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    The Computer Audiophile

    Playing TrueHD Atmos Music Downloads & Blu-ray Rips The Easy Way

     

     

    Playing lossless TrueHD Atmos music is like many things in life, there are many ways to accomplish the goal. There isn't a one size fits all solution, because we all have different wants and needs. For example, I want to play TrueHD Atmos music using state of the art time and frequency domain room correction, without a video screen within twenty feet of my listening room (objective and subjective review of my system). Others want to use an existing home theater setup, with an AV processor, to take advantage of an audio infrastructure that's already in place. Neither solution is right for everyone. 

     

    In this article I'll cover playing lossless TrueHD Atmos music the easy way. I  call it the easy way for two reasons. First, it's an easier entry into the world of lossless TrueHD Atmos music for most people because it can be done in an existing home theater. Second, the only skill required to play this TrueHD Atmos music, is the ability to download a file and copy it to either a flash drive or Network Attached Storage unit. The decoding of the Dolby TrueHD Atmos music takes place in the existing processor, such as one from Lyngdorf or Trinnov. 

     


    Requirements:

    1. TrueHD Atmos music file(s)
    2. NVIDIA Shield TV Pro
    3. A Dolby TrueHD Atmos capable processor

     


    TrueHD Atmos Music File(s)

     

    Obtaining TrueHD Atmos music files can be done in two ways. The "old school" but still required way for some material is to rip a Blu-ray Disc, extracting the MKV file containing the content. The much easier way is to purchase and download a TrueHD Atmos music album from sites such as 2L, The Spirit of Turtle, Immersive Audio Album, and soon NativeDSD

     

    The downloads come as an MKV file. This is the Matroska Multimedia Container, capable of holding just about any number of files and formats. The name comes from the well known matryoshka nesting dolls, that appear to hold "endless" numbers of smaller dolls. One note here is that Immersive Audio Album offers downloads as MKV files for each track, rather than a single MKV for an entire album. 

     

    We are still in the early days of TrueHD Atmos music downloads. It's nearly identical to the early days of high resolution audio downloads. Content is available from the pioneers, who are leading the charges and producing albums with great music and amazing sound quality. Just like high resolution audio, the next questions about TrueHD Atmos music, relate to how people can play it on their home systems. 

     


    NVIDIA Shield TV Pro

     

    Some Blu-ray Disc players, such as those from Oppo, can do what I'm about to describe, but Oppo no longer exists. If one has an Oppo player, that's great. For everyone else, I highly recommend purchasing a $199 NVIDIA Shield TV Pro. The Shield is identical in concept to an AppleTV or Roku, but has better flexibility and support for a library of TrueHD Atmos music (or movies) and using the passthrough function to send bit perfect trueHD Atmos music to an external processor. 

     

    Another side benefit of the Shield is that it has the Tidal music app. Tidal streams lossy Atmos music to the Shield. This is great when there is no TrueHD Atmos music equivalent available on the market. In many cases, the highest resolution never released is the lossy Dolby Digital Plus version (for now). 

     

    I prefer to install the Kodi app on the Shield, as it is simple, supports MKV TrueHD Atmos music files, and outputs bit perfect digital. Kodi also has a nice iOS app for remote control of the Shield. This enables playback of music without the need for a display, but a connected display will come in hand at times. Like all technology, it always works perfect, until it doesn't. 

     

    I've used both a connected USB flash drive with MKV files and the Shield connected to my NAS over the network for MKV files. NS is my preferred method because it's easy.


    Here are some screenshots of my NVIDIA Shield.


    I disable everything, as I believe the preferred option is to let an external processor handle the decoding. 

     

    Settings_20220804_125950.png

     

     


    This is the screen while playing The Beatles Abbey Road MKV file I ripped from a Blu-ray Disc. You can see it lists the tracks and the options Stereo, DTS, and Atmos. When switching tracks, the currently playing track is indicated by the little speaker to the left of the track name. 

     

    Kodi_20220804_125638.png

     

     


    Selecting the audio stream is done easily from the same screen as above, just by pressing the center round button on the remote, going to settings, and selecting the audio. This screenshot shows all the options that I ripped in my MKV file, although ripping just the Atmos is possible.

     

    Note: the Kodi for iOS app also enables audio stream selection. (Thanks to William Erb for this tip, he has written about Atmos music for Cineluxe, and is working on an Atmos music article for The Cinema Connoisseur).

     

    Kodi_20220804_125741.png

     

     


    Here is the final selection, TrueHD 7.1, with passthrough enabled. TrueHD says 7.1, but this will expand to 7.1.4 on my system via a decoder. 

     

    Kodi_20220804_125725.png

     

     

     

    These screenshots are from the 2L TrueHD Atmos music download Tuvayhun. In this first one, is a navigation screen in Kodi on the Shield, where I selected the album.

     

    Kodi_20220804_220804.png

     

     


    Here are the available selection within the MKV file downloaded from the 2L store. What appears as DTS-HD MA, is actually Auro 3D. TrueHD is the lossless Atmos, and DD+ is the same quality as Tidal and Apple Music stream. The "Unknown" is just what is says because no language was specified in the MKV creation. This isn't really an issue because we aren't reading subtitles or listening to an alternative overdub in another language. 

     

    Kodi_20220804_220830.png

     

     


    This is the screen when playing the album. The track in BOLD is currently playing. Track navigation is just like a CD player. 

     

    Kodi_20220804_220817.png

     

     

     

     

     

    Bonus: Here is a shot of the Tidal screen on the Shield. Tidal is nice because it places an Atmos logo on every track, where as Apple Music only labels this per album, and if 100% of an album's tracks aren't Atmos, there is no indication that anything on the album is Atmos. Apple won't use the Atmos logo unless every track is Atmos. Tidal has Apple beat on this one. 

     

    If you haven't listened to Rocket Man during a proper Atmos music demonstration, I implore you to do it now. 

     

    TIDAL_20220804_125544.png

     

     


    A Dolby TrueHD Atmos Capable Processor


    The last part of the equation is an external Atmos processor. I've heard great things about the Lyngdorf models, and even that a couple high end brands license all the Lyngdorf tech for their own processors. The king of the processor hill remains Trinnov, in my experience. One reason for this is that Trinnov processors have real computers inside, making them incredibly flexible. 

     

    I spent time with the Emotiva team at the Texas Audio Roundup in Austin last month. We played Atmos music from Tidal to an NVIDIA Shield to an Emotive processor, and out to the entire Emotiva system. I think the Emotiva products have great potential to provide an entry into Atmos music at a reasonable price. 

     


    Wrap Up

     

    Playing lossless TrueHD Atmos music using an NVIDIA Shield and an external processor is really an easy way to enter the Atmos music world. The only three items needed are the music, the Shield, and a processor. Granted the rest of the system needs to be in place, but the chances are high that those with a home theater capable of processing Atmos, can easily be off and running by adding music and a Shield. 


     

     




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    My first thought upon seeing the marker was that you had gone off the deep end and bought a green marker to color in the edges of your Dolby Atmos Blue Rays...

     

    Good, thorough article once again Chris.

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    You may want to note that neither KODI nor Shield support native playback of DSD audio for those that want their immersive (surround) audio in that flavor.  JRiver does, however, and supports all of the other immersive sound formats as well.

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    25 minutes ago, mlknez1 said:

    You may want to note that neither KODI nor Shield support native playback of DSD audio for those that want their immersive (surround) audio in that flavor.  JRiver does, however, and supports all of the other immersive sound formats as well.

     

    This article is about TrueHD Atmos for those who want easy. As soon as a computer with JRiver is involved, the level of complexity goes up. Plus, we then have to talk about no bit streaming on Mac, so it's only JRiver on Windows, but that has issues with these files, so there's a caveat.

     

    DSD is a topic for another day.

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    I love the Nvidia.  Easy to navigate, never any issues, and great performance.  For the past few years I have been powering mine with an ext. LPSU (19v) Farad.  Things are kinda cramped but hopefully you can make out the pic.  Just cut off the connector from standard wall wart psu and attach female barrel connector.

     

    5B15A637-E1E0-483C-8DE4-0F82A48117F9.thumb.jpeg.9e88a3efaa5e8bdca555096599186991.jpegBB180AC3-F09A-4139-9B87-7BEE152D808A.thumb.jpeg.048dfc8c3ade95bcdf58911f8860458d.jpeg

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    Chris the question is this. Is this easy enough for the audiophiles I meet at shows? Most audiophiles

    I meet show real fear when I suggest the next advances in high-end audio will be software.

     

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    11 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

    Chris the question is this. Is this easy enough for the audiophiles I meet at shows? Most audiophiles

    I meet show real fear when I suggest the next advances in high-end audio will be software.

     

     

    This is absolutely easy enough for anyone. 

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    I  found this out  today while looking to do it the really easy way. I wanted a BluRay player to play my Atmos audio discs, and since it doesn't need to process video other than for the menus I figured why pay a premium for excellent video quality. 

     

    I know this article is about playing files , not discs, but wanted to share in case anybody else is looking for one.  If you google it or look at sites online you will find the only players that say they will play Atmos are the more expensive, high end players with cutting edge video capabilities like HDR10 and Dolby Vision. , However, I found out that a player that will output Dolby TrueHD will output Atmos from discs even if it doesn't say it will. So I bought a $99 Sony 4K  BDP-S6700 player that says Dolby TrueHD and sure enough.... Atmos. You can save a few $$ by getting the model or 2 down that isn't 4K, but for $20 or so I went nuts  and got the 4K. 

     

    So if you don't want or need to play files from downloads or rip discs, a complete, easy  Atmos solution on the cheap is an Apple 4K TV (now around $120) which will do Apple Music and Tidal along with a sub $100 BluRay like mine to play your discs. 

     

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    4 hours ago, bbosler said:

    So if you don't want or need to play files from downloads or rip discs, a complete, easy  Atmos solution on the cheap is an Apple 4K TV (now around $120) which will do Apple Music and Tidal along with a sub $100 BluRay like mine to play your discs.

     

    Petition · True Lossless Dolby Atmos support on the Apple TV 4K · Change.org
    https://www.change.org/p/dolby-mat-v2-0-or-full-bitstream-audio-passthrough-support-on-the-apple-tv-4k
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253703728

    Quote

    Apple TV 4K doesn’t support Atmos TrueHD natively. Instead Apple TV 4K supports Atmos Dolby Digital+ for input, as that is what streaming services use.

    Infuse on Apple TV will decode Atmos TrueHD into PCM Multichannel, but stripped from Atmos meta data, so you get 7.1 or 5.1.

     

    In other words, we'll have to replace Apple TV 4K with something else if we're going for TrueHD (i.e. lossless) version of Atmos down the road.

     

    Lossy DD+ is fine, though.

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    18 hours ago, Tokyokyoto said:

    I love the Nvidia.  Easy to navigate, never any issues, and great performance.  For the past few years I have been powering mine with an ext. LPSU (19v) Farad.  Things are kinda cramped but hopefully you can make out the pic.  Just cut off the connector from standard wall wart psu and attach female barrel connector.

     

    5B15A637-E1E0-483C-8DE4-0F82A48117F9.thumb.jpeg.9e88a3efaa5e8bdca555096599186991.jpegBB180AC3-F09A-4139-9B87-7BEE152D808A.thumb.jpeg.048dfc8c3ade95bcdf58911f8860458d.jpeg

    great ideas about external power, BUT...these are NOT the pictures I would show a newbie in a thread about "EASY".  :)

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    Is there a reason it has to be the Shield Pro?  The only differences between the Pro and Shield TV are the Pro's USB input and larger internal memory.  If DD+ Atmos streaming is coming from the internal Tidal App, and Atmos True HD files are coming from the NAS, there wouldn't necessarily be a need for the usb attached storage (unless you preferred an attached USB drive to NAS), or am I missing something? 

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    5 hours ago, phoenixdogfan said:

    Is there a reason it has to be the Shield Pro?  The only differences between the Pro and Shield TV are the Pro's USB input and larger internal memory.  If DD+ Atmos streaming is coming from the internal Tidal App, and Atmos True HD files are coming from the NAS, there wouldn't necessarily be a need for the usb attached storage (unless you preferred an attached USB drive to NAS), or am I missing something? 

    You got it. 

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    On 8/6/2022 at 1:59 AM, seeteeyou said:
    On 8/5/2022 at 9:21 PM, bbosler said:

    So if you don't want or need to play files from downloads or rip discs, a complete, easy  Atmos solution on the cheap is an Apple 4K TV (now around $120) which will do Apple Music and Tidal along with a sub $100 BluRay like mine to play your discs.

     

    Petition · True Lossless Dolby Atmos support on the Apple TV 4K · Change.org
    https://www.change.org/p/dolby-mat-v2-0-or-full-bitstream-audio-passthrough-support-on-the-apple-tv-4k
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253703728

    Quote

    Apple TV 4K doesn’t support Atmos TrueHD natively. Instead Apple TV 4K supports Atmos Dolby Digital+ for input, as that is what streaming services use.

    Infuse on Apple TV will decode Atmos TrueHD into PCM Multichannel, but stripped from Atmos meta data, so you get 7.1 or 5.1.

     

    In other words, we'll have to replace Apple TV 4K with something else if we're going for TrueHD (i.e. lossless) version of Atmos down the road.

     

     

    Can someone explain this? I read the link to the petition and they were complaining that Apple TV4K (ATV4K) was decoding the audio and then sending it on, but that makes no sense to me since when I use my ATV4K my processor says Dolby Atmos. I understand it is not TrueHD, but it is my understanding that nothing streaming is TrueHD, so why the beef with the ATV4K? As I understand it the issue is the streaming services, not the ATV4K.

     

    Is it actually doing something to the audio stream or just passing it along?

     

     

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    6 minutes ago, bbosler said:

     

    Can someone explain this? I read the link to the petition and they were complaining that Apple TV4K (ATV4K) was decoding the audio and then sending it on, but that makes no sense to me since when I use my ATV4K my processor says Dolby Atmos. I understand it is not TrueHD, but it is my understanding that nothing streaming is TrueHD, so why the beef with the ATV4K? As I understand it the issue is the streaming services, not the ATV4K.

     

    Is it actually doing something to the audio stream or just passing it along?

     

     

    Infuse on an AppleTV will play local content that contains TrueHD. 

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    Owning a Shield Pro now for a few years as well as using Kodi, I don't find Android TV or Kodi to be ideal for several reasons.

     

    Both of them bomb a few times every several weeks regardless of them being up to date.

     

    Hey, I realize this is the software and not the hardware. The Shield Pro is fantastic. The software it uses is much less so.

     

    Hell, I've had to uninstall Kodi and wipe it's associated data twice in 2 years.

     

    Android TV is a mixed bag that has never impressed. Kodi, at least. automatically adjusts the frame rate to the video source being played. For streaming channels (Netflix, Amazon), you have to guess what the frame rate is depending upon its provenance and select it manually in Android TV. That sucks.

     

    Bottom line: the Shield Pro and all of the software that runs it kinda sucks... I'm not sure, though, that there is anything for the price that surpasses it.

     

    As to playing any type of surround music, 99% of the time, I'm using my trusty old Oppo BDP-103 and spinning discs.. That player is still hanging in.

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    7 minutes ago, jeffhenning said:

    Owning a Shield Pro now for a few years as well as using Kodi, I don't find Android TV or Kodi to be ideal for several reasons.

     

    Both of them bomb a few times every several weeks regardless of them being up to date.

     

    Hey, I realize this is the software and not the hardware. The Shield Pro is fantastic. The software it uses is much less so.

     

    Hell, I've had to uninstall Kodi and wipe it's associated data twice in 2 years.

     

    Android TV is a mixed bag that has never impressed. Kodi, at least. automatically adjusts the frame rate to the video source being played. For streaming channels (Netflix, Amazon), you have to guess what the frame rate is depending upon its provenance and select it manually in Android TV. That sucks.

     

    Bottom line: the Shield Pro and all of the software that runs it kinda sucks... I'm not sure, though, that there is anything for the price that surpasses it.

     

    As to playing any type of surround music, 99% of the time, I'm using my trusty old Oppo BDP-103 and spinning discs.. That player is still hanging in.

    I hear ya, but there aren’t other better options. The options for playing lossless music and movies are few and far between unfortunately. 

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    If you have something like NAD T 778, do you still need Nvidia?

    Isn't it a do it all?

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    2 hours ago, Marco Santos said:

    If you have something like NAD T 778, do you still need Nvidia?

    Isn't it a do it all?

    Good question. I don’t think the NAD duplicates the functionality of the Shield. NAD seems to be a decoding device but not a device capable of storing or selecting TrueHD Atmos MKVs for playback. I could be wrong though. 

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    1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

    Good question. I don’t think the NAD duplicates the functionality of the Shield. NAD seems to be a decoding device but not a device capable of storing or selecting TrueHD Atmos MKVs for playback. I could be wrong though. 

    Yes, it is a decoding device and will do Atmos if you can send the data, as evidenced by playing Atmos BDs via HDMI.  Getting files to it it, as you imply, another issue and I am not enough informed on the NAD to help in that regard.

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    Late to the game, however, great information, thanks. I think the biggest challenge with Atmos for the majority 2 - channel audiophiles is - we are always looking for better sonics which costs more and more $$, so the question then is - is it worth it to invest in a multi - channel system which, for the same budget as 2 - channel will be compromised in quality (e.g: 5 speakers vs. 2 speakers with the same budget) to be able to play Atmos?

     

    To appeal to the mainstream audiophile (oxymoron? :-) ) market, I think you'd need much more content available and even then, it may be somewhat cost prohibitive.

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    23 hours ago, El Guapo said:

    At least in past 6 months I heard 4 of my friends bought Hapi Mk2 and began to construct the immersive environment (one of them even owned hi-end StormAudio ISP).

     

    Now that really raises an eyebrow or two, I've been reading some of your posts today

     

    https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Audiophile/search?q=author%3Aelguapo

    https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Headphone/search?q=author%3Aelguapo

     

    Do you think that maybe the latest RME Fireface UFX III would also get the job done since I'd like to stick with USB instead of RAVENNA?

     

    https://www.rme-audio.de/fireface-ufx-3.html

     

    That seemed to have 1 + 6 = 7 pairs of analog outputs, therefore we should have 7.1.4 covered.

     

    Of course it's only limited to 192kHz so that DXD wouldn't work natively, though.

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    2 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

    That seemed to have 1 + 6 = 7 pairs of analog outputs, therefore we should have 7.1.4 covered.

    The spec I saw it has 8 channels of balanced analog output (XLR x2 + TRS x6) plus 4 channels thru 2 unbalanced headphone output. This can cover 7.1.4 if you accept 2 unbalanced headphone output.

     

    48 or 96 are sufficient for 95% immersive audio format. For initial build this UFX3 interface is a good choice IMHO.

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    9 hours ago, seeteeyou said:

     

    Now that really raises an eyebrow or two, I've been reading some of your posts today

     

    https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Audiophile/search?q=author%3Aelguapo

    https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Headphone/search?q=author%3Aelguapo

     

    Do you think that maybe the latest RME Fireface UFX III would also get the job done since I'd like to stick with USB instead of RAVENNA?

     

    https://www.rme-audio.de/fireface-ufx-3.html

     

    That seemed to have 1 + 6 = 7 pairs of analog outputs, therefore we should have 7.1.4 covered.

     

    Of course it's only limited to 192kHz so that DXD wouldn't work natively, though.

    Also look at what @bobfa is doing with a MOTU DAC that has USB and Ethernet. 
     

     

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    On the RME study audio Routing, be sure you can map 12 channels of audio from USB to the outputs.  Also, check on the audio levels out of those interfaces.   I have an issue with my interface that I had to pad the levels down.

     

    Also, study volume control and how it works.

     

     

     

     

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