Thinking of buying DX3, but how do I use Dolby Atmos?

[LionIT]

Maybe my question is stupid, but I am perplexed about the headphone setup.
Now I have Sony WF1000XM3 and I can listen to Dolby Atmos tracks on Amazon Music with my Android smartphone.
Since my Sony is leaving me, I would very much like to switch to high quality wired IEM with dedicated amps and DACs, but I am noticing that there is no streamer that supports Dolby Atmos for headphones.
Or at least, if there is, I can't find it...
Is it possible that there is no way to have Dolby Atmos for headphones without an Android/iOS device?

 

[darwinfriction]

What will you be using as a source instead of your smartphone?

Dolby Atmos is supported on Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft has created Microsoft Spatial Sound, a platform level solution for spatial sound.

 

[LionIT]

What will you be using as a source instead of your smartphone?

Dolby Atmos is supported on Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft has created Microsoft Spatial Sound, a platform level solution for spatial sound.

Streamer or PC/Mac, connected to the DAC.
But in both cases it does not seem possible to take advantage of Amtos for headphones.

 

[darwinfriction]

You can download it here: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n0866fs04w8

 

[LionIT]

You can download it here: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n0866fs04w8

I tried the demo but I can't tell if Amazon Music is playing audio in binaural format for headphones or just normal stereo... I don't understand how to switch.

 

[darwinfriction]

The manual: https://kb.dolby.com/access?kid=ka64u000000GoQUAA0&articletype=FAQ
You can turn surround virtualizer on/off using a custom profile without specific EQ settings applied or you can pick a preset.

 

[LionIT]

From my experiments it seems that Dolby Atmos does not work towards a USB device such as a DAC.
In fact reading online I found a recent confirmation on the Dolby forum and this FAQ.
It appears only available for devices recognized as headphones from Windows (therefore not DAC USB) and on HDMI output to a decoder.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

From my experiments it seems that Dolby Atmos does not work towards a USB device such as a DAC.
In fact reading online I found a recent confirmation on the Dolby forum and this FAQ.
It appears only available for devices recognized as headphones from Windows (therefore not DAC USB) and on HDMI output to a decoder.

I'm not aware of windows having any ability to detect whether an output is connected to a headphone, or why it would make any difference if the device is an integrated audio output, expansion card or USB device.

The audio output to the headphones is only two channel after all.

This article suggests disabling power saving or enabling audio enhancements to allow the software based Dolby processing.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

As enabled here.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

Also note this article which states that Dolby codecs are not included in Windows 11 24H2.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

 

[LionIT]

I'm not aware of windows having any ability to detect whether an output is connected to a headphone, or why it would make any difference if the device is an integrated audio output, expansion card or USB device.

The audio output to the headphones is only two channel after all.

This article suggests disabling power saving or enabling audio enhancements to allow the software based Dolby processing.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

As enabled here.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

Also note this article which states that Dolby codecs are not included in Windows 11 24H2.

Dolby Access Support

dolby.my.site.com

Have you tried running Dolby Access with a USB DAC?
Because in my case it doesn't work, and the information that I linked in the previous post confirm this.
Anyway, yes Windows can recognise headphone device if has USB connection or if internal soundcard has the recognition function.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

OK.
Certainly USB headphones will identify themselves but I've only seen a sound card ask what was just connected but I guess it's possibly to check the impedance and guess what the connected device is.

Sorry, I've never used Dolby on headphones.
I use my headphones to listen in stereo and my home theatre for Dolby Digital and Atmos.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Hey, I've just installed Dolby access on my bedroom PC to test with a USB DAC connected and had no issues enabling Dolby ATMOS.
The DAC is a cheap KGUSS DAC-K3 Pro, and I can enable ATMOS whether I have my headphones plugged in and or listening to my speakers.
The PC is running Windows 11 24H2.

 

[LionIT]

Hey, I've just installed Dolby access on my bedroom PC to test with a USB DAC connected and had no issues enabling Dolby ATMOS.
The DAC is a cheap KGUSS DAC-K3 Pro, and I can enable ATMOS whether I have my headphones plugged in and or listening to my speakers.
The PC is running Windows 11 24H2.

View attachment 415659

If you play normal stereo music (no Dolby Atmos) and connect headphones to that USB DAC and activate / deactivate Dolby, do you perceive a clear difference in spatiality?

 

[FreakyKiwi]

If you play normal stereo music (no Dolby Atmos) and connect headphones to that USB DAC and activate / deactivate Dolby, do you perceive a clear difference in spatiality?

I can test later, but I don't think I will as the software is only intended to support Dolby enabled content.

 

[LionIT]

I can test later, but I don't think I will as the software is only intended to support Dolby enabled content.

Sure, but Dolby also provide an artificial spatial sound effect for normal stereo content trough headphones. A sort of downstream virtualization without the true spatial information of the Atmos.
My Samsung phone has this function, and if I enable/disable it in phone settings I can clearly hear difference when I play music through Spotify (which does not support Dolby).
The problem is that if Windows / Dolby Access does the same thing you can't know if you are listening to a track in true Dolby Atmos (Binauralized for headphones) or just a virtual effect.

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Sure, but Dolby also provide an artificial spatial sound effect for normal stereo content trough headphones. A sort of downstream virtualization without the true spatial information of the Atmos.
My Samsung phone has this function, and if I enable/disable it in phone settings I can clearly hear difference when I play music through Spotify (which does not support Dolby).
The problem is that if Windows / Dolby Access does the same thing you can't know if you are listening to a track in true Dolby Atmos (Binauralized for headphones) or just a virtual effect.

I can't hear any difference when enabling Dolby Atmos for stereo tracks (FLAC files played back in MusicBee)

I can hear a distinct difference when enabling while playing back tracks with ATMOS content (M4A files played back in MusicBee)
I presume this will work the same with streaming services which support ATMOS, but I'm not currently subscribed to any.

FYI, I can enable the ATMOS spatial sound for my monitor's speakers over HDMI or even my PC's built in speaker, not that these will produce anything resembling spatial audio.

 

[LionIT]

I can't hear any difference when enabling Dolby Atmos for stereo tracks (FLAC files played back in MusicBee)

I can hear a distinct difference when enabling while playing back tracks with ATMOS content (M4A files played back in MusicBee)
I presume this will work the same with streaming services which support ATMOS, but I'm not currently subscribed to any.

FYI, I can enable the ATMOS spatial sound for my monitor's speakers over HDMI or even my PC's built in speaker, not that these will produce anything resembling spatial audio.

Your feedback is interesting.
In my case, however, with Amazon Music, I don't get any difference.
Either the app does not detect my DAC as a dolby device or I don't know ...

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Your feedback is interesting.
In my case, however, with Amazon Music, I don't get any difference.
Either the app does not detect my DAC as a dolby device or I don't know ...

Your DAC (or mine) is not a Dolby device.
The Dolby ATMOS software is handling the decoding.

Did you try disabling power saving or enabling audio enhancements as per the Dolby troubleshooting replies I linked to?

 

[LionIT]

Your DAC (or mine) is not a Dolby device.
The Dolby ATMOS software is handling the decoding.

Did you try disabling power saving or enabling audio enhancements as per the Dolby troubleshooting replies I linked to?

Yes.
But the thing that puzzles me is what Dolby declared about the support of the devices.
Among other things, I see that one of the two links I posted does not work correctly.
This should work.
It is interesting to note what is said about the type of device ...

 

[FreakyKiwi]

Yes.
But the thing that puzzles me is what Dolby declared about the support of the devices.
Among other things, I see that one of the two links I posted does not work correctly.
This should work.
It is interesting to note what is said about the type of device ...

Do you get this message as per your link?

"No speakers or headphones detected" on settings tab

The article states;

"The message will also display if the system being used (likely a desktop PC) does not have any internal speakers"


The PC I tested on does have an internal speaker, maybe this is the difference?


In any case, it works for me as described above and I have no interest in using it anyway.