Sonos Arc + Dolby Atmos from streaming content (Apple Music & Amazon Music)

It will always be through HDMI, if at all. None of the Sonos speakers other than the Arc have the hardware necessary to decode an Atmos signal. And all speakers use the same software.

To be clear, that’s for existing hardware. I can’t speak to hardware not yet sold. Things can change, and probably at some point will, but my crystal ball is broken right now. :)

Posted this in the other thread but…

@Airgetlam  & @ThePrisoner Thank you guys for clarifying that Dolby Atmos Music, is only achievable via the HDMI ports on the Sonos Arc, and not via streaming services via the Sonos App. :-)

I have to clarify this based on what I believe @ThePrisoner Is saying as their are three scenarios with Apple and Sonos. I believe you can use the Apple Music app on an Apple tv 4k to stream it through your tv to your Arc in Atmos. I believe if you try and do the same thing through the Apple Music app on S2 you will not get Atmos, is that true? Finally if you were to try and do the same from the Music app on the phone and Airplay it you would not get Atmos either. 

Yes, using the app in S2 will not get you Atmos. The only way currently to get an Atmos signal is from outside the Sonos app, via an eARC connection from a TV.

Airplay 2 directly to a Sonos device (to my knowledge, any non Apple device) will be only in stereo. 

Hey all,

I’ve found a post on the Apple forum about this:  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251459688

In short, u actually need an Apple TV and eARC in the tv. Can’t stream or other options.

Basically that states what we had said previously. 

Yes, it’s a confirmation of an Apple employee. 

I’ve searched all over for a definitive answer as to whether Airplay2 will stream Apple Music’s meager Dolby Atmos (DA) content to a DA-enabled Sonos Arc (whether through an eArc TV or HDFury Arcana setup, which I have).  I mean through a Mac computer, iPad, or iPhone.

I can stream DA movies and music (Tidal app) on the 4K Fire TV Stick. (A side note:  Amazon Music HD appwill not stream Dolby Atmos music on Prime Video.)

London Elektricity’s  Building Better Worlds (Dolby Atmos Edition) Track 1.  Final View From The Rooftops is awesome!  The opening bars of a synthesized xylophone 5-note repetition moves 360 degrees around my listening position.  Maybe the best song that I’ve found so far to demo Dolby Atmos.

Again, my question is:  Can Airplay2 stream Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos content to a DA-enabled Sonos Arc?

Thanks!

Bucky

Not to my knowledge, no. I believe that Apple only allows anything beyond simple stereo to be sent to other Apple devices, and not third party devices like Sonos. So you could conceivable send an Atmos signal to an Apple TV, and use the HDMI ARC connection to send that Atmos signal to the Arc, but sending an AirPlay 2 signal directly to the Arc would only result in a stereo signal. 

Nothing to do with the technical aspects, but the thought that comes to my mind is, “Is that a good thing?”.  i suspect it means that to some extent you stop listening to the music and start listening to the sound engineering.  Now I know that’s a blurred line, and not unique to Atmos music.  But my view is still that the most likely fate of Atmos music is that of 3D movies, the equivalent of, “Gosh that’s an amazing effect…. but I don’t want to watch a whole movie like this”.

Well, yes that track is a good thing to demo Atmos’ technical aspects.  It is impressive.  I understand where it might come across as a gimmick.  But, it’s the exception rather than the rule when it comes to ‘normal’ listening.

I’ve listened to a lot of Atmos music tracks of quite a few genres.  While a movie’s Atmos soundtrack is said to be “immersive”, I would say the soundstage of an Atmos music track is expansive and deeper when compared to Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 stereo.  For me, that’s an improvement.

Re my original question as to whether Airplay2 streams the Atmos codec, I think I have the answer, at least with regard to my setup (Sonos Arc, Gen3, One SL surrounds).

Yesterday, Apple unveiled their ‘Spatial Music’ (Atmos) and lossless feature on Apple Music.  Comparing the same track (Blinding Lights, The Weeknd) that streamed in Atmos on the 4K Fire Stick’s Tidal App to streaming it with Airplay2 from my Mac revealed that Airplay2 does not yet support Atmos.  The quality was very good, though, even lossless,  But not Atmos.  Maybe someone with the latest Apple TV+ gizmo can weigh in on this.

Music app in Apple TV can stream Atmos to Arc setup

kithytom,

Thanks for your screen shots.

If I have this right, the Sonos app displayed “Dolby Atmos” only when streamed from your Apple TV gizmo by HDMI.  That’s how I’m getting Atmos content to play on my Sonos Arc soundbar from the 4K Fire TV Stick’s HDMI connection.

Makes sense, since Airplay and Tidal Connect, AFAIK, don’t have the bandwidth to handle eArc/Atmos data on a wireless conntection.