Dolby Atmos - from a ripping/archiving angle

[humprof]

I still stand by my comment before that when you play the disc live and decode with an Atmos-equppied reciever, the actual Atmos audio stream is somehow adaptive to however many speakers are in your setup. The question is how many discrete channels were used when they actually mixed this title in the studio.

That's my (rather fuzzy) understanding, too. From the explanations I've read, all of the "object placement" information is metadata, and in playback, Dolby's magic algorithms "place" the object information differently according to how many (and what type of) speakers you have. If you have fewer speakers, then they rely more on psychoacoustics than on discrete placement. But I think there are still 7.1 (or, as new member @hotRocks1061977 claims above, 5.1.2) "discrete" channels in the core.

My question is: how do you "rip" the metadata along with the music? And to what file formats? The only commercial download of an Atmos recording I know of (so far) is John Luther Adams's Become Desert, sold by Acoustic Sounds, and the label head told me that the only format it could be offered in was mp4. (I got the impression that Dolby dictated this, though I'm not sure.) Meanwhile, the Atmos test tracks that Dolby makes available on the web are mp3s, whereas the "upmixed" Atmos tracks that Glenn (zeeround) was offering for purposes of comparison a week or so ago are wavs.

 

[sjcorne]

My question is: how do you "rip" the metadata along with the music? And to what file formats?

@HomerJAU mentioned in the "Dolby Atmos FAQ" thread that ripping to an MKV file will retain the Atmos metadata.

Can I convert Atmos to FLAC to play in my car, on PC or Media Player?
FLAC is limited to 8 channels. It is possible to convert an Atmos track’s legacy TrueHD to 5.1 or 7.1 FLAC but this will not contain the Atmos extensions (height and special metadata) so it can never reproduce the true Atmos mix during playback.

It is possible to copy the Atmos codec audio track (unconverted original) in its original container (m2ts for BDA) or into another container that supports TrueHD (MKV, MKA, MP4) to play back via HDMI Passthrough to an AVR for Atmos decoding. (Most content will have DRM so ripping/conversion software will be required, the usual suspects that support TrueHD will support Atmos).

 

[humprof]

@HomerJAU mentioned in the "Dolby Atmos FAQ" thread that ripping to an MKV file retain the Atmos metadata.

When in doubt, read the FAQ...

 

[himey]

@HomerJAU mentioned in the "Dolby Atmos FAQ" thread that ripping to an MKV file retain the Atmos metadata.

Are you sure about that? Edit...Sorry it does look like you can. Dolby Vision seems to be the issue.

 

[ubertrout]

5.1.2

Source? Before I got a receiver that can do Atmos, the Atmos tracks decoded as 7.1 TrueHD.

 

[HomerJAU]

It’s a 7.1 floor. This was a standard way before Atmos came along. Atmos adds to the core for with older non-Atmos decoders compatibility.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

In my dedicated home theater, prior to tear down for upgrade and renovation (still in progress), I then had a 5.2.4 system, with my Trinnov Altitude 32 SSP. So for Dolby Atmos music, I let the disc player send bitstream to the SSP, which decoded the Dolby Atmos music (as well as movies and concert discs with Dolby Atmos, too). My understanding was that you had to have the player send bitstream for Dolby Atmos to be properly decoded. Hopefully in reading this thread that understanding is WRONG!

I've used ROON for music for years. In my theater, my ROON Ready via ethernet Trinnov Altitude 32 SSP will sound better via ROON Ready than by playing the disc using HDMI. And with my theater upgrade/renovation I will have plenty of channels - 11.12.12.

In my family room I have a very nice musical system also using ROON Ready via ethernet Exasound s88 multi-channel DAC, 5.1 channels with on wall Totem Audio (3 Tribe V and 2 Tribe III) speakers and PS Audio monoblocks (3 M1200 and 2 M700) and a few REL subwoofers. (A 7.1 or Atmos speakers is not practical due to physical restraints and very high vaulted ceiling.)

I have a multitude of ripped and bought/downloaded music, including a lot of multi-channel ripped from blu rays and SACDs. Many 2L blu ray audio discs ripped. I use DVD Audio Extractor to rip and AnyDVD HD to decrypt when necessary.

Some blu rays have DTS-HD 7.1 tracks as well as 5.1, and I have ripped both. I assume ROON automatically folds 7.1 into 5.1 as I have set ROON to a 5.1 system in my family room. Am I correct about this?

Some blu rays have DolbyTrueHD 7.1 tracks/Dolby Atmos. One has DolbyTrueHD 5.1 tracks/Dolby Atmos. So in my theater to be 11.12.12 system if I play these ripped tracks via ROON Ready va ethernet Trinnov Altitude SSP will I get the full Atmos music/soundtrack, or do I need to play the disc via bitstream to the SSP to do this? And in my 5.1 family room system, will the 7.1 DolbyTrueHD with Atmos be folded into the 5.1 surround channels?

Thanks.

 

[elee532]

@Steve Bruzonsky, I don’t fully know the answer to your question, but I do believe that the only way to rip an Atmos audio track is to MKV format (maybe MKA also), and Roon will not play MKV files. I expect you could rip to a FLAC 7.1 file, but you won’t be getting the “full Atmos.”