· None of the above quite fits
· None of these quite match
· Marantz Cinema 50 and multichannel PCM
· Unifi network (UDM, switches, ac-pro), Roon Server on QNAP, all audio components are on the same vlan
Hi, is there any chance to see the Roon Ready Marantz Cinema 50 with channel layout to manage multichannel PCM?
I’d love to see multichannel support as well, but as far as I know, none of the Denon or Marantz receivers actually support multichannel input when using Roon.
wondering if this is technically possible, or not
You can only pass multichannel PCM to Marantz or Denon AVRs via an HDMI connection.
Although the RAAT protocol can handle multichannel over a network connection, Marantz and Denon AVRs will only accept 2 channel streams. It’s the AVRs themselves that are telling Roon to just use 2 channels.
As mentioned by @Geoff_Coupe you can have multi-channel PCM playback with the HDMI connection from Roon Server to the AVR.
I’ve had my NUC/ROCK to Denon AVR setup that way for going on 7 years now. With the HDMI zone setup you have a choice of channel layouts, (2 - 5.1 - and 7.1) in the device setup - show advanced.
Mine is set to 7.1 so Roon adds a switch to swap the side surround and rear speakers for the back.
With this setup Roon will play the files as recorded (2 channel or Multi-channel) without making any changes to the configuration.
Roon ready from Denon/Marantz is based on Heos and so there isn’t any interest in multichannel.
My meaning is, that this is a big fault. In our days every mobile, soundbar, tv,… must handle Dolby Atmos, but to get the needed infrastructure for playing and transferring real multichannel becomes harder and harder.
Hi @Andrea_Riela,
At the moment, Roon Ready support on Marantz (and Denon) AVRs is limited to 2-channel PCM. This is not a Roon limitation.
While RAAT fully supports multichannel audio, Marantz/Denon AVRs explicitly advertise 2-channel capability only when connected over the network as Roon Ready endpoints. Roon follows what the device reports, so multichannel layouts are not exposed in this mode.
We’ll continue to support whatever capabilities manufacturers expose, but changes here would need to come from Marantz/Denon.
We’re going to allow this thread to close out at this time due to inactivity. Please reach out in a new request here if you require additional support regarding a new topic. If you’d like to continue discussing contextual information about limitations with AVRs in the current implementation, please create a new topic thread in Roon Software Discussion, where the conversation won’t be subject to topic timers.
Thank you!