Does Mac Studio 2 / Mac OS support HDMI sound bars? Atmos? DTS? Surround sound?

[drmeatball]

I haven't been able to make this work yet and I haven't found much specific information.. does the M2 with HDMI 2.1 support EARC sound bars? Optical (with adapter) and Aux are fine but limited to 2.1 surround, but I'd like to get things working in 5.1.2+ and optionally Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. I always figured HDMI would be tricky ;-)

Ultimately I want to be able to work with surround sound in the pro apps (and if supported, spatial audio).

 

[Zest28]

Can't you just use the Apple Studio Display or AirPods (Max) for checking how it sounds in Spatial Audio?

Most people will listen to Spatial Audio using AirPods anyway.

But many audio interfaces also support 5.1 and 7.1, so it's probably best to go that route with proper studio monitors rather than to mess with HDMI and sound bars.

 

[Giant_enemy_crab]

Yes I have surround working with my Beam v2. Connected via HDMI arc port on my LG C2 and changed to 8ch surround in Audio MIDI app

Apple Music outputs Dolby audio to my Beam and it sounds fantastic.

 

[handheldgames]

I haven't been able to make this work yet and I haven't found much specific information.. does the M2 with HDMI 2.1 support EARC sound bars? Optical (with adapter) and Aux are fine but limited to 2.1 surround, but I'd like to get things working in 5.1.2+ and optionally Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. I always figured HDMI would be tricky ;-)

Ultimately I want to be able to work with surround sound in the pro apps (and if supported, spatial audio).

The Mac OS "Audio Midi Setup" app allows you to select output from your Mac Studio to an AVR as 2.0, 2.1, 5.1, 7.1 and even 5.1.2 Atmos My Sony AN1000 AVR is fully supported by a M1 Mac Studio Ultra so you should have no problems with your M2 Studio. This AVR also supports EARC sound bars and even using a Sony TV as part of the center channel configuration.

 

[drmeatball]

TY all!

Indeed it does work! I figured out my problem.. DUH on me. I use a Samsung Q90A 50" 4K TV @ 120hz.. works fine but the BGR vs RGB pixel sub layout finally irked me to the point of flipping the whole panel and service menu-ing in 180degrees. I forgot to account for the flip when plugging in the sound bar HDMI and wasn't using the EARC port.

DUH

Fixed now!