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Cave Man

macrumors 604
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What are the software options for passthrough of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio to receivers? VLC seems to handle both but how about others, such as Plex, Kodi, etc.?
 
I use a Windows 10 HTPC with MPB-BE, madVR, and Lav filters.

Plays 4k rips perfectly with HD audio and HDR.
 
I've looked too but no luck on my side. There is no way to get HD audio out of a Mac that I could find.

Unfortunately, Kodi doesn't support 4k.

The MacBooks have a protected audio path that is required to pass HD audio but there is no software that can take advantage of this fact.
 
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OK, so no Atmos or DTS:X unless you're on an AppleTV. Apple sure is a pain when it comes to current technologies.
 
You'll only get lossy Atmos over multi channel PCM or multi channel PCM on the apple tv 4/4k.

Unfortunately, no DTS:X from any streaming service.
 
Great, thanks. So I guess I will keep my windows PC around.
Simplest solution for many people would be an nVidia Shield 2017 or Pro since both can bitstream audio from rips.

I use a Windows 10 HTPC to stream DTS-HD MA and TrueHD audio to my receiver too. I don't have an Atmos system so 5.1 is fine for me.
 
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Any update? Still no confirmation that new apple tv 4k could passthrough.
If it supported DTS-HD MA/DTS:X and Atmos over TrueHD, I'm sure Apple would have mentioned it because people have wanted this for a long time.
 
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Agree. Hope Apple could enable that.
In order to bitstream DTS:X and Atmos over TrueHD, the Apple TV would need to have a protected audio path and I'm not sure it has that capability. There are no devices running Android TV 9.0 or higher that can pass lossless except for the nVidia Shield.
 
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That's new. Don't know that before.
But as Apple controls its own OS, I think it wont be a problem if they truly want to enable that.
So i have to keep using my shield tv pro 2019 for now, I assume.
 
In order to bitstream DTS:X and Atmos over TrueHD, the Apple TV would need to have a protected audio path and I'm not sure it has that capability. There are no devices running Android TV 9.0 or higher that can pass lossless except for the nVidia Shield.
That's new. Don't know that before.
But as Apple controls its own OS, I think it wont be a problem if they truly want to enable that.
So i have to keep using my shield tv pro 2019 for now, I assume.
 
That's new. Don't know that before.
But as Apple controls its own OS, I think it wont be a problem if they truly want to enable that.
So i have to keep using my shield tv pro 2019 for now, I assume.
Passing TrueHD and DTS-HD MA has always required a protected audio path and it's a something that has to be implemented in hardware and software. If the hardware isn't compatible, it would not be possible.

Keep the nVidia. I use a Windows 10 htpc to bitstream audio lossless audio.
 
Passing TrueHD and DTS-HD MA has always required a protected audio path and it's a something that has to be implemented in hardware and software. If the hardware isn't compatible, it would not be possible.

Keep the nVidia. I use a Windows 10 htpc to bitstream audio lossless audio.
Thanks, learned a lot. I was thinking its just a software limitation. Shield seems like still the best choice for me.
 
Evidently Infuse will do it. Not sure about Plex.

Infuse does support DTS-HD MA and TrueHD, and the full lossless audio will be sent to your receiver as LPCM. The decoding process itself is standardized between all Dolby/DTS certified products (Infuse is certified and licensed for both) so in the end there is no difference whether this decoding is…

 
Evidently Infuse will do it. Not sure about Plex.

Infuse does support DTS-HD MA and TrueHD, and the full lossless audio will be sent to your receiver as LPCM. The decoding process itself is standardized between all Dolby/DTS certified products (Infuse is certified and licensed for both) so in the end there is no difference whether this decoding is…

DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, yes (sent lossless as PCM over HDMI)
DTS:X and Dolby Atmos, no - with the exception of Atmos using E-AC3 (Blu-ray uses Atmos over TrueHD, Netflix uses Atmos over E-AC3)

At one point this worked in Infuse before Apple changed tvOS and broke lossless passthrough. Many people have asked Apple to unbreak it.

I use a raspberryPi 4 using the latest LibreELEC OS beta + Plex plug-in ... and passthrough works perfectly.
 
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Audio passthrough was there and infuse pro had corresponding option in its settings.
Apple deliberately blocked this functionality in tvOS 11.3.
couple of versions later that option was also removed from infuse as defunct and confusing.
I do not know what might have been the reason behind that decision. Shouldn”t be the lack of HDCP.

 
Audio passthrough was there and infuse pro had corresponding option in its settings.
Apple deliberately blocked this functionality in tvOS 11.3.
couple of versions later that option was also removed from infuse as defunct and confusing.
I do not know what might have been the reason behind that decision. Shouldn”t be the lack of HDCP.

Did the Apple TV ever pass DTS-HD MA and TrueHD from Infuse or only DTS and DD? I've never used Infuse or Infuse Pro for streaming files.
 
Audio passthrough was there and infuse pro had corresponding option in its settings.
Apple deliberately blocked this functionality in tvOS 11.3.
couple of versions later that option was also removed from infuse as defunct and confusing.
I do not know what might have been the reason behind that decision. Shouldn”t be the lack of HDCP.

There's a saying that Apple TV keeps Siri online and need to mix the Siri tunnel into the audio, so the decoding needs to be done in ATV, which means can't passthrough.
 
I still think its an anti-piracy thing as much as anything else. As pointed out, no current mass commercial devices do it outside of the shield. I have a Xiaomi Mi Box that used to do it until Android 9.0 broke that capability ad its far less powerful than the ATV4K.
 
Did the Apple TV ever pass DTS-HD MA and TrueHD from Infuse or only DTS and DD? I've never used Infuse or Infuse Pro for streaming files.
Thats how I understood it back in the day. I was too late for the Infuse Pro party.
The free non-Pro never did. And I did not see the reason to pay for Pro back then.
 
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