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I understand Dolby ATMOS music from Apple Music can only be played on a pair of Era 300s through the Sonos2 app. Sending the signal from the Apple Music app on an iPhone to the Era 300s via AirPlay loses the ATMOS. On a Beam2 it can also be played directly through the Apple Music app provided it passes through an AppleTV that is connected with the Beam2 through a HDMI cable. Is that understanding correct?

My other question is how this operates if the Beam2 and the Era 300s are grouped together. Will the ATMOS signal be passed from the Beam2 to the Era 300s? Or do the Era 300s receive their signal from the AppleTV through AirPlay (which I understand does not carry the ATMOS signal)?

Thanks for your guidance, Ben

Era 300
Dolby Atmos music must be played from Apple Music directly from the Sonos app.

Beam (Gen 2)
Dolby Atmos music must be played from Apple Music directly from the Sonos app OR from the Apple Music app on an Apple TV 4K.

Beam (Gen 2) + Era 300s (surrounds)
Dolby Atmos music must be played from Apple Music directly from the Sonos app OR from the Apple Music app on an Apple TV 4K.

Beam (Gen 2) + Era 300s (grouped)
Dolby Atmos music must be played from Apple Music directly from the Sonos app OR from the Apple Music app on an Apple TV 4K. EDIT: This does not work on the Apple TV. The Era 300s will play stereo audio.

Dolby Atmos audio cannot be sent over AirPlay from Apple Music.

Thanks GuitarSuperstar for your prompt advice.

I’m still not quite sure how the grouping is handled. If Beam & Eras are grouped, and Atmos is sent to Beam through AppleTV, will Atmos also play on Eras? I don’t know whether the Beam passes on the full signal to the Eras through Sonos Connect, or whether the Eras receive the signal (only stereo) from the iPhone through AirPlay.

Since both the Beam (Gen 2) and Era 300 support Dolby Atmos, when you play Atmos music to the Beam from an Apple TV and group the Era 300s, Dolby Atmos music should play out of BOTH the Beam and Era 300s. I can test this later tonight on my system to confirm this and let you know.

OK super many thanks!

I just played Atmos music from my Apple TV to the Arc and then grouped a pair of Era 300s with the Arc. Atmos music played out of the Arc. Stereo music played out of the Era 300s.

So if you want to play Atmos music out of both the Arc and Era 300s while they are grouped, you need to play it from Apple Music using the Sonos app.

OK all clear now, many thanks!

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