So, the issue isn’t that Plex won’t play TrueHD 7.1 through AppleTV, its that the ATV Plex app can’t transcode TrueHD 7.1 to a format ATV can use as Atmos, and that ATV can’t decode the TrueHD Stream, but NVIDIA Shield can. Is that what I’m reading? Plex is working on a new audio engine to do better transcoding to a format ATV can read with Atmos Metadata, but no timeframe on any improved user experience?
I’m thinking y’all need to use or adapt a version of the definition of “Soon” from Waze. Soon does not imply any particular date, time, decade, century, or millennia in the past, present, and certainly not the future. Soon shall make no contract or warranty between Waze and the end user. Soon will arrive some day, Waze does guarantee that soon will be here before the end of time. Maybe. Do not make plans based on soon as Waze will not be liable for any misuse, use, or even casual glancing at soon. Waze User (davidakachaos)
Just noticed today that the Android TV app for Plex on my Sony TV is passing through Dolby Atmos, according to the Sonos app! Pretty cool.
Doesn’t work with TrueHD files, only EAC3.
Yes, works on Plex app on my Sony TV too. Playback was sometimes a bit flaky - would just get a spinner. Oh, and navigation in the app is so slow compared to Apple TV.
This should be a priority at Plex to get dolby atmos EAC3/spatial audio working for tvOS. It’s been 2 years. I really hope that it won’t be much longer. It’s really frustrating not being able to use the equipment that I bought just to experience dolby atmos. I’ve been extremely patient but don’t know how much longer I can take it. I hope whatever it is that’s making it difficult for the team to fix this, that a miracle happens and that this problem can be squashed once and for all so that plex users on the Apple TV can enjoy dolby atmos/spatial audio. Good luck.
Was looking for clarification on this based on info DaveBinM posted. From my understanding, DaveBinM is stated that TrueHD is supported, but it is not being decoded in the App or on the receiver. Instead it is being decoded on the Plex server, but being sent to the receiver over HDMI via LPCM as Multi Channel. So as far as the end user listening ears are concerned, would it be safe to say True HD is fully supported, just it won’t say it on your receiver since it is being sent as Multi Channel LPCM? What about E-AC3 (Dolby Digital Plus Atmos), does this get decoded by the Plex server as well? If all of these are being decoded on the Plex server instead of on your receiver or the App, does it really matter that the App doesn’t support this? What does Infuse do differently in regards to this or does Infuse decode some of these in the App where as when using the Plex App it gets decoded on the Server? Perhaps my understand is wrong, but I believe that is what I am reading. Are there any limits to channels when decoding on the Plex Server as opposed to the Apple TV or receiver? Would love clarification on this as I think people are misunderstanding some of the points and are upset that the receiver doesn’t say ‘Dolby Atmos’ when it doesn’t really matter as the sound is being decoded within the Plex Server.
I just finished reading this informative thread after trying to get ATMOS working on my AppleTV for several weeks. Based on my reading, ATMOS on AppleTV still does not work, however Plex apps on other devices may have the capability to do this. Can anyone confirm that the Xbox App (I have a Series X), the Nvidia Shield App (I have the newest Shield Pro), a Roku Ultra, or the PS5 have capabilities to send ATMOS to my sound system? I have messed with the AppleTV to the point of massive frustration. I do have all these other devices and I would like to get ATMOS working, but am not sure which device to start with. Any suggestions are appreciated!!
So i’ve been doing research as well and what i found is that the Apple TV 4K does not support full bitstream and this is the reason why we can’t stream TrueHD 7.1 without transcoding (and losing the atmos channels).
So in other words, it is not the Plex client application but the device itself (in this case the Apple TV 4K). If it was a licensing issue than why does the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro work?
Ive also tested this “Infuse” app… sorry to say that I sincerely dislike this app (my opinion) and all it does it also TRANSCODE which removes all Dolby Atmos features! For people who have soundbars/receivers, when you play atmos content than it should write ATMOS on the screen else its just plain simple PCM multichannel 5.1 or 7.1…
Why did Apple choose this way? Idk probly something to do with more money ofcourse.
So relax, i have a expensive Atmos setup as well and if you have it to than see it as future proofing.
This isn’t about TrueHD+Atmos but DD+Atmos (or sometimes called EAC3 Atmos). It’s easy to get them mixed up though (and throw in DTS\DTS-HD for fun too).
AppleTV hardware doesn’t support TrueHD+Atmos so nobody is expecting that, but it does support EAC3 DD+Atmos. The disgruntlement is that Plex on AppleTV isn’t supporting it. The word is “soon” and “being worked on” but is taking a long time which is disappointing for folks with an AppleTV and DD+Atmos content. Other platforms have DD+Atmos working with Plex (like Roku).
Infuse on AppleTV cannot do TrueHD+Atmos either because it’s not supported by the hardware, but it does support DD+Atmos and works with Plex server pretty well so it’s a commonly suggested workaround.
That is my understanding for nature of this thread that’s been going on for quite some time now.
No need to switch, I have Plex and Infuse on my ATV running from the same Plex server. I use Infuse because it supports Atmos over eAC3 on suitable files plus Spatial Audio when using headphones. Plex can/will not support either of those. And can’t play in sync as well as Infuse in my experience.
So if the family can only cope with the interface on Plex but doesn’t mind an inferior playback experience they can do that. I used to use Plex and jump into Infuse for Atmos material or when using headphones. Then the audio sync debacle happened and Infuse fixed it first so I moved over to that full time (and now prefer if as an interface as it doesn’t try to upsell poor quality streaming dreck at me).
