How to get Dolby Atmos from MacBook Pro 2020 to AV Receiver (Apple TV+)

stu D

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Hi Folks. Got myself a new MacBook Pro 2020. Came with 12m free subscription to Apple TV+ via the built in app. So I thought Id try out the new Greyhound film with Tom Hanks, which is streamed in 4k with dolby Atmos.

I have a Dolby Atmos amp (Yamaha RXV 685) so I hooked up the MacBook to the amp via a 2 metre 4k/60hz USB-C to HMDI cable (because MacBooks now only have USBC/Thunderbolt 3 connections).

So I get the full 4k picture passing through the amp to the screen at 60hz. But the audio is only registering on the amp as PCM 2.1. No sign of 5.1 sound, let alone atmos! I can of course get the amp to convert the 2.1 to DTX:NeuralX 5.1.2 but this is only simulating a surround effect and is not the core atmos track.

The only adjustable settings on the MacBook Pro whilst playing the movie is under 'preferences' and then 'playback/streaming quality:best available'. There doesn't seem to be any specific audio settings. And there's no indication on the MacBook as to what audio is being transmitted.

I wondered if buying a dedicated USB-C to HDMI adapter - and then using a separate HDMI cable from the adapter to the amp would make a difference (rather than a single cable with USBC on one end and HDMI on the other - just in case the cable is able to send the 4k picture but not the atmos audio with it? Or are the 2 are encoded together?)

Any ideas?

Thanks

Stuart
 
Ok. Got somewhere. Found some separate HDMI settings in the utility menu on the MacBook and when hooked up to the amp it allowed me to change the output from default 2 channel to 8 channel sound. Yet when you go to configure the speaker set up the only options are 5.1 , 1, 6.1 or 7.1.

Yet still no option for 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 Atmos?

So I managed to get PCM 5.1 out of the Mac into the amp, and then used DTS NeuralX to get the height channels to work. But again it’s not the proper Atmos.

Still No idea how to get Atmos out of the MacBook!!
 
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I am trying to figure this out as well. I believe Mac OS is only capable to output 7.1. Very surprised that a Mac can't do this, yet Windows can using VLC player.
 
The following givesan indication of which Mac OS devices fascilitate Atmos:



MacBook Pros dating from 2018 and running at leat macOS Catalina 10.15 should allow for Atmos output.


I am trying to figure this out as well. I believe Mac OS is only capable to output 7.1. Very surprised that a Mac can't do this, yet Windows can using VLC player.

You'd not need to output anything more than 7.1. Atmos is fascilitated by metadata include with 7.1 DD+ or TrueHD packaged audio. Atmos itself isn't channel based.

Apple use DD+ in association with their streaming service and the Atmos metadata would be included within the DD+ audio package. Whether Apple actually make this available to access via the Apple TV app onboard Apple desktops and or laptops is another matter? Also note that you cannot download the 4K variants that would include the Atmos either so you are limited as to the applications you can use to play the content you'd be expecting Atmos in association with.

The source and playback device need not even know that Atmos metadata is present. You simply biystream the audio out to an external decoding device such as an Atmos enabled AV receiver. THe source device has no comprehension of your AV receiver speaker configuration so how would the source determine whether that setup is 5.1.2. 5,1.4, 7.1.2 or 7.1.4? Atmos is simply metadata and your AV receiver uses that metadata to map thre objects to the speakers you've got present. No source will gave options to output 5.1.2. 5,1.4, 7.1.2 or 7.1.4 etc. You;d select an option that bitstreams the audio as is without the source messing with or decoding the audio.


This is worth noting:
The new 'TV' app on Mac will support movies from iTunes in up to 4K HDR picture quality and Dolby Atmos audio. The announcement was made at WWDC 2019.

Despite this, the simplest solution is to buy an standalone Apple TV box as opposed to trying to directly get Atmos via the Apple TV + app onboard a MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro.
 
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QUOTE="stu D, post: 28234346, member: 81481"]
Ok. Got somewhere. Found some separate HDMI settings in the utility menu on the MacBook and when hooked up to the amp it allowed me to change the output from default 2 channel to 8 channel sound. Yet when you go to configure the speaker set up the only options are 5.1 , 1, 6.1 or 7.1.

Yet still no option for 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 Atmos?

So I managed to get PCM 5.1 out of the Mac into the amp, and then used DTS NeuralX to get the height channels to work. But again it’s not the proper Atmos.

Still No idea how to get Atmos out of the MacBook!!
[/QUOTE]

Hello Stuart,
we have nearly the same set up. MacBook Pro 2020 and RX V685 .
Same problem with Atmos ...
VLC or Kodi or DVDfab no Dolby Atmos .Even no Settings for that ...
I did not find the settings on the MacBook to change the Channels ... you were talking about
where can you See if the source is 2.1 or 5.1 PCM on the receiver?
best regards from Hamburg
Gordon
 
QUOTE="stu D, post: 28234346, member: 81481"]
Ok. Got somewhere. Found some separate HDMI settings in the utility menu on the MacBook and when hooked up to the amp it allowed me to change the output from default 2 channel to 8 channel sound. Yet when you go to configure the speaker set up the only options are 5.1 , 1, 6.1 or 7.1.

Yet still no option for 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 Atmos?

So I managed to get PCM 5.1 out of the Mac into the amp, and then used DTS NeuralX to get the height channels to work. But again it’s not the proper Atmos.

Still No idea how to get Atmos out of the MacBook!!

Hello Stuart,
we have nearly the same set up. MacBook Pro 2020 and RX V685 .
Same problem with Atmos ...
VLC or Kodi or DVDfab no Dolby Atmos .Even no Settings for that ...
I did not find the settings on the MacBook to change the Channels ... you were talking about
where can you See if the source is 2.1 or 5.1 PCM on the receiver?
best regards from Hamburg
Gordon
[/QUOTE]

Hi. Sorry only just checked this thread again and you may have already sorted this.

If you go to Utility or Launchpad. Then select ‘audio midi set up’ (picture of piano keys). Note this may be hidden in the ‘other’ folder.

Then this brings up a list of audio devices attached.
when you have attached your Mac to your Amp via hdmi cable, the Amp will appear in the left hand menu.
Click on the amp and this will open a menu with a drop down option to format the sound. Here you can select 8 Chanel sound. Then there’s another option ‘configure speakers’. Clicking on this then allows you to select your speaker set up , ie 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1.

For some reason my amp still doesn’t detect there’s an additional 2 atmos channels encoded in the 5.1 mix. My amp only shows the incoming 5.1 track and no additional height channels.

Still, I only rarely watch anything through the MacBook hooked up to the amp - it’s only really Apple TV as my Panny Tv doesn’t have the app.

interestingly I tried to want Disney plus today in the same way via the MacBook. As there is no dedicated App for this, I streamed a movie via the website and the audio only came through the front channels (even though the amp showed there was a signal from the rears, there was nothing there. Maybe disney plus doesn’t stream 5.1 via the box standard safari web site??

thanks.
 
Hi folks, any updates about this subject?
I´m trying to pass-through dolby truehd as well. Using PLEX I was able to passthrough DTS (5.1 and 7.1), but Dolby truehd goes as PCM. The quality is really not good as DTS that went as DTS to the amp.
I was able to do it using my old PC laptop, DTS goes as DTS and Dolby TrueHD goes as Dolby TrueHD. I trying airplay but could not get any different output but PCM.

Not sure if its missing some library to do it or some mac limitation (Does not make too much sense to me)

In plex docs they say macos can´t pass-through Dolby TRUEHD...
 
Seems like if you want enjoy some quality home theater sound, you need to throw your Macbook to trash. I have the same problem with mac pro 2019, and only when I played the mkv file through my PC connected to the AVR via HDMI, I finally got the Atmos running. I read on some other forums that any audio that enters the Mac is downgraded to this shitty PCM, and there's nothing you can do about it.
 

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