ATMOS via Foobar2000??

[jimfisheye]

Is there really an Atmos decoder codec for Foobar being made available? Even rumors?

The above discussion is around using the 'pass through workaround'. Literally sending the encoded Atmos stream to a hardware device with the decoder software bundled inside.

 

[humprof]

Jim's question is my also question, and so far I've had no luck finding an answer. I started a thread with that query on the Hydrogen Audio fb2k forum, and got very few replies, none altogether helpful. And no one else seemed obviously eager to add Atmos functionality.

No idea how to reach Peter Pawlowski or get in touch with anyone interested in developing Atmos playback capability.

 

[jimfisheye]

The Atmos playback codec is still unreleased to my knowledge. It's only available to hardware makers to hide inside their devices. Last time I went hunting, I learned there is an OS for AVRs now and you can find the codec download for the AVR OS. I don't know what might be involved porting that to Mac/Linux/Windows. (What level of programming background and developer tools I mean.)

Dolby either needs to decide they've bullied enough hardware sales and finally release it to consumers or someone needs to port it to a standard codec and liberate it. Otherwise it's buying a new box of DACs and output channels all over again to get at that software.

 

[humprof]

The thing is: Kodi and VLC have figured out how to do it. As @HomerJAU taught me, it involves going deep into the bowels of the "advanced" settings and, as I understand it, letting the player (and Windows) effectively pass the Atmos content through directly, via HDMI, to your AVR. But I guess foobar works differently and doesn't allow for that?

As the one (seemingly) knowledgeable commenter on my Hydrogen Audio thread explained it:

fb2k appears to be decoding to 7.1 PCM (ffmpeg discards the object data) and outputting that as PCM in WASAPI.
VLC and other players do not decode the audio to PCM after demuxing and instead set the player format to HDMI bitstream using WASAPI exclusive mode.

For any object based format to work, fb2k would need to not decode the audio, and know the format from the demuxer, and then pass that on to the WASAPI output. I have not worked with fb2k (and it's closed source) so I don't know how much work that would be.

 

[jimfisheye]

The thing is: Kodi and VLC have figured out how to do it.

They haven't though.
The only option is to pass the still encoded Atmos to a hardware device with the software support built in.
Like you went on to add:

As @HomerJAU taught me, it involves going deep into the bowels of the "advanced" settings and, as I understand it, letting the player (and Windows) effectively pass the Atmos content through directly, via HDMI, to your AVR. But I guess foobar works differently and doesn't allow for that?

I don't mean to just be fussy with language but maybe that helps in thinking about this and dealing with your system and options.

 

[humprof]

They haven't though.
The only option is to pass the still encoded Atmos to a hardware device with the software support built in.

I get it. At this point, I'd be happy if foobar had that kind of pass-through option. (Does it, and I've just missed it?) So far I can only get foobar to send the TrueHD core (sans Atmos metadata) to my AVR--or at least that's how the AVR recognizes whatever foobar is passing along.

 

[GOS]

I get it. At this point, I'd be happy if foobar had that kind of pass-through option. (Does it, and I've just missed it?) So far I can only get foobar to send the TrueHD core (sans Atmos metadata) to my AVR--or at least that's how the AVR recognizes whatever foobar is passing along.

I have no idea if it does, I just can't get it to work at all.

 

[HomerJAU]

Is there really an Atmos decoder codec for Foobar being made available?

No. HDMI pass-through to a device with Atmos decoder is the only option for consumers.

 

[HomerJAU]

I have no idea if it does, I just can't get it to work at all.

Have you considered using Kodi or JRiver to get Atmos from your PC Gene?

Kodi is free but needs a little patience to set up. It really needs fully tagged media files or CUE files too. Once done it’s a great user experience though. My recommended system (as you know).

 

[humprof]

No. HDMI pass-through to a device with Atmos decoder is the only option for consumers.

That HDMI pass-through capability is precisely what we'd like foobar to add...

 

[GOS]

Have you considered using Kodi or JRiver to get Atmos from your PC Gene?

Kodi is free but needs a little patience to set up. It really needs fully tagged media files or CUE files too. Once done it’s a great user experience though. My recommended system (as you know).

Yes, I'm debating Kodi. I'm trying to figure out how to allign my Network NAS drive to Kodi. So far, no luck. But, I'm a total dope when it comes to this type of stuff.

 

[HomerJAU]

I can help you Gene. Please start a new thread in the Multichannel Media Player sub-forum and let’s work through it there. I’d prefer to post publicly so others can learn too.

I may be able to provide you with a zip file for a (almost) fully configured Kodi system. You would just need to configure your output devices and Media folder locations.

 

[gorman]

You also need to configure the ffmpeg screen as per this post to tell Foobar what file types to play via ffmpeg:

Problems playing MKA files

I have some Dolby Atmos files that were encoded as MKA. I'm new to Kodi, but Kodi doesn't seem to want to play them. (Maybe there's a plug-in I need?) If I right-click on one of the files to choose a different app to open it with, Windows File Explorer freezes up. Does anyone know of an easy...

www.quadraphonicquad.com

You also need to point to ffmpeg.exe (version 4.3 or later). MMH has 4.4 in its program files folder (x86)

With these settings Foobar will play .m4a and .MKA in Atmos

Hmmm... Foobar 1.6.16, ffmpeg Decoder Wrapper 0.8, ffmpeg built today.

I use WASAPI output, DTS and AC3 tracks are bitstreamed with no problem. Atmos tracks in m4a containers are decoded to 7.1 PCM with the above configuration. I have a Denon AVR that has no problem handling Atmos bitstream through Kodi (even for these music files) but I'd like to get foobar2000 working too, for when I'm working on the machine.

 

[humprof]

Hmmm... Foobar 1.6.16, ffmpeg Decoder Wrapper 0.8, ffmpeg built today.

I use WASAPI output, DTS and AC3 tracks are bitstreamed with no problem. Atmos tracks in m4a containers are decoded to 7.1 PCM with the above configuration. I have a Denon AVR that has no problem handling Atmos bitstream through Kodi (even for these music files) but I'd like to get foobar2000 working too, for when I'm working on the machine.

Join the club. AFAIK, the developer hasn't shown any interest in adding this feature.

 

[gorman]

Join the club. AFAIK, the developer hasn't shown any interest in adding this feature.

Oh, ok... if it's not possible I simply can wait and use Kodi... it's just that @HomerJAU described it as if it was possible. That's why I asked. Thanks!

 

[humprof]

Oh, ok... if it's not possible I simply can wait and use Kodi... it's just that @HomerJAU described it as if it was possible. That's why I asked. Thanks!

You can indeed configure foobar2000 to play Atmos tracks--it's just that it will only play the 7.1 "core" (without the Atmos metadata). Unless I've missed a major new development, in which case I'll stand happily corrected!

 

[gorman]

I wonder if there is some argument that could be passed to ffmpeg in order for it to simply decode the "raw" content of the file, without trying to decode it as audio. I have a hunch that it should be possible but I currently lack the time to experiment.

 

[gorman]

You can indeed configure foobar2000 to play Atmos tracks--it's just that it will only play the 7.1 "core" (without the Atmos metadata). Unless I've missed a major new development, in which case I'll stand happily corrected!

Sure, I managed to do that.

 

[HomerJAU]

it's just that @HomerJAU described it as if it was possible.

At the time I described that I was playing Atmos streams in Foobar but just the core. I did not have an AVR connected and assumed it would work. Other users found Foobar does not bitstream via HDMI.

 

[himey]

assumed it would work

I am very surprised they haven't fixed this.