Struggling with Dolby Atmos and Yamaha 2080

[lovinthehd]

I have the Bluray files and all versions of the audio files.
You are right, the one version of audio only files need considerable volume boost.
(I dont keep track of where they are sourced from, I will have to check later)

The Bluray volume isn't gimped, its nice and loud....wish Dolby wouldn't suggest those volume decreases....its annoying, unnecessary and not everyone does it.

I just watched the latest episode of "Masters Of The Air" in Atmos (5.1 Atmos for me)
Same volume drop issue there...actually had to go to minus 15 on my volume control.
Halo in Atmos is nice and loud...there just isn't any standard.

Seems the volume discrepancies on various streaming services are becoming more commonplace....

 

[Trebdp83]

Tidal’s Dolby Atmos streams need considerable volume bumps no matter the device used to stream them. This is the case with LG TV, Apple TV 4K, Amazon Fire Cube Gen 3 and Nvidia Shield Pro.

To be fair to Tidal, their Dolby Atmos streams are available on various devices. Amazon and Apple are not so generous with supported devices.

 

[TLS Guy]

Tidal’s Dolby Atmos streams need considerable volume bumps no matter the device used to stream them. This is the case with LG TV, Apple TV 4K, Amazon Fire Cube Gen 3 and Nvidia Shield Pro.

To be fair to Tidal, their Dolby Atmos streams are available on various devices. Amazon and Apple are not so generous with supported devices.

The fault is Dolby's who have this absurd rule they are vigorously enforcing. They are enforcing a hard volume limit of -18 LUFS. Anyone who violates it gets their stream taken down, and or their license cancelled. So its Dolby's "windows you have to smash!" I posted about this months ago.

 

[Trebdp83]

Dolby is arguably the devil. Tidal is a demon. I've been complaining about their Dolby Atmos volume level for a couple of years. It's miserable across several devices.

 

[lovinthehd]

Dolby is arguably the devil. Tidal is a demon. I've been complaining about their Dolby Atmos volume level for a couple of years. It's miserable across several devices.

They're all drug dealers.

 

[isolar8001]

Thank goodness I have no need or want to stream music or video....I did try Tidal once for about half an hour.
I certainly didn't like it, and cant imagine paying for it.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thank goodness I have no need or want to stream music or video....I did try Tidal once for about half an hour.
I certainly didn't like it, and cant imagine paying for it.

So you stream nothing at all? I thought I stuck to my own content, but this is way beyond me

 

[isolar8001]

So you stream nothing at all? I thought I stuck to my own content, but this is way beyond me

YouTube via SmartTube is the extent of my streaming....because I don't expect perfection there, and hey...its YouTube.
Movies/shows/music, I'm way too picky about for streaming.
( Some things are only available from streaming services of course, but most of whats on streaming looks much better once you get it out of the "app" environment)
And no, you don't need to ask where I get everything....and no, it's not torrents.
I can have just about anything in a few instants, if I want it.

 

[smelchionda]

If you want a turn-key solution, there is: https://www.kaleidescape.com/

LOL! If I had the money for Kaleidescape I would have had my personal assistant hire a company to come in here and build it out for me. I actually live in an area where that kind of resource is easy to find. I just don't have that kind of money!

 

[smelchionda]

Say, @smelchionda , I was curious about the music setup. I am guessing you have the 6000N connected to the A2080 and use the front pre outs of it to the A-S2200’s Main In ports and switch between A and B speakers. Is that the case?

I was also curious if you have compared Amazon Music UHD using the A2080’s MusicCast app to the 6000N’s DTS Play-Fi app. Is the 6000N connected with a digital or analog cables? Apologies for being nosy, just curious.

No worries, I spent a bunch of time on this.

As you guessed correctly, I have the 6000N connected to the A2080 and use pre outs from the 2080 to the A-S2200. But the difference is that I am still using the front left and right from the 2080 receiver to drive front left and right speakers, but I'm also using the left and right jacks from the A-S2200 to drive another pair of speakers. So I essentially have two left and two right speakers, each pair is being driven by a different amp. When I listen to music I use the "Straight" setting for DSP. That seems to have the clearest sound. I guess I could also shut off the front left and right speakers that are attached to the 2080 too, just never when that far.

And I did do some comparisons by manually plugging and unplugging in the components and speakers. By far the best sound quality was with Amazon Music UHD via the Playfi app and the 6000N and using the DSP setting of "Straight" on the 2080.

The problem is the subs. The 2080 is powering the subs and I need them for the music listening because the rest of the speakers are not very big. I bought a PineTree Audio transparent switch and I have a plan to set up the switch to be able to connect the 2080 or the A-S2200 to the subs and switch between the two, but I havn't had the motivation to set it up yet. I also would need to buy some more cables.

The Playfi app is pretty terrible though. But the sound quality of Amazon HD makes it worth the struggle when doing active listening.

 

[Trebdp83]

Well, now I'm interested in the connections of the subs. Have you used the MusicCast app to stream Amazon Music to the A2080? MusicCast supports hi-res(UHD) from Amazon Music Unlimited. When using DTS-Play-Fi on the 6000N, is "Transfer To Speaker" supported or does audio have to stream from the app device? Curious as not many others use DTS-PlayFi app around here. My Onkyos do not support "Transfer To Speaker" feature and my Yamaha does not support DTS-Play Fi at all. I use the MusicCast app with it to stream from services. The MusicCast Amazon Music layout isn't any better looking than the DTS Play-Fi app.

 

[smelchionda]

Apologies to @smelchionda for the continued derailing of the thread. This one has gone far off the tracks.

No worries on discussing this topic. Its actually related and I'm learning stuff, so its all good.

 

[smelchionda]

Streaming services do use DD+ but some devices, like the Apple TV 4K, will output audio after converting to LPCM. Those devices will require more bandwidth than the ARC spec provides for multichannel signals.

Anyway, if the receiver here reports an Atmos/DD+ signal from the TV's apps, then Atmos metadata is present in the ARC signal. The 2080 does not support eARC. So, eARC Support should be turned OFF in the LG C1. Digital Sound Output should be set to Passthrough. Dolby signals will have Dolby Offset present and often require a volume bump compared to PCM signals.

Straight mode should be fine but Yamaha does recommend DSur mode for Dolby Atmos tracks with that unit. I'm a bit confused about the speaker layout and connected devices. While 5.4.4 was mentioned, I don't see any Presence Speakers or how they are configured in settings. Are they set as Height, Overhead or Dolby Enabled SP? Surround Speakers should be shown as SL and SR, not RL and RR when using five speakers at ear level instead of seven. I'd be interested in just how everything is connected and configured here.
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I wanted to thank you again for the post. The settings you suggest have made a huge difference. I now deffinitely have ATMOS working in the room. It may not be as good as if I had a BlueRay player but its really, really good. I might even say its a completely different experience! Now its fun to check out how different movies and shows mix their sound. I find myself watching shows that I wouldn't normally be interested in watching just to hear the sound mix. Its really cool. I may invest in a blueray player. I do have a few movies I like to watch over and over; so those might be good to buy. Recommendations on a BlueRay player? I've heard about the Panasonic DP-UB 9000. It would be great if I could find a deal on it though.

 

[lovinthehd]

As to the Apple TV stuff I just saw a thread on ASR where Apple indicated to a customer complaint about lack of bitstream/pass thru for codecs that many have complained about it and apparently it could be as simple as a software fix....seems Tre has already seen it, tho https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/just-spoke-with-apple-about-the-3rd-gen-apple-tv-4k-and-sending-pass-through-audio-to-a-receiver.47449/

 

[Trebdp83]

Yeah, that was probably me. As for 4K disc players, Oppo is out of the game now so many have gone on to the Panasonic players. Those wanting DVD-Audio and SACD support, including myself, have gone onto the Sony UBP-X800M2. But, it has to be set manually to output Dolby Vision. There really isn't a 4K disc player that is going to put out a bad video signal or audio bitstream from a 4K Blu-ray Disc.

 

[smelchionda]

Yeah, that was probably me. As for 4K disc players, Oppo is out of the game now so many have gone on to the Panasonic players. Those wanting DVD-Audio and SACD support, including myself, have gone onto the Sony UBP-X800M2. But, it has to be set manually to output Dolby Vision. There really isn't a 4K disc player that is going to put out a bad video signal or audio bitstream from a 4K Blu-ray Disc.

So when you say it has to be set manually to output Dolby Vision what type of manual intervention is required? Is it just going into one of the Sony's menus and changing a setting and then its good for ever? ie- do it once, set it and forget it? Or is is more complicated than that? And why do we think that Sony didnt have it able to output Dolby Vision as a default?

 

[Trebdp83]

Yes, it is turned ON in settings. But, turning it ON means ALL blu-ray and 4K blu-ray discs will be output in Dolby Vision. It must be turned OFF for SDR and HDR10 to be output. Why Sony chose to do things this way is anybody’s guess.

 

[smelchionda]

Yeah, that was probably me. As for 4K disc players, Oppo is out of the game now so many have gone on to the Panasonic players. Those wanting DVD-Audio and SACD support, including myself, have gone onto the Sony UBP-X800M2. But, it has to be set manually to output Dolby Vision. There really isn't a 4K disc player that is going to put out a bad video signal or audio bitstream from a 4K Blu-ray Disc.

One more question. Why the Sony and not the Panasonic? Is that particular Sony hitting a sweet spot of cost vs features and diminishing returns?

 

[lovinthehd]

One more question. Why the Sony and not the Panasonic? Is that particular Sony hitting a sweet spot of cost vs features and diminishing returns?

Similar to Treb I use a variety of Sony players so I can play the various multich discs.