Dolby Atmos Music on Apple TV Home Theater

[Aragornii]

I am confused about the new Dolby Atmos feature in Apple Music when played on an Apple TV. Is this just for headphones? When playing on my home theater 5.1 system, I am only getting stereo output music from the Apple TV when I select a Dolby Atmos track.

 

[fischersd]

I am confused about the new Dolby Atmos feature in Apple Music when played on an Apple TV. Is this just for headphones? When playing on my home theater 5.1 system, I am only getting stereo output music from the Apple TV when I select a Dolby Atmos track.

The destination has to support Dolby Atmos, not just 5.1. Your receiver or speaker system needs to have that support.

 

[Aragornii]

The destination has to support Dolby Atmos, not just 5.1. Your receiver or speaker system needs to have that support.

Thanks for your reply. The receiver is a Marantz SR6014 and definitely supports Dolby Atmos. My confusion is why the Apple TV only outputs 2-channel sound when outputting Dolby Atmos content, or if the new Apple Music feature only applies to headphones.

 

[fischersd]

Thanks for your reply. The receiver is a Marantz SR6014 and definitely supports Dolby Atmos. My confusion is why the Apple TV only outputs 2-channel sound when outputting Dolby Atmos content, or if the new Apple Music feature only applies to headphones.

Maybe you need to get a new HDMI cable? It's (obviously) more than two channels. "Spatial Audio" - where the soundscape moves when you move your head - only applies to headphones. When I looked at pics for the back of that receiver, I see it has eARC support - which typically suggests it has either HDMI 2.1 or 2.0a+ features. Me, I'd make sure I'm using an 8k 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 cable to make sure that the Apple TV sees sufficient bandwidth to send the Atmos signal.

As the receiver came out in 2019, I'd also check to see if there was a firmware update available for it from the manufacturer.

 

[Aragornii]

Maybe you need to get a new HDMI cable? It's (obviously) more than two channels. "Spatial Audio" - where the soundscape moves when you move your head - only applies to headphones. When I looked at pics for the back of that receiver, I see it has eARC support - which typically suggests it has either HDMI 2.1 or 2.0a+ features. Me, I'd make sure I'm using an 8k 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 cable to make sure that the Apple TV sees sufficient bandwidth to send the Atmos signal.

As the receiver came out in 2019, I'd also check to see if there was a firmware update available for it from the manufacturer.

Never mind, this was my error.

Despite the fact that I had "automatic updates" turned on, my ATV was still on 14.0. Did a manual update to 14.7 and Dolby Atmos is working perfectly. It sounds phenomenal!

 

[iSayuSay]

The destination has to support Dolby Atmos, not just 5.1. Your receiver or speaker system needs to have that support.

Not really. One of my Apple TV connected to an old 7.1 AVR which has HDMI but still no Dolby Atmos.

I can stream Dolby Atmos on Apple Music just fine, it’s translated as 7.1 PCM and played as 7.1 surround.

I can hear all my surround speakers playing different sound with DA tracks, but only front channel with stereo/lossless tracks.

I think you’ll have to set the audio output mode on ATV into mutichannel PCM.