DMP-A6 Tidal Atmos via HDMI

I've got my DMP-A6 hooked up to my Onkyo RZ50 receiver via HDMI.
HDMI Audio Output set to PCM multichannel. When playing Tidal Atmos tracks it only plays them in AAC+ in 2ch stereo to my receiver. Is something in my configuration wrong or is Tidal Atmos playback not supported? Will it ever be supported?

 

This also interests me. Also same question regarding Apple Music which also has Atmos content available. Hopefully somebody can provide us with further information.

 

A few more images

 

TIDAL on A6 support up to Master(MQA), no ATMOS support.

 

Is this
a) Technical / physical limitation
b) licensing limitation (Dolby)
c) non-implemented backlog item

I really need this to work or it is a deal breaker for me and I believe for many others as well. I would be willing to pay plenty in case of option b is the problem.

Cheers!

 

This is a bit strange.
I asked the tech support:

"Can it play back Tidal Atmos and Amazon Atmos music via HDMI to my AVR?"

Answer:
"Hello. Sir. Yes. It can do that."

No Atmos would be a deal breaker for me!

 

I think that's too much to ask, how many streamers can do Dolby Atmos? How do they sound? How much do they cost?

For Apple Music, so far the cheapest option is to use Apple TV 4K, that's what I'm using. But it resamples everything to 48 kHz and it can't do hi-res 24-bit/96-192 kHz, that's why I'm getting the A6.

If I feel like listening to Dolby Atmos, I'll turn on the Apple TV 4K to my Denon receiver. It's a bummer not have something that can do it all but I blame it more on Apple, they provide these superb music listening experiences but none of their hardware can do it all. If they announce a firmware that will support hi-res audio at the WWDC event, I might have to consider returning the A6 unless the sound is way better than the Apple TV 4K.

As for Tidal, I haven't tested but for Denon receivers it might be possible for HEOS to stream Dolby Atmos.

 

Except that reasoning doesn't make any sense.. AVRs decode Atmos. The A6 just needs to bitstream Tidal Atmos to the AVR over HDMI like any other source.

 

That's not a reasoning, that's a question. When I say "do" mean in any form, bitstream or otherwise.

So the same question still applies but in more detail so you will understand: how many music streamers can decode or bitstream Dolby Atmos? How much do they cost?

 

First off, I don´t expect the A6 to decode Atmos, but just to bitstream it to an AVR.
- Denon´s and Marantz´s AVR integrated HEOS cannot do it. They are only stereo.
- a cheap Fire TV Cube from 2023 can do it, so I would expect the A6 to be able to do it, as well
- if I ask the official Zidoo support, I would expect a correct answer
- is it really 100% sure that the A6 cannot stream Atmos to an AVR, which would decode it (tidal and Amazon music) ?
- why is that, if a cheap Fire TV Cube can do it?
- is there a device, similar to the A6, that can do it? I don´t like that Fire TV Cube. Looks cheap, has no display etc., etc.

 

No Atmos support.
HDMI output only suport DSD64 and PCM(up to 5.1)

 

Bummer!
At least you should tell your email support not to give wrong answers. But what´s the reason not to be able to stream Atmos? That format gets more and more popular. I expect Spotify to support that or another 3D sound format also in the future.
It´s hard to understand, why a new device doesn´t support a common standard. Otherwise it´s such a great device, but that´s a total deal breaker for me.

 

How dare you say it is a "common standard" when stating, in the same sentence, that you "expect" Spotify to soon support it (apart from that, I wish Spotify would offer lossless audio FIRST, then eventually adventure into Atmos...)
Moreover... how may artists do release their music in Dolby Atmos? I dare it is more of a movie audio thing...

2nd - streaming Atmos through HDMI may sound easy to you, but you may not be aware of all the chips down the way, that need to be sinch-ed and fed with the proper audio data extracted from a stream (with interleaving audio frames, by the way, as there is no such a thing as a multichannel stream, just a stream with all data in it, for you to decode it...). The format itsel must be well understood, and also the chips involved in the HDMI (possibly 2.1...?) transfer protocol.

And then, we're still talking about a 600-or-so USD price tag. What else would you like to have, at such a bargain?

 

Thanks Mirror, do you mind providing the commercial reasoning into why ? I have heard a lot of noise and questioning round this topic, as I don't think it’s a technical restriction there must be something else at play here ? For the record I have no vested interest for or against this.

 

I have no idea, how complicated it is to do Atmos streaming via HDMI. I just thought, if a cheap Fire Cube can do it, the A6 should also be able to do it. And I´m just disappointed, because I thought I had found the perfect streamer for my needs. It´s a totally
stunning device and I would buy it in a heartbeat, but I don´t want to have to buy another device only for Atmos music. And btw. I would still call Atmos music a standard. It´s not an exotic "thing" from a small company that nobody has ever heard of.
Can you recommend a device, similar to the A6, that can do Atmos music....below 1000 bucks....or a device that can do all that plus video streaming below 1500.- ?

 

I too would like such a thing. I mean, that does it all, still at a low price... ROSE players, any?

 

Exactly. Obviously, the analog outputs make no sense as it would require decoding then down-mixing. I would just like the Atmos bitstream from Apple (or Tidal) to pass through the DMP-A6 HDMI audio output to the AVR/AVP connected. I mean, I thought the whole point of having an HDMI audio output on the DMP-A6 was for use by the many of us that own AVR/AVPs?

If it can't be done, I have to assume it is a licensing issue. It would be nice to know though if that is the case. It's not a deal breaker for me - I still love the thing. But clearly the increased utility of the HDMI audio output would be welcome.

 

If it´s a licensing problem, I would happily pay more for an Atmos capable version of the A6. It may be true that at the moment there aren´t many Atmos tracks. But I´m not buying a device "for the moment".

 

Take a look at that video:
EverSolo Dolby Atmos - YouTube
What does it mean, that there is an Atmos logo? Can it play Amazon Atmos music or why´s there that logo?

 

Interesting. I wonder if this is a leak or this guy hacked the unit to do this? Although, reading a file and displaying it the screen doesn't mean that the guy got the Atmos bitstreamed out the HDMI audio output.