Dolby Atmos support in Roon (ROCK)? - Now that Tidal now extends its support (not only for Android)

Are you using Tidal’s app on the fire stick?

With regards to Roon adding or not adding formats, it might be worth search for a feedback/feature request thread to ask for it :+1:

@jamie is there anything on the horizon for this?

I would love to see such capability in roon, but the issue is definitely not what HDMI can handle but what Dolby would permit a software solution like roon to decode and encode internally. If roon server would handle an Atmos stream even in a very basic way (i.e. for sending it via RAAT or doing level normalization or applying DSP) it would have to do significant Dolby-proprietary procedures i.e. possessing a significant portion of the ´secrets´ of Dolby’s algorithm. Unlikely that Dolby would allow that even if licensing fees would be a solvable issue.

Dolby Digital Plus in Tidal, Apple Music or Amazon Music is a different thing. It is a lossy format which is handed over by the aforementioned services and all the hardware in between without ever being encoded or decoded except from a Dolby Atmos licensed hardware renderer (such as an AVR). Same applies to ´true´ Dolby Atmos streams being in a closed container file such as MKV or MP4.

I doubt that roon would want the possibility to just hand over such stream untouched, particularly as Tidal seemingly is the only common source for streaming Atmos which roon could process (and the one with poorest bitrate according to my knowledge). File formats carrying a true Atmos stream are rare to find and ripping blu-rays is not really an easy nor a legally permitted thing.

Although I would love to see these options, I guess we are far from that.

What might be easier is an immersive format with less licensing restrictions. Auro3D in a WAV container might be easier to handle. 4.0.2 (commonly known as “2+2+2”) in a 5.1 FLAC container already works flawlessly with roon.

DR says nothing about audible sound quality or perceived dynamics, particularly if you compare formats with different number of channels or different level normalization.

This also does not say anything as you seemingly have not gone through the procedure of level normalization for each source and you have no knowledge about mastering steps taken for the different versions.

Most of them had pretty bad experience with introducing SACD, DVD and blu-ray some 20 or 25 years ago so do not blame them. The market for multichannel high end audio (home cinema excluded) is pretty thing. Unfortunately, I might want to add, as it indeed can sound superior compared to two channel stereo and in many many cases it does. Particularly with classical music, jazz and rock.

You mean the ´Hell freezes over´ version?

Would also recommend to listen to a proper multichannel or Atmos or Auro3D setup. If it is proper and the mix is well done, it will be outperforming stereo by far. Particularly if there is ambience information i.e. reverberation patterns of the recording room on the rear and immersive channel which is the case with all classical recordings and lots of jazz and (live) rock. It simply sounds wider, more natural, effortless and more like a concert hall, balancing direct and indirect parts of the sound field much better.

Unfortunately this is the hole audiophiles, myself included, have fallen into for decades. A new format would be like pushing a huge boulder uphill, with one’s hands and legs bound.

Accepting the reality of Atmos being the mainstream format (25,000 albums currently), and making it sound as good as possible is the best way forward. All licensing issues are solvable. It’s just a matter of money.

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Getting 12 channels to work at a state of the art level, makes two channel audio seem like child’s play. I’ve done it, and it’s worth every bit of effort.

Think about your “give me one reason” comment in the opposite way. If more channels doesn’t equal a higher level of listening enjoyment, then going back to mono should be a good thing. If we all started with 12 channel audio systems, and a new trend arrived saying two channels was better, we’d read a lot of comments about prying 12 channels from cold dead hands.

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Atmos may be a novelty, but it’s becoming more and more of a reality. I have hundreds of files in this format, just waiting to be played. Adding it to Roon would be appreciated :slightly_smiling_face:

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Are there really 25,000 albums available in Atmos today, or tracks? Do you have any information where they are all available? I found the number on Tidal and Apple Music to be quite limited.

Do not get me wrong, I have nothing against Atmos as the dominating format and making it sound as good as possible is a great idea. I just have the impression that Dolby is taking the idea of keeping it proprietary thereby earning from recording industry, streaming services and hardware manufacturers pretty seriously.

Unfortunately it is not only a matter of money if you as a license owner would have to disclose your algorithms to a software company making a software that runs on pretty much every machine. Companies who live solely from licensing tend to be a bit suspicious when it comes to giving away their core assets and I would not blame them.

I absolutely agree, although I found the step up from simpler surround and immersive formats (may it be 5.1 or 4.0.2) to Atmos 7.1.4 not to be as dramatic as the first step from two channels to 4.0 or 5.0 surround or a minimum immersive setup.

Not necessarily, that is not a valid conclusion in my understanding. If a system offering more channels is audibly superior has to be tested in every single individual case. The step from mono to 2-channel stereo is probably the biggest one, maybe as huge would be adding another 2 and you have quad or another 2 and you have 4.0.2 immersive. Every additional channel is not nothing but would in my experience not be as dramatic as the first ones.

There is a strong resistance against any surround formats in music and there was a renaissance of stereo. We cannot deny this. And I believe introducing Atmos by telling people that 12 channels are needed will only make this resistance stiffer.

There should be ways of introducing Atmos in a way that ordinary music lovers can actually install and enjoy it. May it be as supplementing virtual channels to a 4.0 or 4.0.2 system or using headphones or recreating a reasonable setup with an Atmos-capable soundbar plus discrete rear channels. It can all be overly superior to stereo if set up correctly.

Are they publicly available like on immersiveaudioalbum.com which has a rather niche portfolio? What is the container file format, MKV?

Have a look here as a start - Spatial Audio Finder by Ben Dodson

The encoder and decoder are already on tens of thousands of computers that create Atmos. Algorithms wouldn’t have to be disclosed, just like MQA algorithms weren’t disclosed. The pushback is really about disturbing the relationship between hardware licensees and Dolby. If there’s enough money on the table from Roon, Dolby won’t have an issue licensing the product to them. Dolby already licensed it to Apple on every Mac.

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Many of my own rips, .mkv and .m4a

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Auro3D is a dead format (you can almost say the same about DTS:X). Atmos is the only 3D audio format that makes sense for Roon to implement. And I see no point in decoding Atmos in Roon. Better to just bitstream Atmos to an AVR and let the AVR handle decoding, DSP, etc.

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The reasons to decode in Roon are all about objective and subjective sound quality. AVRs DACs aren’t as good as standalone DACs. The huge issue though is DSP. The DSP in AVRs is nowhere near state of the art. Running an Audiolense created convolution filter in Roon is head and shoulders above all AVRs.

But how many people have a setup like that vs those with Atmos capable AVRs? And if Roon where to implement it this way (Atmos decoding right inside Roon) then how would that work for those with AVRs? It still makes more sense for Roon to bitstream Atmos, at least to start. This would satisfy the majority of those requesting “Atmos support”. They can always add Atmos decoding later on if they feel the need.

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If I had to guess, I’d say most Roon users would never send their two channel music through an AVR. Why would anyone want to send their Atmos music through an AVR, if they cared about sound quality in the same way?

I don’t use an AVR and don’t recommend anyone else use one either, if they want to listen to music. We don’t need to fall to the lowest common denominator.

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Because they already have one for movies/TV? How many people can hear the difference between a discrete DAC and AVR DAC in a proper double blind test? I’m not sure what 2 channel has to do with a discussion about Atmos support in Roon anyway.

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I bring up two channel because the only difference between it and immersive is the number of speakers. Those seeking the best two channel sound quality have never used AVRs. The same should follow for those seeking the best immersive sound quality.

The differences between an AVR and systems that run state of the art DSP with a great DAC are immense.

Because there are good AVRs and pre-processors available for Roon users to enjoy spatial audio.

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if one is satisfied with good, then an AVR is a superb option for immersive audio.

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Completely disagree, the differences are subtle in most cases. And yes I have tried it with state of the art multichannel DACs. A good AVR with proper 7.2.4. Pre Out can deliver stunning sound quality for all surround formats including Atmos even if the internal power amps leave room for improvement.

I See no point in disparaging AV equipment for music listeners. I am aware this is a common thing since first AVR and DVD players appeared on the market. Unfortunately it brings many people to separating their home cinema and their stereo setup even if they have proper equipment for combining both in one system.

The sad thing is it stops many people from trying.

Not quite the same if you are talking about pro audio software. If roon is expected to have the capability of incompletely decoding an Atmos streams, applying DSP, level normalization and convolution filters and subsequently re-decode it for HDMI output, Dolby might not agree to that even if they can earn with fees. We should be aware that in this case also the channel vectorization and really the ´inner sanctum´ of the code has to be part of roon.

Not quite as no Mac can decode an Atmos stream to discrete multichannel immersive bitstreams.

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I do this every day of my life.

That’s cool. May I ask which hardware you use to get out 14 discrete analogue channels? Or is your output a 14-channel .WAV file or alike?

The truth shouldn’t be seen as disparaging.

AVRs have incredibly weak and minimally configurable DSP. It’s a fact.

AVRs are incredibly convenient and really easy. They are superb options for most people.