Unable to get sound to play in correct format (shows as PCM vs. Dolby Atmos or 5.1)

Channels Apple TV
#1

Hi there - I've been using Channels for years on my Apple TV 4K and recently upgraded to a Sonos Arc Ultra. In other apps like Netflix, Disney+, etc, I get audio output to Dolby Atmos just fine.

In Channels, for imported content that I know has Atmos, the best I get (that shows up in the Sonos App) is "Multichannel PCM 5.1". I'm using Apple TV 4K app version 6.1.2, I have the Advanced -> Surround Sound setting to "On", I'm using the default Audio Driver and I ran a Test Surround Sound and it's outputting correctly. I use HDHomeRun Prime to record.

  1. Is there a way to figure out how to get Dolby Atmos working for imported movies that I have? (audio shows up as "Multichannel PCM 7.1"
  2. For recorded shows that are recorded via my HDHR that I know have Dolby 5.1 sound, any way to get that working too?

Thank you!

#2

FYI anything that you play on channels that has Atmos, when you are done you have to force quit the channels app and re-open it. If you dont, the audio is all screwed up

#3

Didn't help. I can't seem to get proper Atmos output for the life of me (I have an imported video that definitely supports Atmos).

#4

See:

#7

OK thanks. I'd really hate to have to give up my Apple TVs. I'll probably just stay put, but curious, is there a more ideal streamer that people use instead? I've dabbled with Fire TVs (and even Rokus) but the spammy ad-filled, slow/clunky interfaces just aren't for me.

#8

The only streaming box you will ever be able to get TrueHD or other uncompressed codecs (with Atmos encoding) to work on, is an Nvidia Shield, as it's the only one that supports full passthrough, meaning it will just hand the undecoded audio streams to the soundbar/receiver.

That being said, I fully understand that you want "all of the lights" to light up on your new gear, but I think you'll find that you won't audibly tell the difference anyways. Certainly not on a soundbar (and I own that sound bar :+1: in a couple of rooms).

Multichannel PCM is not transcoding the audio. it's just splitting it up and passing it as PCM to the audio gear. You will lose the atmos encoding, but the audio tracks stay the same.

One suggestion I can make is, make sure the videos you want Atmos to work on, are e-ac3 labeled atmos, not TrueHD. With files like that, you will get Atmos output from the Apple TV.

#9

And the negatives of the nvidia shield are way too great to move from apple

The only real loss is atmos from truehd

#10

Couldn't agree more. Terrible device....