Dolby Atmos

[JLH]

hi,

before I purchase this stb, does anyone know if this  stb can play Dolby Atmos movies?

thank you 

[dishuser]

send them an email ask

[allaboutbuzz]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:26 PM, JLH said:

hi,

before I purchase this stb, does anyone know if this  stb can play Dolby Atmos movies?

thank you 

Via Passthrough yes

[JLH]

The same was said for the x5 but it doesn’t work for Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 movies 

just don’t want to spend more money then come to find out that it doesn’t work 

thank you 

Edited September 7, 2022 by JLH

[Emporium]

Obviously it also depends on your source.  As far as I know, even services like Netflix will only encode Dolby atmos on UltraHD streams, and even that is NOT on all streams.

Most IPTV services (which is what these devices specialize with), do not include Dolby Atmos in the re-encoded streams, even if some had Atmos at source.

 

[JLH]

My 4900xrs works perfectly with playing Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus 5.1…

[allaboutbuzz]

1 hour ago, JLH said:

The same was said for the x5 but it doesn’t work for Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 movies 

just don’t want to spend more money then come to find out that it doesn’t work 

thank you 

Via Passthrough on HDMI?

And which apps?

[JLH]

With Vic which is enabled 

same as on my 4900 which which plays those files without any issues 

just wanted to upgrade to the x5 or u5

 

[PapaS]

My x5 is processing all Dolby formats properly. 

[allaboutbuzz]

1 hour ago, JLH said:

The same was said for the x5 but it doesn’t work for Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 movies 

just don’t want to spend more money then come to find out that it doesn’t work 

thank you 

So where did you read that it doesn't work then on the X5?

[JLH]

PapaS, 

I wish I’d know if it’s a setting that I’m missing 

[JLH]

allaboutbuzz,

 I didn’t read about it I have the x5 too and it doesn’t seem to work like my 4900 

[PapaS]

@JLHthat could depend on so many factors on how you've got your sound system configured.  But like @allaboutbuzzsaid if the audio pass through is "on" on the x5 and it's not working it could be a setting in your tv or receiver most likely.  

[Emporium]

You mention you are using VLC,  I am assuming when you say it is "enabled" you mean you have enabled "Digital audio output (passthrough)" is also enabled on VLC ?  

Doesn't take much for ATMOS to not work.  Actually we say that ATMOS is supported passthrough only.  Well this pretty much removes netflix from the list of apps which will ever be able to play ATMOS on "most" android boxes (with few exceptions.  Netflix for some dumb reason has decided that it "requires that playback devices be capable of decoding Dolby Atmos natively, instead of simply being able to pass through Dolby Atmos to an Atmos-capable soundbar or A/V receiver.".

There is a nice article on digitaltrends, which gives a nice details explanation and examples on what is needed, and when Atmos can fail (which in some cases is quite unexpected).

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/dolby-atmos-sound/

What is your setup ?  TV, soundbar, receiver, etc. ?  How are you sending your stream to your TV ?   Are you going from buzz->TV->audio equipment ?  of buzz->audio equipment-> passthrough to TV ?  TV have HDMI ARC or eARC ?  There are compatibility issues in some situations (read the HDMI section in the article above.

 

[JLH]

My setup is Sonos arc, subwoofer and play 1’s for surround 

I download or play the movies from kodi which pass through is allowed in kodi 

everything works with my buzztv 4900xrs which is setup the same as my x5 which only outputs pcm and not Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby atmos or Dolby Digital Plus…

here is a screenshot of the audio output from my 4900 which works perfect

My setup is Sonos arc, subwoofer and play 1’s for surround 

I download or play the movies from kodi which pass through is allowed in kodi 

everything works with my buzztv 4900xrs which is setup the same as my x5 which only outputs pcm and not Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby atmos or Dolby Digital Plus

ly 

but the audio output from my x5 is S/PDIF, which I don’t know if everyone’s x5 shows that or it’s what it’s supposed to show 

thank you 

 

[JLH]

My setup is Sonos arc, subwoofer and play 1’s for surround 

I download or play the movies from kodi which pass through is allowed in kodi 

everything works with my buzztv 4900xrs which is setup the same as my x5 which only outputs pcm and not Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby atmos or Dolby Digital Plus…

here is a screenshot of the audio output from my 4900 which works perfect

 

but the audio output from my x5 is S/PDIF, which I don’t know if everyone’s x5 shows that or it’s what it’s supposed to show 

thank you 

Edited September 8, 2022 by JLH

[Emporium]

S/PDIF ?  That would be the optical output.. And the Optical output for sure does NOT support ATMOS.  Are you using the optical output ?

Digital optical doesn’t support Dolby Atmos because it can’t transmit the Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD audio codecs (both of which can contain Dolby Atmos audio).

"As a matter of fact, the optical cable can process either 2 channels of uncompressed pulse code modulation (PCM) audio or up to 5.1 channels of compressed audio.  In addition, the 5.1 channels of audio support are either via the Dolby Digital or the DTS Digital Surround audio codecs. Unfortunately, both of these codecs do not support Dolby Atmos."

You should probably turn S/PDIF off, and allow it to auto send everything over HDMI ARC.

 

[JLH]

I know all that I’m just saying what is the sound output from the x5 and is selected by default and no other sound output choice that’s what I find weird 

[JLH]

Probably the x5 is coded differently than the 4900

works with 4900 and not x5

my Sonos arc is using hdmi cable but at the end it has an digital Optical adapter which plugs in my tv’s s/pdif port…because my two tv’s hdmi port are already used 

I will unplug that optical adapter this weekend and unplug the used hdmi port and plug it in that hdmi port to test it out if that was the culprit 

thank you all

 

 

[Kone]

Recently purchased  U5. Hope all is good. Firmware updates etc...

[JLH]

Oh well, I guess it’s my x5

i plugged everything with hdmi and removed the s/pdif adapter and still not playing DD 5.1….

without changing anything and as soon as I plug my 4900 DD 5.1 works 

case closed

I’ll keep my 4900 plugged and throw away my X5

thank you all

 

 

[Emporium]

If you are using an optical cable, I am assuming you are NOT using an eARC HDMI port from your TV.  And you have been talking about Atmos all this time, but with optical, that is not an option as far as I know.

Straight from the Sonos Arc page in the FAQ section:

Quote

If you connect to a TV using the optical adapter, the Dolby audio formats supported are dependent on your TV model and manufacturer. The TV may be capable of sending Dolby Digital. An optical connection cannot support Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, MAT or Dolby Digital Plus

But, as you said, it is case closed, so one more thread we can close.  If the 4900 works for you, then great.