Audio quality , Streaming spatial/atmos audio through older Receiver capable of 7.1.4

[JoTheFrenchCanadian]

Hello , I'm in the process of buying a new receiver , My first goal is to enjoy spatial music through 7.1.4 speaker set-up from apple tv or fire stick 4k max . My question is : apple for apple , will an older receiver like Marantz Sr7008 that is 11 channel processing but with older hdmi protocol will give me same audio quality than the latest Denon/Marantz receiver using the same 11 ch processing but using 4k/8k capable hdmi port . this topic exclude all the video side of the hdmi protocol since I will not buy 4k disc in the future . thanks

 

[lovinthehd]

The older receiver cannot process the Atmos metadata at all. It appears only to be a 9.2 avr in any case (with some flexibility for rear surround/front height/front wide but only 9 at a time).

 

[JoTheFrenchCanadian]

so what is the spec that , I need to look at , to make sure it receive and process all 11 channel ? seams like the Sr7009 use hdmi 2.0 is that enough or better go with something 2.1

 

[lovinthehd]

You need to look at whether it has Atmos (or DTS:X) processing if you want the overhead channels. It can be confusing as they still may say 11.1 avr when it has 7.1.4 capabilities, and may even have more processing channels. You have to read the spec. It's not particularly the hdmi version, that's more about video capabilities and bandwidth, altho with latest 2.1 that's an indication lossless codecs can be passed from the tv to the avr via eARC.

 

[Trebdp83]

Another issue to consider with older models is their ability to pass HDR. Being 4K capable does not mean it is HDR capable. It is best to look for a current 11.1(11 powered channels) model or do some serious homework when looking at older models to make sure it can pass HDR and has the audio processing abilities to handle Dolby Atmos/DTS:X.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yep. What they said.
FWIW, it’s completely worth doing. I’ve been(less lately) really enjoying spacial(atmos) music on my aTV 4K. It’s soooo good. Some better than others, but still I’m so not regret doing Atmos at all.