Atmos playback from Apple Music

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by npapaleo

Here are screenshots of my Loopback setup, which is fairly straightforward.....

Thanks for posting that - it's essentially the same as the Loopback device I created, but no joy here - OS playback from Apple Music still limited to 5.1 fold-down - I think DVS is next. And as to your other post; of course, these are known good Atmos mp4s straight out of the DAR and also commercial releases of Atmos content I've mixed, so I know it well.

[originalscottyg]

Originally Posted by Rich Breen

Thanks for posting that - it's essentially the same as the Loopback device I created, but no joy here - OS playback from Apple Music still limited to 5.1 fold-down - I think DVS is next. And as to your other post; of course, these are known good Atmos mp4s straight out of the DAR and also commercial releases of Atmos content I've mixed, so I know it well.

I could be wrong, but I think this native Atmos playback only works for files streaming on Apple Music or Apple TV+, not for MP4 files loaded into the Apple Music app for local playback.

[marsian]

Originally Posted by npapaleo

Here are screenshots of my Loopback setup, which is fairly straightforward. You may need a weird series of computer restarts and software to make it work. If I haven't selected Loopback as my Mac's audio output before launch, the Music app Atmos will not work. Sometimes I need to re-launch Loopback. Usually, once it's set up and working, I don't have to jump through any hoops for months at a time.

I do it like npapaleo (with loopback). Plus I use Source Nexus to first generate 16ch virtual audio device. In Audio-MIDI-Setup, you have to select the speaker configuration for this device (7.1.4). Here you can also test with a test tone, if routing is correct. Interfaces are OMNI and 192. It works great.


Best
Maik

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by originalscottyg

I could be wrong, but I think this native Atmos playback only works for files streaming on Apple Music or Apple TV+, not for MP4 files loaded into the Apple Music app for local playback.

Hi Scott - Thanks, this does seem to be the problem. I can get proper Atmos playback from Apple Music on streaming releases (using a Loopback virtual device), but it does not work properly with internally generated mp4s or even pre-release Atmos review files delivered from UMG. They all fold down to 5.1 (weirdly with the rears folding into the sides).

These are all known-good mp4s. Some generated by me out of the DAR, some directly from UMG, some purchased from IAA.

Same behavior out of VLC or QT. So this begs the question; can anyone play back a local mp4 atmos file on a Mac and get proper atmos playback? If so, how?

[originalscottyg]

Originally Posted by Rich Breen

Hi Scott - Thanks, this does seem to be the problem. I can get proper Atmos playback from Apple Music on streaming releases (using a Loopback virtual device), but it does not work properly with internally generated mp4s or even pre-release Atmos review files delivered from UMG. They all fold down to 5.1 (weirdly with the rears folding into the sides).

These are all known-good mp4s. Some generated by me out of the DAR, some directly from UMG, some purchased from IAA.

Same behavior out of VLC or QT. So this begs the question; can anyone play back a local mp4 atmos file on a Mac and get proper atmos playback? If so, how?

I use Dolby Reference Player. I got it as part of the Dolby Media Encoder Suite. I got that from RSPE as a yearly subscription for $400/year. Dolby seems really really elusive about access to these tools. I was able to buy this subscription from RSPE as a content producer, but I've heard others say that Dolby restricts access to this, for some reason. Might be worth reaching out to RSPE.

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by originalscottyg

I use Dolby Reference Player...

ha! Thanks for that Scott. Coincidentally, I just received my "approval" from Dolby earlier this week - I now have the DRP and yes, it plays back mp4s fine. Good lord they make this difficult!

I guess the question remains; can anyone get local mp4s to playback properly within the normal Mac OS environment *without* using Dolby's proprietary tools?

[originalscottyg]

Originally Posted by Rich Breen

Good lord they make this difficult!

What part of "TAKE MY MONEY!!" don't they understand?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Rich Breen

I guess the question remains; can anyone get local mp4s to playback properly within the normal Mac OS environment *without* using Dolby's proprietary tools?

Works now.

The trick seems to be you need to have 16i/o interface, not total of 16ch. For example in case of Apogee Symphony mkII, two separate cards is not going to work but single 16ch interface works. No matter how many speakers you have installed, the single interface must be 16ch.

At least for now.

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Works now.

The trick seems to be you need to have 16i/o interface, not total of 16ch. For example in case of Apogee Symphony mkII, two separate cards is not going to work but single 16ch interface works. No matter how many speakers you have installed, the single interface must be 16ch.

At least for now.

To be clear; you are able to play back *local* internally generated Atmos mp4s to play back correctly in Apple Music? Streaming works and plays back properly (as long as CoreAudio is presented as 16 channels), but as I said before, locally-generated and UMG-generated (for example) mp4s will not play back correctly out of Apple Music (nor can you upload them to your iCloud library) - for those you need to use something like Dolby Reference Player. Unless there's been a recent change (post-Ventura) I believe this is still the case.

[JFreak]

Yes.

I needed to test this on dealer, because I could not afford a 4200 EUR card just to have fun testing. But once you have Apogee Symphony mkII chassis with 16 i/o card in slot number one, macOS recognises all Atmos up to 9.1.6

(Apogee Symphony mkII has a special implementation of loop lyncing and daisy-chaining. The chassis has two card slots, each capable of 16x16 i/o, and two said cards can be fed to PTHD with a single DigiLink cable. Loop syncing and daisy-chaining is done internally. But you need to have one card with 16x16 i/o for Atmos, two smaller cards is not good because they in essence would be two separate interfaces.)