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Thanks - so using a HDFury Arcana you still wouldn’t be able to watch Apple Movies with Dolby Atmos audio on an Apple TV 4K.

If correct, I don’t understand the point of using the device (in relation to Apple TV 4K) as for most users the main point of the Apple TV is to rent/buy Apple Movies.

Can anyone add info? Thanks.

Hey @CJG. The Sonos Arc DOES support the audio container Apple TV 4K uses to send Atmos (called Dolby MAT) so with an Arcana you CAN listen to Atmos from any app that supports it on Apple TV. I’ve already listened to Atmos on Apple TV via Arcana from Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+. That’s the entire point of the Arcana, after all, and it works great!

To delve into this a little deeper: 

Atmos can be sent over three different codecs: Dolby TrueHD (realistically Blu-ray only), Dolby Digital Plus (all the streaming services), and Dolby MAT (“Metadata-enhanced Audio Transport” - really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?). 

Dolby MAT is the oddball here so, of course, it’s what Apple uses (and Microsoft for Xbox One X/S). It’s really more of a container - the Apple TV decodes the Dolby bitstream into lossless multi-channel PCM audio, layers the Siri and system sounds on top of it, tops it off with the Atmos metadata where applicable, then packages it all up and sends it on to be played.

(Note: if you can’t tell, I’m VASTLY simplifying this, probably to the point of lunacy.) 

Since the Sonos Arc is able to decode all Dolby formats, it’s perfectly happy to play whatever’s in the Dolby MAT container, including Atmos. Which makes the Arc’s inability to handle multi-channel PCM audio all the more infuriating because it’s basically ALREADY playing multi-channel PCM audio, but only if it comes wrapped as Dolby MAT. Neat, huh? 

Non-Atmos content from the Apple TV is a little more complex, unfortunately, and we’re entering the realm of speculation here. On the Arcana, when I play Atmos content from the Apple TV 4K, I get “Dolby Atmos” in the “About my System” section of the Sonos App. When I play any other multichannel audio, however, I only get “Dolby Digital 5.1.” HD Fury speculates that this may have something to do with the Arc’s inability to handle multi-channel PCM audio, and I know that directly contradicts what I just said above. But the reality is that, for whatever reason, Dolby Digital Plus DOES NOT seem to be able to be passed from the Apple TV to the Arc via Arcana at this time. Whether this changes when Sonos finally puts out their multi-channel PCM update is something we’ll have to wait to see. 

Clear a mud? ;-) 

Many thanks….my head is hurting :-)

So…. (can you please confirm the statements below are correct)

Sonos Arc can receive and play Dolby Atmos audio from ATV 4K in Dolby MAT format, but to do that successfully, you would need either;

1. To passthrough the Atmos Audio to the Sonos Arc, from ATV4K via HDMI, using a suitable TV with eARC.
2. To use the HDFury Arcana, to ensure the ATV4K is fooled into thinking a Atmos-capable eARC TV is connected and to then split off the Atmos audio and feed it via HDMI to the Sonos Arc (with a separate HDMI taking the video to the TV)

That is correct.

@Highfalutintodd  Thanks for the explanation. This is one of the reasons why I avoid ATV4K discussions for the most part.  Everything else regarding audio is rather complicated, but ATV4K takes it to another level.

Tell me about it. I’ve learned more about Dolby MAT in the last few months than I’d ever want to and I STILL don’t think I fully grok it. And the only reason I dug into it as much as I did was a stubborn insistence on learning WHY OH WHY Plex wouldn’t / couldn’t pass TrueHD/Atmos from the Apple TV (because as nice as I’m sure it is, I really don’t feel like buying an Nvidia Shield for this one purpose). From there, I just kept following it down the rabbit hole and I’m still waiting for someone to go, nope, sorry kid, you’ve got it all wrong, here’s how it REALLY works. 

But until that day comes, I think my explanation is accurate. Or, in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, I’ll choose to believe that it’s “definitively inaccurate” until otherwise proven wrong. ;-) 

It’s off topic, but I got a Shield over the summer and have rather impressed with it.  I got it as I wanted a 2nd streamer for various reasons, heard good things about it, and wanted something that was streaming service agnostic.   Performance wise, it’s much better than FireTV or my other option Samsung’s internal apps. I pretty much use it 90% of the time now  Much more customizable.  Didn’t even consider Plex at the time, but set that up and been very happy with that. I use plex primarily as a music server, but now I’m considering building a video library as well.  

I’m going to go pick one up today to try it out after all. I’ve got a buddy who speaks very highly of it and at this point I might as well have the ability to have the full audio quality from my ripped BDs. (Right? Right….? )

Plus, I’ve been toying around with the idea of using it as a Plex server itself as supposedly it’s pretty capable. And that would get the Plex server off my daily driver iMac and onto something dedicated, so that could be good. We’ll see! 

Interesting update! Another of the Arcana beta testers informed me that if you have Dolby Atmos / E-AC3 content on a Plex server, it will actually play as Atmos on an Apple TV 4K via Arcana and the Plex app IF you are using the “Old Player” (buried within the Plex app settings). 

I’ve tried this and can confirm that it’s true and works! I don’t have much in the way of Atmos / E-AC3 content (the Leaf and Amaze trailers, some test tones, a handful of other material I’ve downloaded), but it’s pretty awesome to know that this works!