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Atmos Music Yet?

  • 7 November 2021
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Several months back there was an announcement that Arc would be able to play Atmos Music streamed from Amazon and maybe Apple? 

Latest 13.3.3 firmware update still doesn't provide this capability as far as I can tell. Anyone seen or heard anything new on this subject?

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 7 November 2021, 16:02

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There hasn’t been any update. Everything I’ve read just mentions support for Dolby Atmos music on Amazon Music coming “later this year”.

I don't think this has anything to do with the capability of the Sonos system and everything to do with what the service providers make possible.

I have already listened to Atmos music from Tidal on my Arc.

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I don't think this has anything to do with the capability of the Sonos system and everything to do with what the service providers make possible.

I have already listened to Atmos music from Tidal on my Arc.

Did the Sonos app display Dolby Atmos while streaming from Tidal?

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@GC3 Dolby Atmos music can currently be streamed from the TIDAL app with a TIDAL HiFi subscription to the Arc or Beam (Gen 2) if you are playing from supported devices. Dolby Atmos music can also be streamed from Apple Music if you have an Apple TV 4K and a TV with HDMI eARC. Dolby Atmos music support from Amazon Music is coming later this year.

When playing Dolby Atmos music, the Sonos app will display the Dolby Atmos logo on the Now Playing screen.

I don't think this has anything to do with the capability of the Sonos system and everything to do with what the service providers make possible.

I have already listened to Atmos music from Tidal on my Arc.

Did the Sonos app display Dolby Atmos while streaming from Tidal?

It won't work with Atmos when streaming. You have to use a Tidal approved device (can also use Tidal App on LG TV) and play from Tidal App through TV. No way currently to stream Atmos to Sonos from phone or tablet

I don't think this has anything to do with the capability of the Sonos system and everything to do with what the service providers make possible.

I have already listened to Atmos music from Tidal on my Arc.

Did the Sonos app display Dolby Atmos while streaming from Tidal?

It won't work with Atmos when streaming. You have to use a Tidal approved device (can also use Tidal App on LG TV) and play from Tidal App through TV. No way currently to stream Atmos to Sonos from phone or tablet

 

While the above statement is true, generally speaking, Sonos does not stream from a phone or tablet.  The Sonos app is just a controller.  When using the app to select a streaming service, you’re instructing your speakers to directly access the service.  Sonos speakers/devices cannot currently stream atmos content.

Sonos speakers do have the ability to play from a phone or tablet using airplay, bluetooth in the case of Roam/Move, and audio files on android tablet.  None of these methods currently works with atmos content.  

Sonos Arc and Beam can do atmos through the HDMI-ARC/eARC port.

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I listen to Dolby Atmos from Apple Music on my Arc+Sub+One Surrounds.

 

As others have stated, I have to stream through an Apple TV 4K, and then from the TV to the ARC via eARC.

 

Sounds great for albums that are mixed specifically for Dolby Atmos. Definitely worth the investment in an Apple TV 4K.

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So 13.4 is out and installed. Documented in Changelog and confirmed...When Airplay  streaming is started from Amazon Music THROUGH the Sonos App, Atmos and Ultra HD tracks now display “HD” in the Sonos App while playing. 

This is an improvement for sure, since I don't use Tidal, but I’m still at a loss as to what “quality” is being streamed to my Atmos-capable Arc and represented by Sonos as"HD”. Since the Sonos app displays the same regardless of what speakers are being used for playback. 

Any ideas? Anyone with Tidal willing to do a sound comparison. 

 

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So 13.4 is out and installed. Documented in Changelog and confirmed...When Airplay  streaming is started from Amazon Music THROUGH the Sonos App, Atmos and Ultra HD tracks now display “HD” in the Sonos App while playing. 

This is an improvement for sure, since I don't use Tidal, but I’m still at a loss as to what “quality” is being streamed to my Atmos-capable Arc and represented by Sonos as"HD”. Since the Sonos app displays the same regardless of what speakers are being used for playback. 

Any ideas? Anyone with Tidal willing to do a sound comparison. 

 

According to a Sonos rep, Sonos Radio HD or Amazon Music Unlimited will display the HD badge when streaming lossless 16-bit or 24-bit audio. Expect to see Sonos add this feature to more music services in the future.

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Finally in 13.4.1...and at this moment Amazon Music is 100% down, so can't verify…

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2021/12/7/22822132/sonos-amazon-music-ultra-hd-dolby-atmos-music-now-available

Inconvenient time for AWS to be down, certainly.  :)

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As advertised....

 

Amazon Dolby atmos, It is really amazing. I have an arc plus sub plus 2xplay1 and it sounds supreme. Especially classical music.

 

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All amazing - unless you live in a country where you can have a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited (for more than three years now!!) but simply cannot add it as a music service in the S2 app since Sonos and Amazon only play nice together in selected countries. And since Amazon has no ‘Amazon connect’ function like Spotify you can only stream through airplay, which tada does not support Atmos. Very disappointing

That sucks. Is there not a workaround?

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I haven’t found it yet :neutral_face:

Google is your friend

is your country on the way to be listed as one of the Amazon unlimited countries?

..

Amazon Dolby atmos, It is really amazing. I have an arc plus sub plus 2xplay1 and it sounds supreme. Especially classical music.

 

 

Completely agree.  I had tried out atmos music previously with Tidal and I really wasn’t that impressed.  It seemed like a gimmick that just felt weird rather than an improved experience.  However, I don’t get the same impression for the tracks I heard through  Amazon.  Instead of using atmos to have audio come from strange places, it seemed like it was actually used to make the sound stage feel bigger and more encompassing.  

Also agree that the effect is a lot more useful on tracks that are designed for bigger sound, such as classical music.  Rock and pop songs that have few instruments and a smaller range won’t see that much improvement.  As an example of tracks that worked, I liked Musgraves’s “star crossed” a lot.  Blondie’s “call me” didn’t really gain much from atmos. 

Admittedly, some of this could be because I’m used to the way certain older songs are supposed to sound in stereo, and thus my brain is confused/disturbed when it doesn’t sound right.   That could also explain why I wasn’t as impressed with Tidal.  

I used to think that atmos music was just going to be a passing fad.  Don’t think so now, but it will be slow growth as tracks are recorded in atmos, and people have hardware to play atmos.  It will never replace stereo though as the atmos effect is immediately lost when you step away from the listening area, much more so that with stereo.  It’s great when I plan on staying in the listening area, but not so much if I am moving around.  As well, I don’t think atmos works as well at lower volumes.

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If you really want to experience what Dolby Atmos music is capable of, check out Kraftwerk’s 3-D The Catalogue album. It’s electronic, avant-garde music from Germany but well worth a listen. The entire album is incredibly immersive with A LOT of height channel and surround activity. A highlight is the final 14-minute track, “Tour de France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2”.
 

 

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@GuitarSuperstar - after initially searching for “Kraftwork” and not finding anything in search, I then realised my mistake. Doh!

Yes, totally agree the track “Tour de France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2” is an excellent example of what Dolby Atmos music is capable of 👍🏼

 

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If you really want to experience what Dolby Atmos music is capable of, check out Kraftwerk’s 3-D The Catalogue album. It’s electronic, avant-garde music from Germany but well worth a listen. The entire album is incredibly immersive with A LOT of height channel and surround activity. A highlight is the final 14-minute track, “Tour de France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2”.
 

 

More recommendations please 👍

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If you really want to experience what Dolby Atmos music is capable of, check out Kraftwerk’s 3-D The Catalogue album. It’s electronic, avant-garde music from Germany but well worth a listen. The entire album is incredibly immersive with A LOT of height channel and surround activity. A highlight is the final 14-minute track, “Tour de France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2”.

More recommendations please 👍


Nothing quite compares to the Kraftwerk album. It is the best I’ve heard. But some of my other favorites are:

“Rocket Man” - Elton John

“Riders on the Storm” - The Doors

Don’t Know Why (album) - Norah Jones

Automatic for the People 25th Anniversary Edition (album) - R.E.M.

The Future Bites (album) - Steven Wilson

John Williams in Vienna (album) - I’ve only listened to this on Blu-ray in Atmos, but it is available on Amazon Music.

“Harridan” - Porcupine Tree (available on Apple Music)

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If you really want to experience what Dolby Atmos music is capable of, check out Kraftwerk’s 3-D The Catalogue album. It’s electronic, avant-garde music from Germany but well worth a listen. The entire album is incredibly immersive with A LOT of height channel and surround activity. A highlight is the final 14-minute track, “Tour de France / Prologue / Etape 1 / Chrono / Etape 2”.

More recommendations please 👍


Nothing quite compares to the Kraftwerk album. It is the best I’ve heard. But some of my other favorites are:

“Rocket Man” - Elton John

“Riders on the Storm” - The Doors

Don’t Know Why (album) - Norah Jones

Automatic for the People 25th Anniversary Edition (album) - R.E.M.

The Future Bites (album) - Steven Wilson

John Williams in Vienna (album) - I’ve only listened to this on Blu-ray in Atmos, but it is available on Amazon Music.

“Harridan” - Porcupine Tree (available on Apple Music)

I will add Abbey Road, the 2019 Super Deluxe remastered version. In my top 3.

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So according to the links provided by Sonos, my phone (Galaxy S20 5G) is capable of streaming Atmos music.

 

I have an appropriate Tidal subscription and I am trying to get it to stream Atmos audio to my living room (ARC + Sub + 2 play 1s) and there’s nothing in the Sonos app when it’s playing to indicate that it’s streaming Atmos. If I stream direct from the Tidal app, the Atmos logo changes to HiFi and if I find the album in the Sonos search there’s no Atmos indicator.

 

So has this feature not been enabled despite Sonos claiming to have done so? I am in the UK.