Dolby Atmos with a custom 11ch intergated amp

[K0stas]

Good-day everyone,

I am beginner audiophile and I was lucky enough to find someone who can build me my dream HiFi system. He has been building Hifi systems his whole life so he can make pretty much anything except an integrated amp with an Atmos decoder since there are no such chips available in the market.

At the moment I am trying to find a solution to this matter and I came across the Dolby Access app on the windows store which apparently enables you to listen to Atmos from your PC. If I buy the license and play all my movies/music using a HTPC which will be connected to a custom 11.2 channel integrated amp will Atmos work or is a receiver the only way to go?

I am aware that I can buy a receiver with decent pre-outs such as the Denon-X3600H, use it as a processor and use a custom made amp to power my speakers but that would be the only weak link in my system since I don't want the sound to be affected by low quality pre-outs/dacs which are present in all the mid range receivers. I have the chance to buy an integrated amp exactly the way I want it and I would hate to have to waste 1000 bucks on a receiver.

Any other suggestions are welcome!

Thank you in advanced,
Kosta

[Arbiter01]

As far as I know the windows store atmos is for headphones, but I could be wrong 

[pas008]

id wait for @Derkoli

for input

[Derkoli]

6 hours ago, K0stas said:

Good-day everyone,

I am beginner audiophile and I was lucky enough to find someone who can build me my dream HiFi system. He has been building Hifi systems his whole life so he can make pretty much anything except an integrated amp with an Atmos decoder since there are no such chips available in the market.

At the moment I am trying to find a solution to this matter and I came across the Dolby Access app on the windows store which apparently enables you to listen to Atmos from your PC. If I buy the license and play all my movies/music using a HTPC which will be connected to a custom 11.2 channel integrated amp will Atmos work or is a receiver the only way to go?

I am aware that I can buy a receiver with decent pre-outs such as the Denon-X3600H, use it as a processor and use a custom made amp to power my speakers but that would be the only weak link in my system since I don't want the sound to be affected by low quality pre-outs/dacs which are present in all the mid range receivers. I have the chance to buy an integrated amp exactly the way I want it and I would hate to have to waste 1000 bucks on a receiver.

Any other suggestions are welcome!

Thank you in advanced,
Kosta

I was really happy with my Yamaha CX-A5200, before I had to upgrade to more channels. My Denon x8500h also sounded quite nice IIRC. But the yamaha is better with more features, connectivity, balanced pre-outs etc.

 

 

 

Also, you need a processor/AVR with pre-outs. Your PC doesn't have 11.2 pre-outs, or atleast I hope it doesn't.

[K0stas]

1 hour ago, Derkoli said:

I was really happy with my Yamaha CX-A5200, before I had to upgrade to more channels. My Denon x8500h also sounded quite nice IIRC. But the yamaha is better with more features, connectivity, balanced pre-outs etc.

 

 

 

Also, you need a processor/AVR with pre-outs. Your PC doesn't have 11.2 pre-outs, or atleast I hope it doesn't.

The thing is that I don't want to spend that much money on the receiver since I can have a custom integrated amp made for me exactly the way I want it.

The technician who can build it can add a dac with pretty much as many channels as I need which will connect to my PC via USB but the problem is the Atmos decoding. If I have an 11.2 integrated amp with an Atmos speaker system will I still get sound from the ceiling speakers if I don't have a receiver to decode the Atmos signal or will my PC decode the signal as long as I have the license?

[Derkoli]

4 hours ago, K0stas said:

The thing is that I don't want to spend that much money on the receiver since I can have a custom integrated amp made for me exactly the way I want it.

The technician who can build it can add a dac with pretty much as many channels as I need which will connect to my PC via USB but the problem is the Atmos decoding. If I have an 11.2 integrated amp with an Atmos speaker system will I still get sound from the ceiling speakers if I don't have a receiver to decode the Atmos signal or will my PC decode the signal as long as I have the license?

If the PC has an Atmos signal, it will send an Atmos signal. But you can't use USB, you need to use HDMI, but that shouldn't be to difficult to implement.

 

 

[K0stas]

24 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

If the PC has an Atmos signal, it will send an Atmos signal. But you can't use USB, you need to use HDMI, but that shouldn't be to difficult to implement.

 

 

This is good to know, Thank you!

[dalekphalm]

56 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

If the PC has an Atmos signal, it will send an Atmos signal. But you can't use USB, you need to use HDMI, but that shouldn't be to difficult to implement.

 

 

Yes the PC will send an Atmos audio track if it exists - but won't he still need a decoder on the other side that has Atmos support?

[Derkoli]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Yes the PC will send an Atmos audio track if it exists - but won't he still need a decoder on the other side that has Atmos support?

Yes he will, such as a processor, AVR etc. But windows can still be funky as hell with audio so I avoid anything other than optical spdif and HDMI now.

[K0stas]

11 hours ago, Derkoli said:

Yes he will, such as a processor, AVR etc. But windows can still be funky as hell with audio so I avoid anything other than optical spdif and HDMI now.

Oh, so that means that a receiver is the only way to go for Atmos....

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, K0stas said:

Oh, so that means that a receiver is the only way to go for Atmos....

Certainly the most ideal way to go. Configuration would be significantly less complicated and significantly more reliable than using a PC and analog outputs instead, I would think. 

[pas008]

13 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Certainly the most ideal way to go. Configuration would be significantly less complicated and significantly more reliable than using a PC and analog outputs instead, I would think. 

not to mention auto speaker calibration too

 

 

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, pas008 said:

not to mention auto speaker calibration too

That's certainly a bonus - but auto calibration is certainly not a must have (at least not for me).

[Derkoli]

9 hours ago, K0stas said:

Oh, so that means that a receiver is the only way to go for Atmos....

You only need something with a HDMI input and the ability to decode atmos. It doesn't matter what this is.

[pas008]

21 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

That's certainly a bonus - but auto calibration is certainly not a must have (at least not for me).

well time is money

back before it and having osd, I always hated how much time it took lol

[dalekphalm]

42 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

You only need something with a HDMI input and the ability to decode atmos. It doesn't matter what this is.

Correct - but outside of an AV Receiver, what practical alternatives does he have?

[Derkoli]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Correct - but outside of an AV Receiver, what practical alternatives does he have?

Processor, or some stupid expensive custom 11.2 DAC, which isn't really practical.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Derkoli said:

Processor, or some stupid expensive custom 11.2 DAC, which isn't really practical.

What kind of processor? Do there exist appliances you can simply plug into your loop to process Atmos signals? Or are you talking about the processor that would otherwise live inside an AV Receiver?

[Derkoli]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

What kind of processor? Do there exist appliances you can simply plug into your loop to process Atmos signals? Or are you talking about the processor that would otherwise live inside an AV Receiver?

Yes, I mean the processor that is essentially an AVR without all the amplifiers in it, like my Bryston SP4

[dalekphalm]

6 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

Yes, I mean the processor that is essentially an AVR without all the amplifiers in it, like my Bryston SP4

Gotcha - yes we're on the same page now. Granted, aren't most processors typically pretty high end? Does there even exist a "budget" processor?

[Derkoli]

52 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Gotcha - yes we're on the same page now. Granted, aren't most processors typically pretty high end? Does there even exist a "budget" processor?

Depends what your "budget" is lol. Cheapest I can think of is the Emotiva MC-700, but even then its 729 USD, Alot cheaper than my Bryston SP4 though.

[VoidX]

51 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Gotcha - yes we're on the same page now. Granted, aren't most processors typically pretty high end? Does there even exist a "budget" processor?

PCs basically classify as a budget processor (they have all the features except Atmos/DTS:X/Auro decoding, at least for the home version of Auro, cinema 11.1 and 13.1 is easily playable, I can send you promotional material). Actually, most high-end processors I know of (like the Trinnov Altitude or the Dolby CP850/950) are PCs with custom PCIe cards.

[Derkoli]

5 minutes ago, VoidX said:

PCs basically classify as a budget processor (they have all the features except Atmos/DTS:X/Auro decoding, at least for the home version of Auro, cinema 11.1 and 13.1 is easily playable, I can send you promotional material). Actually, most high-end processors I know of (like the Trinnov Altitude or the Dolby CP850/950) are PCs with custom PCIe cards.

I'd love to know of a PC/PCI-E card that can output 11.1/2 or 13.1/2 lol.

[VoidX]

5 minutes ago, Derkoli said:

I'd love to know of a PC/PCI-E card that can output 11.1/2 or 13.1/2 lol.

Just open up any newer (2012+) Dolby product, they're at 16 channels on PCIe (custom connector, but the protocol is PCIe), and at 64 channels with their DACs (Dolby DAC3202). These are cinema products, but fully compatible with home Atmos through HDMI. Here's the worst part: they run Java.

[Derkoli]

3 minutes ago, VoidX said:

Just open up any newer (2012+) Dolby product, they're at 16 channels on PCIe (custom connector, but the protocol is PCIe), and at 64 channels with their DACs (Dolby DAC3202). These are cinema products, but fully compatible with home Atmos through HDMI. Here's the worst part: they run Java.

Eek Java.

 

I think it would be cool to see a publically available 9.1 or higher sound card, even if it used an external DAC and connected to it with AES/EBU or something similar.