Hello, folks.
Still waiting on my Yarra too.
Some suggestions / food for thought re
Dolby Atmos for when you receive your unit and are testing capabilities for media content other than music, i.e. games, films/TV etc.
Background / Context:
Much was made during the initial stages of the campaign (somewhat misleadingly) about the capabilities of the Yarra to render object based 3D audio formats like Dolby Atmos, Auro 3D and DTS X, only for it later to be revealed that the Yarra would not natively decode either rather it could only convert or ‘interpret’ Atmos and similar such formats provided they had
already been pre-binauralised into 2ch stereo form by the source device. People then started talking about using the forthcoming Smyth Realiser A16 to pre-binauralise Atmos for output via the Yarra.
Alternative / Interim substitute:
(- For those waiting for the Smyth Realiser but also those who aren’t inclined to fork out the considerable expense for one). This method probably won’t be as good as the Smyth Realiser combo but should, in principle, work in a very similar if not exactly the same way.
Users could try outputting Dolby Atmos content to the Yarra in the already pre-binauralised ‘
Dolby Atmos for Headphones’ format. This wouldn’t require Mch surround output, just 2ch stereo and could be done via PC, Xbox One (or even some of the newer flagship cell phones that support Atmos such as the Razer Phone 2, One Plus 7 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S9 and 10).
Source Content:
Aside from the obvious Atmos Blurays, one could try Atmos supported Netflix titles on Xbox One or the aforementioned, cell phones, Atmos supported games, or any of the free Atmos demo content from the Dolby Access app on Windows 10 or Xbox. The Dolby Access app is free but ‘Atmos for Headphones’ costs something like 15 bucks for a lifetime licence for multiple devices. However, there should also be a free trial of 30 days.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/apps/access/pc-xbox.html
For Netflix App on Windows 10 PC, I am unsure as to whether Atmos for Headphone specifically is supported yet. Atmos content is available and marked as such within the app and Atmos for headphone can of course be activated in the Windows sound settings (you can do that with any content anyway as for non-Atmos content it just works like an upgraded version of Dolby Headphone virtual surround), but during playback in the Netflix app itself, ‘5.1’ is the maximum that can be selected for the audio track in the App’s playback options with no mention of Atmos. . . I haven’t had a chance to test out any content where Atmos mixing would be obvious (stuff flying overhead etc.) but according to various forum reports recounting interactions with Netflix support, this ‘5.1’ setting is a compressed encoding of Atmos in a Dolby Digital Plus Container while some users have reported being told by support that Atmos for Headphones is only supported by Netflix on Xbox and not Netflix on Windows 10 PC. So, conflicting reports, so might be better to test Netflix Atmos for headphones on Xbox if in doubt and you have the console anyway.
Atmos Encoded Xbox and PC games:
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/categories/games.html
(- note support for Atmos in the PC version of Assassins Creed Odyssey was patched-out / removed a while after release so Atmos for Headphones in AC Origins is for Xbox One only)
Configuration of Sources:
Windows 10 PC:
You would just need to go to ‘spatial sound’ settings in the sound manager (right click on output device, then choose properties and it should be the tab furthest to the right) or alternatively, right click on the speaker icon in the system tray on the desktop and choose ‘spatial sound’ then Dolby Atmos. Doing the above will change speaker configuration to stereo in the windows sound manager but don’t worry, that’s how it’s supposed to work (don’t bother trying to set it back to multichannel as it won’t do anything other than automatically turn Atmos for Headphones
OFF). Also note that Dolby Atmos is limited to sample rate / bit depth of 48khz / 16-bit by the Windows OS and enabling Atmos will set this parameter accordingly. If you then try and change it to something else, it will automatically
DISABLE Atmos for headphone, so leave as is.
Xbox One:
You would just need to set Atmos for Headphone to output via HDMI or Optical in the audio settings and connect to Yarra accordingly.
Cell Phone:
Not sure as don’t have one that supports Atmos but presumably, once Atmos for Headphone is set in the audio settings, it should still work via simple Bluetooth or 3.5mm output to the Yarra.
So, if you’re remotely interested in Atmos via the Yarra, give it a whirl!
I have no idea how it will turn out and as soon as I get mine I will test and provide impressions. As it stands though, I don’t think there is any other currently mass commercially available way to do this via the Yarra yet as the Smyth A16 is still awaiting release. This method (assuming it works to at least some degree of satisfaction) would cost peanuts, wouldn’t require extra hardware in the middle and is free to test extensively at leisure for the 30 days of free trial. Furthermore, DTS X support is coming to Windows and Xbox soon and could also potentially be output via the Yarra in the same way although I could find no indication of whether the Windows implementation of DTS X will include the necessary headphone format as with Atmos to do so.
