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[Desktop Videophile]

Please clear my doubt regarding Dolby Atmos playback using JRiver Media Center : My setup(described in Signature below) consists of laptop with Windows 10 (which now natively supports Dolby Atmos )with Dolby Atmos for Headphones installed(from Windows 10 Store). I have attached the Sound setup and MediaInfo output in the attachments of this msg.Now if i select the Dolby Atmos track in the video,  and select the default Direct Sound output in JRiver MC(since WASAPI option with headphones doesnt work ), am i getting the Dolby Atmos effect in the USB headphone (SteelSeries Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition) ?

Also is it ok to use more than one Audio Enhancers(Sound Equalizers) in the setup ?

[Hendrik]

Dolby Atmos for Headphones and Dolby Atmos on Blu-rays have nothing in common but the name.

[Desktop Videophile]

Dolby Atmos for Headphones and Dolby Atmos on Blu-rays have nothing in common but the name.

@Hendrik, i do understand that Dolby Atmos for headphones is just a Surround virtualization technology like Razer Surround  Pro and Creative X-Fi MB3 (3D)  with just different fancy names. My query was : Is the Dolby Atmos track in video being  actually  processed by JRiver to give virtual Surround to Dolby Atmos for Headphones or any other  track will give the same effect using Dolby Atmos for Headphones.

[RD James]

Dolby Atmos for Headphones and Dolby Atmos on Blu-rays have nothing in common but the name.

It's a software decoder for object-based audio, which then processes the signal to create virtual surround for headphones.
What I'm not clear on is whether Media Center is passing through that data or if it's lost when Media Center decodes the TrueHD track to PCM.
My understanding is that Dolby Atmos for Headphones is supposed to work with DirectSound, you would just have to avoid applying additional DSP to the signal.
There's no indicator in the software to display whether it's performing 7.1 virtual surround, or decoding the Atmos data, so it's difficult to say what is happening when you play an Atmos track in Media Center.

[Desktop Videophile]

It's a software decoder for object-based audio, which then processes the signal to create virtual surround for headphones.
What I'm not clear on is whether Media Center is passing through that data or if it's lost when Media Center decodes the TrueHD track to PCM.
My understanding is that Dolby Atmos for Headphones is supposed to work with DirectSound, you would just have to avoid applying additional DSP to the signal.
There's no indicator in the software to display whether it's performing 7.1 virtual surround, or decoding the Atmos data, so it's difficult to say what is happening when you play an Atmos track in Media Center.

@RD James, you got my query exactly ! This was was exactly what i wanted to know : Is the Atmos data being used or rendered useless by converting to PCM before outputing to the driver software .

[Hendrik]

Those two technologies are entirely unrelated, it cannot decode Blu-ray Atmos data. Dolby re-uses the same name for dozens of entirely different technologies in adjacent fields. Anything audio gets named "Atmos" and anything video "Vision".

Why would a game that supports Dolby Atmos output compressed Atmos data? That makes no sense.
Instead, it calls special Windows APIs to pass uncompressed audio streams and position info directly to Windows, which then does the mixing, there is no decoding in there.

If anything, it may have an Atmos encoder to transfer the spatial information to a headphone or over HDMI (HDMI seems to be on XBox only), but it most definitely has no decoder or support for Blu-ray Atmos data.

[Desktop Videophile]

.
Instead, it calls special Windows APIs to pass uncompressed audio streams and position info directly to Windows, which then does the mixing, there is no decoding in there.

So does it mean that JRiver MC also passes the Atmos uncompressed audio stream directly to Windows which natively decodes it (or does it pass out undecoded to atmos receivers at output for decoding)  and passes it to the software Dolby Atmos for Headphones or any other virtualization software?(Pardon me for not getting the gist of your reply with reference to what actually happens with JRiver MC when dealing with Dolby Atmos tracks in my setup with headphones)

[RD James]

it most definitely has no decoder or support for Blu-ray Atmos data.

I wonder how Netflix handles it. They added Atmos support to the Windows 10 app recently, and if you enable Dolby Atmos for Headphones it makes the Atmos audio stream available.
Unfortunately my subscription expired last week and there's nothing else on there that I want to resubscribe for at the moment, so I can't try anything out.

[Desktop Videophile]

I wonder how Netflix handles it. They added Atmos support to the Windows 10 app recently, and if you enable Dolby Atmos for Headphones it makes the Atmos audio stream available.
Unfortunately my subscription expired last week and there's nothing else on there that I want to resubscribe for at the moment, so I can't try anything out.

Do u mean to say u need some Atmos tracks to check out ?

[Hendrik]

So does it mean that JRiver MC also passes the Atmos uncompressed audio stream directly to Windows which natively decodes it (or does it pass out undecoded to atmos receivers at output for decoding)  and passes it to the software Dolby Atmos for Headphones or any other virtualization software?(Pardon me for not getting the gist of your reply with reference to what actually happens with JRiver MC when dealing with Dolby Atmos tracks in my setup with headphones)

No, nothing of that sort happens.
The only way to handle Atmos Blu-ray Audio on a PC is to bitstream it to a Atmos-enabled receiver.

[Hendrik]

I wonder how Netflix handles it. They added Atmos support to the Windows 10 app recently, and if you enable Dolby Atmos for Headphones it makes the Atmos audio stream available.
Unfortunately my subscription expired last week and there's nothing else on there that I want to resubscribe for at the moment, so I can't try anything out.

Netflix directly works with Dolby, they may have a different mode of transport or a Atmos decoder in their app that then gives the decoded streams to the Windows Spatial Audio API.

[RD James]

Netflix directly works with Dolby, they may have a different mode of transport or a Atmos decoder in their app that then gives the decoded streams to the Windows Spatial Audio API.

It's definitely more than just the Netflix app which supports this.
I downloaded one of the demos from this site, and it's encoded with E-AC3+Atmos. Plays with Dolby Atmos for Headphones using Edge.
Could it be possible that Windows has an Atmos decoder that passes through object data to DAfH?
If I try to play it locally, neither Edge or the 'Films & TV' app will play it, and throw up a decoding error. MPC-BE will play it, but only if LAV decodes to PCM. Bitstreaming goes silent.
EDIT: The 'Photos' App does play it. Weird.

[Hendrik]

Its quite possible Dolby paid to get this into Edge.

[winterwolf]

Related question:

when I listen to the Edge demos, Netflix or Atmos app I am hearing the Atmos difference with atmos for headphones. I have several Audio Blu-rays that support ATMOS (Pure audio line). I am using JRiver MC with AnyDVD but I do not get the ATMOS audio streams working. I can only listen to the 192kHZ PCM stream. Any idea how I can convice JRiver to pick up the Atmos stream?

Thx
-- WW

[RD James]

My understanding of the situation now is that:

• Atmos via Media Center only works when bitstreaming to an HDMI device, and since MC does not identify Atmos tracks you have to bitstream all TrueHD tracks.
• Media Center's TrueHD decoding does not pass through Atmos data.
• Windows 10 has a built-in decoder for Atmos content that works with DAfH, but it can only decode Atmos inside an E-AC3 track. It cannot decode TrueHD+Atmos, and there's no way to get it working with Media Center even for content which uses E-AC3. You would have to use the built-in "Films & TV" app.

Hopefully someone can figure out how to use the built-in decoder with other applications, even if it's limited to E-AC3.
E-AC3 tracks are mostly used with streaming services rather than Blu-ray discs though.

[mpg732]

I just bought ATMOS speakers and got it all set up.  I too was interested in getting JRiver to play ATMOS.
 I could not get it to play via BitStream like some say.  The movies wouldn't play.  So through trial and error I too could not get true ATMS to play.  I too installed the Dolby Atmos for Headphones app.  Set the sound to my receiver to Atmos in Windows.   I down loaded a sample of Atmos video from Dolby web site.  I first played it in Windows Movie Player app.  My receiver showed it as Atmos for input and set out put to 5.1.2.  Sounded good.  I could hear the bird flying around the top of my room.   I then played the same file in JRiver.  My Reciever showed it as a 7.1 CH input.  Out put set the same, 5.1.2.  To be honest I could not hear a difference.  Still herd the bird flying around the top of the room.   Maybe its my Receiver.  I guess at this time I'm not going to worry about it.