Dolby Atmos on MacOS

[himey]

I found about it from the Computer Audiophile piece:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/imme...olby-truehd-atmos-on-windows-and-macos-r1092/

Same. I saw it about a week or 10 days ago. I am almost positive there was a button to add to the shopping cart. I don't see it now?

https://daleproaudio.com/products/d...rocessing-software-1-year-license#description

 

[~dave~~wave~]

Same. I saw it about a week or 10 days ago. I am almost positive there was a button to add to the shopping cart. I don't see it now?

https://daleproaudio.com/products/d...rocessing-software-1-year-license#description

You can purchase the Dolby media Encoder here.

 

[himey]

You can purchase the Dolby media Encoder here.

View attachment 83572

That's the same link I posted. Again, I am pretty sure you could add it to the shopping cart and check out a week ago. I don't see that option now?

Does anyone here have any hands on experience with this software?

Also of note...The article says you don't need the encoder, only the player, and you can run it on Windows!

 

[~dave~~wave~]

That's the same link I posted. Again, I am pretty sure you could add it to the shopping cart and check out a week ago. I don't see that option now?

Does anyone here have any hands on experience with this software?

Also of note...The article says you don't need the encoder, only the player, and you can run it on Windows!

Sorry, my bad.
The price tag shocked me into cognitive impairment.

Apparently you can't just click and download?
You must call or email to be vetted?
Perhaps not a bad thing in this case, or driven by folks who didn't understand what they bought for $400 asking for refunds.

 

[sjcorne]

Does anyone here have any hands on experience with this software?

Yes, it's great. In addition to TrueHD support, it lets you decode up 9.1.6 channels whereas Apple Music on MacOS is limited to 7.1.4. $400 may seem high for software, but it beats $3000 for a 7.1.4 Atmos AVR. Not to mention that the only hardware unit I'm aware of that goes up to 9.1.6 is the $5000 Emotiva RMC-1.

 

[Franck]

I'm not sure. I see these options in "Audio MIDI Setup" for my 8 outputs. No 4.0.4.

If you look in Logic they support 5.1.4 but the Audio Midi setup is 5.1.2. I hope with the new MacOS they will standardize things a bit...

 

[~dave~~wave~]

If you look in Logic they support 5.1.4 but the Audio Midi setup is 5.1.2. I hope with the new MacOS they will standardize things a bit...

View attachment 83583View attachment 83585

Right on, Franck.

After my Monterey upgrade I went ahead and bought Logic X to noodle with in surround.

Strange discrepancies between the Apple flagship music production app and the operating system.
Why offer quad, hex and octophonic in iOS but not 5.1.4 in Logic?
Gotta hope that keeps evolving.

Also, since they've sold hundreds of millions of Airpods, but are not in the component audio business, Logic is pushing the multitude of bedroom music producers to imagine they can do spatial mixing using the binaural render to earbuds.

 

[austinsignal]

I'm trying to figure out if the Dolby Reference Player will solve my problem. I'd like to be able to play commercially available content from Apple Music in my studio in full 7.1.4 - going thru my audio interface without buying an AVR and installing some kind of convoluted speaker switching mechanism between my monitor controller and the AVR. Right now all I get from Apple Music is 5.1. If I'm playing content from Apple Music thru the Reference Player, will Apple Music recognize it and send 7.1.4? Normally I'd just download the Player and try it, but I'm away from the studio until mid-October, and I'd love to know if I've found the solution or not!

 

[himey]

I'm trying to figure out if the Dolby Reference Player will solve my problem. I'd like to be able to play commercially available content from Apple Music in my studio in full 7.1.4 - going thru my audio interface without buying an AVR and installing some kind of convoluted speaker switching mechanism between my monitor controller and the AVR. Right now all I get from Apple Music is 5.1. If I'm playing content from Apple Music thru the Reference Player, will Apple Music recognize it and send 7.1.4? Normally I'd just download the Player and try it, but I'm away from the studio until mid-October, and I'd love to know if I've found the solution or not!

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pr...listen-to-dolby-atmos-without-costly-hardware

 

[sjcorne]

I'm trying to figure out if the Dolby Reference Player will solve my problem. I'd like to be able to play commercially available content from Apple Music in my studio in full 7.1.4 - going thru my audio interface without buying an AVR and installing some kind of convoluted speaker switching mechanism between my monitor controller and the AVR. Right now all I get from Apple Music is 5.1. If I'm playing content from Apple Music thru the Reference Player, will Apple Music recognize it and send 7.1.4? Normally I'd just download the Player and try it, but I'm away from the studio until mid-October, and I'd love to know if I've found the solution or not!

The Reference Player only accepts files (.MLP for TrueHD and .EC3/.MP4 for DD+/JOC), it won't help with Apple Music. I'd look into using a virtual device like Loopback or BlackHole 16ch to route the 12-channel output into your audio interface.

 

[himey]

The Reference Player only accepts files (.MLP for TrueHD and .EC3/.MP4 for DD+/JOC), it won't help with Apple Music. I'd look into using a virtual device like Loopback or BlackHole 16ch to route the 12-channel output into your audio interface.

How is that different from the link I posted? I don't own a Mac yet, so I am still learning.

 

[sjcorne]

How is that different from the link I posted?

It's not (though BlackHole 16ch, a free alternative to LoopBack, is not mentioned in that piece).

 

[austinsignal]

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pr...listen-to-dolby-atmos-without-costly-hardware

ya thanks for this. Lots of clues in there. I've tried lots of variants of the same thing, but always end up getting 5.1. I use a Motu D112 as the interface for mixing ATMOS, and it feeds 24ch via AES to a JBL Intonato monitor controller. Trying to get my head around adding another routing piece of software in there....and why that would make a difference.....? Thanks very much!

 

[himey]

It's not (though BlackHole 16ch, a free alternative to LoopBack, is not mentioned in that piece).

Thanks. On another note, I have been messing around with Cavern on my PC. Have you used it?

 

[austinsignal]

As sjcorne mentioned, I'm thinking I'll need to incorporate Loopback or similar in there, sitting in front of the D112...I'm sure I'm not comprehending something - I can't quite grasp why Apple Music will send full 7.1.4 to a virtual sound card, but not to a real audio interface.

 

[sjcorne]

As sjcorne mentioned, I'm thinking I'll need to incorporate Loopback or similar in there, sitting in front of the D112...I'm sure I'm not comprehending something - I can't quite grasp why Apple Music will send full 7.1.4 to a virtual sound card, but not to a real audio interface.

It is definitely puzzling that there has to be some kind of virtual "bridge" between Apple Music and your audio interface (If I try to send Apple Music straight to my 7.1.4 aggregate device, like you I only get 5.1 playback), but I have to give props to Apple for--knowingly or unknowingly--allowing passage of 7.1.4 audio without HDMI copy protection in the signal chain. To my knowledge, Tidal will only pass a multichannel signal in conjunction with an HDCP 2.2-compliant Atmos AVR.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

As sjcorne mentioned, I'm thinking I'll need to incorporate Loopback or similar in there, sitting in front of the D112...I'm sure I'm not comprehending something - I can't quite grasp why Apple Music will send full 7.1.4 to a virtual sound card, but not to a real audio interface.

Loopback is a free download for the trial version, it wouldn't take you long to find out if it works.

https://rogueamoeba.com/support/knowledgebase/?showArticle=MiscDownloadAndTry&product=Loopback

 

[austinsignal]

It is definitely puzzling that there has to be some kind of virtual "bridge" between Apple Music and your audio interface (If I try to send Apple Music straight to my 7.1.4 aggregate device, like you I only get 5.1 playback), but I have to give props to Apple for--knowingly or unknowingly--allowing passage of 7.1.4 audio without HDMI copy protection in the signal chain. To my knowledge, Tidal will only pass a multichannel signal in conjunction with an HDCP 2.2-compliant Atmos AVR.

yes, for sure. Apple (as much as I bitch) is doing a whole lot for the medium and getting it to the masses in some form or another.

 

[mkt]

Is there all-on-a-mac way to go from a blu-ray disc to something that the Dolby Reference Player will play?

I used makemkv to backup a Blu-ray disc but I don't see a file type from that that Dolby Reference Player will play? What am I missing?

EDIT Or all-linux for the blu-ray backup -> DRP-friendly format and then play it on a Mac.

 

[sjcorne]

I used makemkv to backup a Blu-ray disc but I don't see a file type from that that Dolby Reference Player will play? What am I missing?

One option is to extract the Atmos audio stream from the MKVs using the “MKV Cleaver” app, then rename the resultant “.undefined” files to “.MLP”

Another is to use MakeMKV to create a Blu-Ray folder. Then, open the folder in AudioMuxer or DVD-Audio Extractor and rip the Atmos audio as a “direct stream demux”. You’ll probably have to rename the resultant “.truehd” files to “.MLP”.

The DRP will only play TrueHD/Atmos as .MLP files and DD+/Atmos as .EC3 or .MP4