dolby atmos hometheater When does Dolby Atmos upmixing enable height channels?

[Sawtaytoes]

I have the Dolby Access app, Windows 11, and have setup Dolby Atmos for Hometheater in the app along with checking the "Upmixer" option.
 

For whatever reason, the Dolby Atmos height channels don't activate at all.

 

I thought this was because Windows didn't support more than 8-channel audio, but if I play a video file with Dolby Atmos audio, it does use the height channels. I can tell if my heights are being used because my receiver shows me they're active. It doesn't show this in other apps though.

 

When does Dolby Upmixer take effect in Windows? Does it only happen in supported apps?

[Alex Atkin UK]

I'd certainly expect that a video with native Dolby Atmos should simply bitstream to the receiver, bypassing the Dolby Atmos encoding in Windows.  That would explain the difference.

 

I can't test myself as I only use 7.1 as I have no space for height channels and would have to sacrifice two rear channels to do it.

[LIGISTX]

16 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

would have to sacrifice two rear channels to do it.

Honestly…. Would be worth it. Adding just 2 height channels made more of a difference than going from 2.1 to 5.1, and I’m not even joking. 5.2.2 is no joke, those height channels really make a world of difference. 

[Sawtaytoes]

You're correct, I think it's bitstreaming to the receiver. I wasn't getting Atmos audio in the past unless I checked a box in Media Player Classic Homecinema and VLC to passthrough the audio. That's how I got DTS:X working as well.

 

But either way, the Dolby Atmos for Hometheater app should recognize I have Atmos heights and upmix it right? 

 

Have you tried the Atmos upmixer? Is it at least upmixing to 7.1 for you? If I could at least verify it's working for those cases, I should be able to verify in other cases.

I know Final Fantasy XV has support for Windows spatial audio. I downloaded the demo months ago to see if Atmos would activate on my receiver (it didn't). That was long before the upmixing option in Dolby Access.

One of the Ori games also has spatial audio support. That might be the ticket to getting the upmixer working.

That or it only works on bitstreams to the receiver. Or maybe it only works in the Dolby Access app. Or maybe it only works in UWP apps. No CLUE!

 

---

I have 4 Atmos heights on my 13-ch system. Since they're in the bouncy-house configuration, I have no real way of knowing aside from obvious demo videos. In games, Atmos heights should be more-pronounced, and I'd love to see how the upmixer handles it.

[Sawtaytoes]

When I run Ori and the Will of the Wisps, it activates Dolby Atmos heights automatically even though I disabled the upmixer. In the past, when I was on Win10, it would still be in 7.1 mode. I also tried DTS:X for Home Theater, and it works too!

 

Looks like Ori doesn't specifically support Dolby Atmos, but Windows Spatial Audio which allows you to use Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.

From what I gather, the "Windows Spatial Audio" setting in this particular game doesn't actually do anything. It seems like the game only cares about the current audio setting in Windows. My thinking was I could load the game with spatial audio turned off in Windows, and that setting would turn on Dolby Atmos for Home Theater, but that's not how it works in my testing.

Still unsure how this upmixer setting is supposed to work. It has yet to activate height channels for non-Atmos content.

 

 

[Sawtaytoes]

Please delete this post.

[Sawtaytoes]

Figured it out!

 

The upmixer is working. Thing is, it only works in the current audio mode. If my receiver isn't in Atmos mode, it won't upmix to add heights, only surrounds. But why even surrounds? It specifically says it only adds heights:

 

 

For whatever reason, my receiver is always in 7.1 mode unless I play a game with Windows Spatial Audio or some media file with Atmos or DTS:X bitstream audio.

Any ideas how to set Windows or my Yamaha A6A to use Atmos heights with non-spatial-audio sources?

[Delta-Force]

1. you would have needed to buy the Atmos App, since Windows recognises the AV Receiver as Dolby Atmos capeable device and sends the correct data to the AVR.

2. Your AVR handles everything. You don't need the settings in the app. You just need to set your receiver to the Atmos upmixer. Click the surround decode button on the remote. There you should be able to select the DA Upmixer.

[Sawtaytoes]

There's no way to buy the Atmos app. You can buy Dolby Atmos for Headphones, but not Dolby Atmos for Hometheater; that one's free.

Either way, I shouldn't be able to toggle the "Channel upmixer" if I didn't pay for something I should. And like I said, it does upmix, but only stereo to 7.1 channels from what I've seen, and the upmixing does more than just heights; it's also adding surrounds.

 

It's correct that my receiver could upmix non-Atmos audio, but in the description of this setting, it's says it's so the Dolby Access app handles the upmixing rather than letting the receiver handle it. Based on the description, I thought it only added heights, but if it's adding surrounds instead, that's not what I want nor what I expected.
 

I still don't know why it's not setting the receiver to Dolby Atmos mode if I'm not playing a game with spatial audio.

[circeseye]

windows has screwed up atmos. months back an update fubared it. and so far no fix in sight. (ive redid drives, drivers and settings and found windows is causing it)
ive had to set windows in 7.1. but thankfully even setting it to 7.1 the avr switches to what the format playing whether its atmos, dts or just dd.
and yes all speakers work in atmos correctly
if i set windows to atmos its all messed up.

 

if you avr is not "auto" switching upon detection you have a setting wrong on the avr
like on my denon on the remote there 4 sound mode buttons. hitting "pure" key till "auto" shows up and now it sets to what its receiving

[Sawtaytoes]

25 minutes ago, circeseye said:

windows has screwed up atmos. months back an update fubared it. and so far no fix in sight. (ive redid drives, drivers and settings and found windows is causing it)
ive had to set windows in 7.1. but thankfully even setting it to 7.1 the avr switches to what the format playing whether its atmos, dts or just dd.
and yes all speakers work in atmos correctly
if i set windows to atmos its all messed up.

 

if you avr is not "auto" switching upon detection you have a setting wrong on the avr
like on my denon on the remote there 4 sound mode buttons. hitting "pure" key till "auto" shows up and now it sets to what its receiving

Yamaha's mode for that is called "Straight". It only outputs what it's getting, and if it gets a Dolby or DTS or Auro:3D bitstream, it switches to the appropriate mode. Windows is always in 7.1 mode even when Dolby Atmos for Hometheater is selected. This has always been the case for me in both Win10 and Win11.

What changed for you? How did Atmos work before in Windows and how does it work now? What's "screwed up" as you say?

[circeseye]

10 hours ago, Sawtaytoes said:

Yamaha's mode for that is called "Straight". It only outputs what it's getting, and if it gets a Dolby or DTS or Auro:3D bitstream, it switches to the appropriate mode. Windows is always in 7.1 mode even when Dolby Atmos for Hometheater is selected. This has always been the case for me in both Win10 and Win11.

What changed for you? How did Atmos work before in Windows and how does it work now? What's "screwed up" as you say?

when in atmos only one thing will play. like if im watching or listening to something and i switch to anther audio source all audio dies. i have to switch to 7.1 then back to atmos for the new audio source to work..hell cant even fast forward a video without audio dieing and have to reset it to get it back.

cant do 2 separate audios, like discord and twitch at the same time.

this only does it while in atmos in windows. and it started around feb. it used to work flawlessly, windows updated and its been broke since

 

yea before it broke, my avr always said atmos and it would upscale even stereo to surround. it worked great. then after windows updated avr said "multi in" and never switched to the format playing and only one thing can play at a time or instance. you stop it or fast forward it audio dies.

so frustrating, so now i just leave it on 7.1 and it works just fine

[Sawtaytoes]

17 hours ago, circeseye said:

when in atmos only one thing will play.

I've had that issue before when using bitstream output from a media player, but it's not the case when playing games in spatial audio or when Dolby Atmos for Hometheater is enabled. I had that fast-forward issue as well, but it was the bitstream output that caused it.

 

When you say Multi-In, sounds like you have a Denon or Marantz receiver. You can change that mode to DSur (Dolby Surround), and it should go back to upmixing. But that upmixes at the receiver, it doesn't mean Windows is sending you an Atmos signal though.

[254732_1454182039]

Adding to this necro-thread. Does anyone know if, in current days, the Upmixer is actually working (instead of 7.1)?

I just tried running Yakuza 0 on PC (Win11) and my Q990B soundbar doesn't not show Atmos (as it does when I play native Atmos games on XSX), which I thought it would show as it'd be up-scaling, thus delivering MAT? It does sound more "surround-y" but not sure if it's actually doing much?

[Sawtaytoes]

On 2/27/2023 at 3:18 AM, 254732_1454182039 said:

Adding to this necro-thread. Does anyone know if, in current days, the Upmixer is actually working (instead of 7.1)?

I just tried running Yakuza 0 on PC (Win11) and my Q990B soundbar doesn't not show Atmos (as it does when I play native Atmos games on XSX), which I thought it would show as it'd be up-scaling, thus delivering MAT? It does sound more "surround-y" but not sure if it's actually doing much?

Can you take a screenshot of your Windows sound settings, the currently selected adapter, and the Dolby Access screen with the upmixer checkbox?

 

I think I ran into this in the past, but it's been something like a year.

[Sawtaytoes]

As an update for folks, Hi-Fi RUSH supports Windows Spatial Audio; although, it has HUGE lag with Dolby Atmos. DTS:X works fine and is how I play all my spatial audio games mainly because it works more consistently even though the audio is less clear than Dolby Atmos. Hard to explain, but Dolby Atmos is definitely boosted some, but I'm not sure if it's just better setup on my receiver or what.