• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Loss of Dolby Atmos on Streaming Services

Dennis_FL

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 21, 2020
Messages
615
Likes
486
Location
Venice, FL
Well, I used to have Dolby Atmos on Netflix, Prime, Disney, Max, Paramount, and others.

I can't find it anymore on Prime (I have ad-free), Netflix (I have the highest tier), and Disney. I still have it on Max and Paramount Plus.

It seems the major streamers are quietly replacing Atmos with "Spacial Audio" and I assume Dolby is charging them a high fee and this is a money saving business decision

Some shows like "Reacher" on Prime have removed Dolby Atmos but still have Dolby Vision.

I searched and can't find anything on this. Anyone know the scoop?
 
Directly from Netflix:
Note: TVs or soundbars that use 5.1 surround sound or Dolby Atmos will play using that technology instead of spatial audio. On some TVs or devices, you may need to change the audio output setting from 5.1 to stereo to play using spatial audio. For more information, check with your device or audio equipment manufacturer.

So if your setup supports Atmos, "Spatial audio" means Atmos.
 
Directly from Netflix:


So if your setup supports Atmos, "Spatial audio" means Atmos.
My Apple TV briefly displays "Dolby Atmos" when Atmos is streaming and it doesn’t happen with Spacial Audio
 
Last edited:
I'm using an Apple 4K TV (latest) ..........I used to get Atmos on Prime, Disney, & Netflix. And it was definitely the real deal. My Sonos app says I'm getting 5.1 when it is labeled as Spacial Audio and it says Dolby Atmos when so labeled. I suspect the Dolby royalties were expensive.

I still get the real Atmos on Max and Paramount. I have to check if I get it on Apple TV - but there aren't many choices there.

The bummer is I paid extra to get it and then they removed it without warning.

I have a Atmos compatible Fire TV Stick as well, I will check if that also doesn't stream Atmos.
 
Every once in a while, my Apple TV loses "knowledge" that it is fully Atmos enabled and even stuff like Apple Music will not realize that I have Atmos. Switching to something like Fandango at Home (Vudu) to play a purchased movie with Atmos and coming back sometimes works. Other times, rebooting the AppleTV will work.
 
Update. I got the above anomaly with an Apple TV (audio set to Dolby Atmos). I have a Amazon Fire TV stick which is Dolby Atmos compatible and I just plugged it in to the same TV as the Apple TV and low and behold Atmos works fine with Netflix et al and the Apple TV on the same movie displays "Spacial Audio"

It is the latest Apple update that did it.

Doggone it
 
Update. I got the above anomaly with an Apple TV (audio set to Dolby Atmos). I have a Amazon Fire TV stick which is Dolby Atmos compatible and I just plugged it in to the same TV as the Apple TV and low and behold Atmos works fine with Netflix et al and the Apple TV on the same movie displays "Spacial Audio"

It is the latest Apple update that did it.

Doggone it
So just for clarity, you launch the Netflix App on the Fire TV stick, navigate to a show or movie with the Spatial audio icon, and it plays as Atmos?

Or does the Fire TV Netflix App still show an Atmos icon where the same show on Netflix on Apple TV have the Spatial Audio one?
 
So just for clarity, you launch the Netflix App on the Fire TV stick, navigate to a show or movie with the Spatial audio icon, and it plays as Atmos?

Or does the Fire TV Netflix App still show an Atmos icon where the same show on Netflix on Apple TV have the Spatial Audio one?
When I played Spacial Audio it played as 5.1, not Atmos.

Fire TV showed and played Atmos on the same TV (different HDMI ports) and Apple TV showed Spacial Audio on the same movie...but the plot thickens.

I was playing the same movie and checking my Sonos App to see what audio was playing. About the fifth time, the "Spacial Audio" changed to Dolby Audio again and my APP said Atmos (before it was 5.1). And when I checked Prime, it was playing Atmos again. I thought I was dreaming.

I swear I changed nothing other than playing and stopping the same movie. Just to be safe, I rebooted the Apple TV and it was still playing Atmos and displaying Atmos. So it all seems OK again but I have no idea how I got here. I searched Apple TV and there were complaints that Dolby 5.1 was playing as 2.1 after the last upgrade to TVOS 18. But their Atmos was OK.

Must be a handshake issue but not with Max or Paramount. Those two were always OK.
 
Personally i think Dolby Atmos is a rip off /marketing gimmick. Its a technology that very few people can truly benefit from.
 
Sounds like odd behavior for a walled garden. ;)
A walled garden without advertisements…

No perfect streaming device, but AppleTV with all its limitations gets a lot of bonus points with an ad free Home Screen.
 
Prime (ad free) & AppleTV still showing Atmos for me. I have noticed that sometimes the stream doesn't register right at the start of a selection but takes a few minutes to kick in?
 
While it is not easy to dedicate the space, those of us who have built systems around it don't think it's a gimmick.

That's why I said it's a technology very few people can benefit from.

Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision are terms a lot people know of (because they have seen the logos and intros in theaters), but actually know verry little about. Thus they are good for marketing products, because consumer see them as high end tech, and thus a product that supports it is likely high end as well.

As you mentioned you need the gear and the space to support both technologies, and neither is a trivial thing.

Edit:
This video is from 2017, but goes over a lot of issues with HDR that are still very common today.
 
Prime (ad free) & AppleTV still showing Atmos for me. I have noticed that sometimes the stream doesn't register right at the start of a selection but takes a few minutes to kick in?

That's likely because a lot of the services are doing bandwidth negotiation. Basically you get a lower quality stream initially but then once you have enough buffer, and your bandwidth has been validated they will up the quality.
 
My music room is 2+1 and my TV/media has a Sonos Arc Atmos setup (which simulates 9+1). When I first replaced my rear speakers with Sonos Era 301's and heard the resulting music, I was ready to sell my 2+1 and replace it with another pair of 301's.

But for my Apple TV issues above...it seems the latest version of TVOS is having handshake issues with various multichannel formats. There's some complaining on the Apple forums. Hopefully soon to be fixed.
 
Back
Top Bottom