Tidal does Atmos - for real this time!

[jhaider]

Tidal now has a selection of native Atmos tracks! Real Atmos, not some headphone virtualization gimmick. It sends an Atmos stream from an AppleTV to any AVR or SSP.

So far the collection is fairly sparse: current-ish pop, a smattering of early 2000s pop (Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado), some classic rock and a 45-track jazz playlist. Oddly, not Pearl Jam’s Gigaton or any of the R.E.M. mixes. The only “classical” I could see so far is the Barenboim/Berliner Staatskapele Beethoven symphony cycle. But it’s a start!

 

[QMuse]

Tidal now has a selection of native Atmos tracks! Real Atmos, not some headphone virtualization gimmick. It sends an Atmos stream from an AppleTV to any AVR or SSP.

So far the collection is fairly sparse: current-ish pop, a smattering of early 2000s pop (Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado), some classic rock and a 45-track jazz playlist. Oddly, not Pearl Jam’s Gigaton or any of the R.E.M. mixes. The only “classical” I could see so far is the Barenboim/Berliner Staatskapele Beethoven symphony cycle. But it’s a start!

And how were those native Atmos tracks created?

 

[jhaider]

And how were those native Atmos tracks created?

No idea. Given the relatively small selection, I assume they were mastered that way. The ones I’ve listened to don’t sound like a stereo upmix. If it was just upmixing, they could’ve released a larger catalogue quickly.

 

[ernestcarl]

Well this is good news! But I don't use an Apple TV or an AVR, and have unsubscribed from Tidal and will likely never go back... so I'm not gonna benefit from this 'advance', unfortunately. It will be interesting to test first hand, though, how it compares.

 

[jacobacci]

This is good news. Just to be clear, does the Apple TV need to be connected to a Dolby Atmos capable AVR, or will any multichannel PCM over HDMI cabable AVR work?

 

[jhaider]

This is good news. Just to be clear, does the Apple TV need to be connected to a Dolby Atmos capable AVR, or will any multichannel PCM over HDMI cabable AVR work?

I assume the Atmos decode occurs in the AVR.

 

[cjfrbw]

The bad news is there will shortly be a FOTM new surround craze, corresponding to the cycles of planned obsolescence and new product placements, that will make all of this quickly antiquated.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

So I signed up for a Tidal trial because of this Atmos thing, even though I do not own an Atmos decoder hoping for an Mch stream with additional sound objects. Did not happen. On my Apple TV4, Atmos was not available as output as I only fed an Oppo 103. So Tidal plays stereo from Atmos tracks. I hoped that the PCM stream would be 5.1 Mch with additional sound object embedded in the metadata that I needn’t to worry about not having an Atmos decoder. I was wrong. Same for the Tidal Windows app or Roon - Atmos tracks are played in Stereo. ( And the Tidal videos seem to contain 2ch only - what a waste.).

Possibly the wrong thread, but anyway: The most simple Atmos setup is 5.1.2, that makes 8 channels. Is there a decoder that converts Atmos into 8channel PCM on HDMI? Or do all Atmos AVR decode Atmos into analog channels only?

 

[Dimifoot]

So I signed up for a Tidal trial because of this Atmos thing, even though I do not own an Atmos decoder hoping for an Mch stream with additional sound objects. Did not happen. On my Apple TV4, Atmos was not available as output as I only fed an Oppo 103. So Tidal plays stereo from Atmos tracks. I hoped that the PCM stream would be 5.1 Mch with additional sound object embedded in the metadata that I needn’t to worry about not having an Atmos decoder. I was wrong. Same for the Tidal Windows app or Roon - Atmos tracks are played in Stereo. ( And the Tidal videos seem to contain 2ch only - what a waste.).

Possibly the wrong thread, but anyway: The most simple Atmos setup is 5.1.2, that makes 8 channels. Is there a decoder that converts Atmos into 8channel PCM on HDMI? Or do all Atmos AVR decode Atmos into analog channels only?

Did you update the Tidal app on the AppleTv?
Is your Oppo recognized as Atmos capable by the AppleTv?

 

[JoachimStrobel]

Did you update the Tidal app on the AppleTv?
Is your Oppo recognized as Atmos capable by the AppleTv?

I downloaded the Tidal app 2 hours ago. No, my Oppo is not recognized. I could try and manipulate the Edid signal.

 

[jhaider]

Oddly, not Pearl Jam’s Gigaton or any of the R.E.M. mixes. The only “classical” I could see so far is the Barenboim/Berliner Staatskapele Beethoven symphony cycle. But it’s a start!

Minor update/correction: "Automatic for the People" is available as an album, and the "Alternative" playlist cover is in fact a picture of R.E.M. Maybe I do need more than 55" of TV

The Atmos mix of Pearl Jam's "Gigaton" is not (yet?) included.

Also for "classical" (we need a better term) there's also a collection of piano preludes by Chopin et al. played by a fantastic young pianist, Eric Lu, and Beethoven 9 by Ozawa/Mito Chamber Orchestra.