Atmos files no longer work

miniDSP and AV Nirvana
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jamiesaun85

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Hey dudes. Is anybody else having problems with the Atmos files now?

So those Atmos files we can play from a media player were working just fine for a long time. I'm not sure what or when because I haven't used them in a while, but now I cannot get the top speakers to work no matter what player, or configuration, or settings I change. They either come out of the front L&R or they come out of the surrounds.

I'm lost because I don't know if it's the rew update, settings in the laptop. Settings in the reciever.....

Is it still working for anybody else, or is it just me?
 
What Windows version are you running, which app are you using, and which set of Atmos files are you using (there are multiple versions at this point)?
 
thothsong said:
What Windows version are you running, which app are you using, and which set of Atmos files are you using (there are multiple versions at this point)?
Click to expand...
Hey! Straight from the man himself if I'm not mistaking.

Windows 10. I'm not sure which update. I was using rew 5.20.14 I believe it was. Then I down graded to one I had used previously, I'm sorry I don't know the version of the top of my head. I tried using media player, not WMP but the regular newer media player. Then I tried VLC player and neither worked. Both of those players worked before.

I went through windows sound configuration about a dozen times and verified everything as set up like the guides said. The Denon was in multi channel -pcm mode like before. I also tried switching sound sound modes to Dolby surround and configured the Denon driver in windows for Dolby Atmos. Ran some sweeps that came up as Atmos and still didn't work.

For the sweeps I used the 128k sweeps. And two different versions of 256k. The only ones I didn't try were the 1million sweeps.
 
REW isn't involved in Atmos file playback, so it isn't the problem. Media Player doesn't work for me on Windows 10 (it plays the 5.1 downmix), but WMP and Movies & TV both work. VLC also works, provided in the Audio settings you enable HDMI/SPDIF audio passthrough. If you go to the Sound control panel, and look at Properties>Supported Formats for the Denon device, does it list Dolby Digital Plus in the Encoded Formats? Are you using an HDMI output or a USB adapter? Connected to a rear port on the Denon?
 
thothsong said:
REW isn't involved in Atmos file playback, so it isn't the problem. Media Player doesn't work for me on Windows 10 (it plays the 5.1 downmix), but WMP and Movies & TV both work. VLC also works, provided in the Audio settings you enable HDMI/SPDIF audio passthrough. If you go to the Sound control panel, and look at Properties>Supported Formats for the Denon device, does it list Dolby Digital Plus in the Encoded Formats? Are you using an HDMI output or a USB adapter? Connected to a rear port on the Denon?
Click to expand...
It does. It lists all codecs. Dtsx, Atmos. Dd+. I always had those displayed completely and it still worked before. And I'm using HDMI output from the laptop straight to the Denon.

I think you are on to something with the passthrough in the options of the player. I looked in the settings and didn't see anything about passthrough or bitstream, but obviously I missed it. I will check again, I'm pretty sure you just nailed it.

For the sound panel settings, I always thought we were supposed to turn all those options off. Should I select Atmos home theatre as the sound mode?
 
thothsong said:
REW isn't involved in Atmos file playback, so it isn't the problem. Media Player doesn't work for me on Windows 10 (it plays the 5.1 downmix), but WMP and Movies & TV both work. VLC also works, provided in the Audio settings you enable HDMI/SPDIF audio passthrough. If you go to the Sound control panel, and look at Properties>Supported Formats for the Denon device, does it list Dolby Digital Plus in the Encoded Formats? Are you using an HDMI output or a USB adapter? Connected to a rear port on the Denon?
Click to expand...
And that's an Excellent piece of information that rew has nothing to do with the output to the top speakers. That eliminates a huge chunk of trouble shooting. Good to know.
 
Yes, you want all Enhancements disabled in the sound panel. You don't need to select Dolby Atmos for Home Theater; for Atmos file playback it shouldn't actually matter if you configure it as Atmos or 7.1 or 5.1 or Stereo, the player should override that setting and use bitstream output.
 
thothsong said:
Yes, you want all Enhancements disabled in the sound panel. You don't need to select Dolby Atmos for Home Theater; for Atmos file playback it shouldn't actually matter if you configure it as Atmos or 7.1 or 5.1 or Stereo, the player should override that setting and use bitstream output.
Click to expand...
Thats what I thought. Okay, thank you sir. It makes sense because I had uninstalled VLC, so the bitstream setting is probably off by default and that's why it doesn't work now. It doesn't explain why media player no longer works, but I'm not going to bother with that. After work I'll dig into VLC and look for passthrough/bitstream. Or just use one other the other players you mentioned.

I will let you know if it works. Thank you.
 
thothsong said:
Yes, you want all Enhancements disabled in the sound panel. You don't need to select Dolby Atmos for Home Theater; for Atmos file playback it shouldn't actually matter if you configure it as Atmos or 7.1 or 5.1 or Stereo, the player should override that setting and use bitstream output.
Click to expand...
Yes sir, that did it. Thanks a bunch, you're a life saver
 
Here is a fresh set of Dolby Atmos 9.1.6 REW sweeps, 256k long, 0-24000Hz, all with acoustic timing reference Front Right channel. Associated REW reference file is included in the folder.

Lossless (Dolby True HD), 0 dBFS, 0 dialnorm

They can be played with VLC media player (enable HDMI passthrough in VLC audo settings).

PS: I double checked FWL and FWR and there's nothing different with these sweeps. In the absence of these speakers (my current system), SLA and SRA is being played back. Similarly TML and TMR (again absent in my system) plays from TF and TR channels. I also don't have a centre channel and C is played from FL and FR. I guess this is just how Dolby decoder routes these signals.
 

Attachments

Thanks alot.
 
@serko70 Would it be possible for you to make the same files 64k long also? That makes the measurement process faster for when there is an "external time limit". Haha.
 
jeppekristoffer said:
@serko70 Would it be possible for you to make the same files 64k long also? That makes the measurement process faster for when there is an "external time limit". Haha.
Click to expand...
Noted but quite busy these days. 64k will be too fast and have quite high SNR though.
 
serko70 said:
64k will be too fast and have quite high SNR though
Click to expand...
Is this conclusion from your own observations? John recommends 256k, I tried all the options myself and settled on 512k.
And the second question. Does it make a difference which channel is used as a reference? Maybe an additional high-frequency speaker that is not part of the system would be the most correct one as a reference?
 
By too fast, I meant the played sweeps. You need a time gap before the sweep plays and ends in VLC player and when you start REW listening for the chirps. It's easy to skip a channel or play the previous one again by mistake, Long sweeps give you the time to concentrate on what is being played.

In general, you can increase the signal to noise ratio of a sweep by longer sweeps, louder sweeps and number of sweeps averaged. 2M and 4M length cause slow downs in REW for following calculations. 1M is my goto sweep if I want very high quality. 64k sweeps are only good for time alignments with USB mics as they have less time for clock drifts.


Edit: 64k sweeps are also good for lineout - preout measurements without a mic as noise is too low to be a factor and they take the shortest time.
 
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