that over HDMI it can be set to transmit audio as PCM or passthrough, or stereo. Another forum post here by user Blackwood says for Atmos to set it to "RAW passthrough".
 
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So am I, which puzzled me, the file I was playing was https://www.nativedsd.com/product/2l-immersive-channel-identification-7-1-4-test-files-dolby-atmos/

The Dolby Atmos plays on the Oppo, not on the Sony.
I am referring to my plans for using the Neumi 4K device, which I will directly connect to my Denon AVR to play Atmos MKV files. I also have a Sony X800M2 Blu-Ray player, which will successfully play true Atmos audio from Blu-Ray disks, but it will not play Atmos from an MKV file off of a USB stick (as others have discovered, it simply ignores all height channels). I hope that clarifies my answer. By the way, I found a few free Atmos 7.1.4 test files out there, rather than paying for the one from Native DSD.
 
Hmmm... There is no (lossy Dolby Digital) 'core' in an Atmos .mkv file...
I'll have a look tomorrow to see how the Sony reported it, its 7.1.4 test file, I think it said Dolby TrueHD

Edit: I couldn't get any machine to switch between the audio streams, I can on my PC (which is not connected to the AVR), so it defaults as far as I could make out to playing Atmos.

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I’m fairly sure I read that atmos only works on a physical disc or through hdmi, no usb drive or anything else
No, as I stated much earlier in this thread, I own the Sony; I play Atmos via it's USB in...but as a BDMV or .m2ts..NOT an MKV. That is not to say this is my preferred Atmos playback. It isn't; my other players (Ugos AM6b+ with CoreELEC or Zidoo Z9X) handle MKVs just fine, which is much more convenient. The Sony is also my only current media player that recognizes embedded flac Auro 3D.
Ted
 
One last piece of important information regarding the Sony X800M2 Blu-Ray player: any USB stick must be USB 2.0 standard, must be formatted for either FAT32 or ExFAT but - here's the important bit - must also be formatted with "Master Boot Record" partition map. The Sony USB port does NOT support GUID partition. I discovered this the hard way!
The Sony website does not have complete information all in one place regarding these requirements. All it says is use MS-DOS FAT32 or ExFAT. The requirements for USB 2.0 and MBR partition are only found buried in support forum posts.
 
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