How to set up your gear for multi channel streaming

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I do not have a subscription to Tidal or any other streaming service except a free account at Spotify.
I did buy a TV late last year that was touted as being Dolby Atmos capable. All I can find in the setup and the meager manual is how to turn it on
Skimmed through the posts but not sure I saw anything specifically about streaming Atmos (through the tv) except with Apple TV.
Wondering if others whose tv is "Dolby Atmos" capable are having any luck with it and Arc or eArc connected with their AVR getting it over their HT?
Barring that do Tidal ever offer trial periods? (Dolby Atmos content)
Yes, I can get Atmos from my LG 4K TV HDMI eARC to my Denon AVR, but only with certain apps, such as Disney+, HBOMax, etc. Atmos does not work with the Apple Music app loaded to the TV (for that you need the Apple TV 4K player). I cannot test Tidal since I do not have a Tidal subscription.
 
The most frustrating thing is there are lots of streaming exclusive Atmos titles such as Tattoo You and the Atmos mix of Sgt. Pepper.

I feel like my CD collection is almost obsolete because I can stream most of it from Tidal instead of my hard drive. But the same can't be said of my physical multichannel collection that I have also ripped to my hard drive. So the best reason to invest in streaming at this point is for the titles you can't get otherwise. Tori Amos - Ocean to Ocean and Crown Lands - White Buffalo are at the top of my list right now. In addition, there are some box set offerings like Let it Be and All Things Must Pass that I'm just not going to plunk down $100+ for that I'm perfectly happy to listen to at a reduced bit rate rather than not at all.
 
That is true. However, my objection to most of the classical MCH/Atmos streaming content is that the general clarity/tonal balance is poor. They just sound muddy.
Do you have a hypothesis for why? Too few bits?
 
Yes, I can get Atmos from my LG 4K TV HDMI eARC to my Denon AVR, but only with certain apps, such as Disney+, HBOMax, etc. Atmos does not work with the Apple Music app loaded to the TV (for that you need the Apple TV 4K player). I cannot test Tidal since I do not have a Tidal subscription.
Thanks. I have not tried my 4K firestick, not sure personally what all is available but I thank you for your experience. Haven't been on the firestick in a while, I guess time to dig in a little. (not a big tv watcher anyway)
My tv has ARC but not eARC. I bought the tv hoping it would aid in listening to Dolby Atmos (since it was listed as being capable in the specs) but sort of flying blind, and since my 55" TV had just died so I needed a new one anyway to keep my wife happy, and thought I would get what I could out of what I was willing to spend for a 65"-or rather put on my Prime CC. It's also an Android tv, something else I had no prior experience with.
I had a chance at a trial subscription for Tidal a while back, not sure if it would have covered the Atmos catalogue though.
My wife is about to retire soon and any chance at streaming Atmos may soon prove to be moot as she's most certainly going to monopolize the tv anyway. But I just gotta try.
 
Too many notes.

Very funny, but yeah you need about four times as many bits to code for eight channels as two. Apple and Tidal streaming are basically comparable to Dolby Digital for 5.1.
 
No. I do not think it has anything to do with bit-rate.

I haven't tried to stream classical. But my limited experience with hard copy classical 5.1 mixes is that they are usually "ambient" with a little reverb in the back. Seems a bit muddy sometimes. It's not like the high frequencies can't bounce off my back walls without any help.
 
As the thread starter I am happy to see that this is a subject that many of you have an interest in. For a time I thought we should get stuck in a dead-end discussing turkey recipees :unsure: but luckily we managed to get back on track.

Reading your comments I am convinced that I will, for the time being, stop my own investigations on how to get multi channel streaming up and running. Seems currently pretty tricky and not worth the effort (time and money) for me. I'll stick to my precious physical discs until this has matured a bit further.

Many thanks for your input!
 
I haven't tried to stream classical. But my limited experience with hard copy classical 5.1 mixes is that they are usually "ambient" with a little reverb in the back. Seems a bit muddy sometimes. It's not like the high frequencies can't bounce off my back walls without any help.

Many of the concert halls I have been in have decorative hangings or curtains on the side and back walls.
 
Kal, have you found a streamed classical album on Tidal or Apple that is one of your favorite SACD or BluRay reviewed selections, and compare the sq? Are the muddy ones you speak of only muddy as streams but are much better as discs?
 
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I haven't tried to stream classical. But my limited experience with hard copy classical 5.1 mixes is that they are usually "ambient" with a little reverb in the back. Seems a bit muddy sometimes. It's not like the high frequencies can't bounce off my back walls without any help.
I am not going to get into the differences in our preferences/perceptions or whether your room's acoustics are in any way comparable to those of the performance site. However, I am comparing the streamed Atmos tracks with discrete tracks streamed or played locally.
Kal, have you found a streamed classical album on Tidal or Apple that is one of your favorite SACD or BluRay reviewed selections, and compare the sq? Are the muddy ones you speak of only muddy as streams but are much better as discs?
Yes. The muddy ones are the Atmos streams that are much better as stereo discs (and, sometimes, as discrete 5.1). It is the Atmos processing that I am suspicious of.
 
To answer the OP‘s question, my way of streaming multi channel music is an Apple TV hosting Apple Music output by HDMI into my ATMOS ( and other multi channel) enabled Marantz 8012 AVR.
to be honest, I don’t hear an appreciable sound quality difference between that and an ATMOS Blu ray played back from my OPPO into the Marantz. I’m old, so maybe my ears are old too.

I’ve listened to a lot of multi channel and ATMOS streaming music, all different genres over the past several months and I have concluded that there are Unfortunately a wide range in the quality and care in the mixes. Some are really compelling and some are really wonky and some do very little with the capabilities of the technology. I don’t believe there is a wide conspiracy to take stereo masters and create AI/machine mixed multi channel out of them.
 
To answer the OP‘s question, my way of streaming multi channel music is an Apple TV hosting Apple Music output by HDMI into my ATMOS ( and other multi channel) enabled Marantz 8012 AVR.
to be honest, I don’t hear an appreciable sound quality difference between that and an ATMOS Blu ray played back from my OPPO into the Marantz. I’m old, so maybe my ears are old too.
Hmmm. That is not inconsistent with what I hear. What I am complaining about are that many (not all) streamed Atmos tracks, for which there was no prior Atmos BD release, are unsatisfying.
 
Kal, do you notice any significantly lower sq (muddy or otherwise) with streaming classical titles that also have a BD/SACD version (which I can assume is clean)?
 
… I don’t believe there is a wide conspiracy to take stereo masters and create AI/machine mixed multi channel out of them.

There was an Atmos podcast posted here a while back with a bunch of audio engineers discussing mixing to Atmos. All start with full array speakers but they did mention they knew some engineers were mixing Atmos using the headphone mix as there only reference. I‘d guarantee most these sound ordinary on full speaker systems (There may be a few that just got lucky :))

Its just like the old days but with more ways to ruin a mix.

There will always be ordinary surround mixes. Atmos alone isn’t the panacea. It still needs a skilled mixing engineer with great mastered multitracks.
 
Kal, do you notice any significantly lower sq (muddy or otherwise) with streaming classical titles that also have a BD/SACD version (which I can assume is clean)?
Indeed. Almost everything I am talking about (or care about) is classical.
 
The classical ATMOS recordings cited earlier in this thread sounded very good when I checked them out today. Not muddy at all.

I agree that new music releases ( those without previous surround mixes) with ATMOS vary in quality quite a bit. too many sound like they were sloppily mixed by less experienced engineers, but some are very good
 
I have Yello - Point and Steve Wilson - The Future Bites on bluray and they both sound much better than the streamed versions on Tidal. They are both very busy mixes with lots of dynamic range so I suspect they don't fare as well with the low bit rate as some other titles. If Ocean to Ocean sounds better on a bluray I sure wish there was one.
 
Indeed. Almost everything I am talking about (or care about) is classical.
?? Kal, I know you. Classical was obviously not the operative issue here, phsyical vs streaming was. I am simply asking if your muddy comments are also about streamed versions you are previously familiar with as much clearer discs.
 
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