Apple Music & Atmos processing

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pat bateman

Well-known Member
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Sep 16, 2021
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175
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I am wondering if someone can explain this. If I record an Atmos track from Apple Music, and playback via Kodi, it sounds completely different (better) than when playing through the Apple TV via the official app. It's difficult to describe, but the Apple Music version sounds "muddier" and not as crisp and punchy. The volume is definitely lower on Apple Music, but even when adjusting for that, the difference is astounding.
  • Recording methodology is MacBook Pro > Apple Music App > Audacity with Blackhole 16CH virtual sound driver > export as FLAC. The Atmos metadata is not captured doing this, but all 6 channels are discrete and in-tact.
  • Playback methodology for the recorded file is Nvidia Shield Pro > Kodi > Denon 3700 AVR.
  • Playback for Apple Music is Apple TV 4K 1st Gen > Denon 3700 AVR.
Sorry if this is not appropriate because I realize this is technically piracy, but I could not not find QQ's official policy (if they have one) on discussion of these sort of things.
 
Hmmm….when I compare the Yello Bluray with Apple Music there is no difference.
Perhaps you have different settings in your AVRs channels? I play with a Denon X6200W and have all settings in Direct mode and no Audyssey!
 
Hmmm….when I compare the Yello Bluray with Apple Music there is no difference.
Perhaps you have different settings in your AVRs channels? I play with a Denon X6200W and have all settings in Direct mode and no Audyssey!

After doing some more comparisons and Googling, I think the difference boils down to the dial norm offset that Dolby loves to use. Do you notice the Apple Music version needs to be turned up considerably louder than the blu ray to achieve the same volume, yes? I am listening to my personally ripped blu ray, and playing back via Kodi, and the audio fidelity aside, it sounds like 2 different mixes. I wonder if you are listening to the actual disc on a bluray player, if the dial norm offset on the blu ray is still there, but if its ripped, the dial norm offset data isn't captured during that process?

I understand that dial norm is just lowering the volume, so the conventional wisdom is to "just turn it up and its the same", but something else is happening, or there's a limitation of my equipment (Denon 3700), or something, but the version without dial norm sounds so much better. It's not just the volume, it's the "punchiness" of everything and surround effects are more prominent.

I am far from an expert on this sort of thing, so someone feel free to correct me. For what its worth, I have Audyssey completely turned off.

https://connectedmag.com.au/dialling-down-dialnorm/
 
After doing some more comparisons and Googling, I think the difference boils down to the dial norm offset that Dolby loves to use. Do you notice the Apple Music version needs to be turned up considerably louder than the blu ray to achieve the same volume, yes? I am listening to my personally ripped blu ray, and playing back via Kodi, and the audio fidelity aside, it sounds like 2 different mixes. I wonder if you are listening to the actual disc on a bluray player, if the dial norm offset on the blu ray is still there, but if its ripped, the dial norm offset data isn't captured during that process?

I understand that dial norm is just lowering the volume, so the conventional wisdom is to "just turn it up and its the same", but something else is happening, or there's a limitation of my equipment (Denon 3700), or something, but the version without dial norm sounds so much better. It's not just the volume, it's the "punchiness" of everything and surround effects are more prominent.

I am far from an expert on this sort of thing, so someone feel free to correct me. For what its worth, I have Audyssey completely turned off.

https://connectedmag.com.au/dialling-down-dialnorm/

The only thing that comes to mind, is to make sure you turn off "sound check" in your ATV settings-->Apps-->Music-->Sound Check

That seems to make a huge difference not just in volume but also sound quality. Perhaps try the comparison again with Sound Check off.
 
I am wondering if someone can explain this. If I record an Atmos track from Apple Music, and playback via Kodi, it sounds completely different (better) than when playing through the Apple TV via the official app. It's difficult to describe, but the Apple Music version sounds "muddier" and not as crisp and punchy. The volume is definitely lower on Apple Music, but even when adjusting for that, the difference is astounding.
  • Recording methodology is MacBook Pro > Apple Music App > Audacity with Blackhole 16CH virtual sound driver > export as FLAC. The Atmos metadata is not captured doing this, but all 6 channels are discrete and in-tact.
  • Playback methodology for the recorded file is Nvidia Shield Pro > Kodi > Denon 3700 AVR.
  • Playback for Apple Music is Apple TV 4K 1st Gen > Denon 3700 AVR.
Sorry if this is not appropriate because I realize this is technically piracy, but I could not not find QQ's official policy (if they have one) on discussion of these sort of things.
Have a look at your Denon’s Audyssey ”Dynamic Volume“ and ”Dynamic EQ” settings.

The AVR adjusts dynamic range and EQ based on volume control level. If Kodi and Apple use different base playback volumes, and you adjust the AVR’s volume control to compensate, it will sound different. I had a Marantz with these features, always set them to “OFF” for music.
 
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