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Drivers & Software

jochemjacobs
Journeyman III

Dolby Atmos sound via AMD!

Dear readers,

 

I hope to receive someone’s help! I have been searching for a solution to the following problem for 2 years already. The problem is that I do not get why the Samsung N950 Atmos soundbar doesn’t properly connected to my PC.

 

I now have a new desktop and had hoped that this problem would be solved, but unfortunately it didn’t.

 

Just briefly a scenario sketch;

 

I currently own a desktop with the following info;

Gigabyte Aorus X570 ELITE (with Microsoft high definition audio driver - has no HDMI output that works, so Audio via HDMI doesn't work)

Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT (with AMD high definition audio driver)

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Boxed (for what this information is worth)

 

I have the latest updates from drivers, windows, etc.

 

In addition, I downloaded the Dolby access program. This program makes it possible that in my volume settings I see the button "dolby atmos for home theater".

 

Furthermore, I own a Samsung N950 soundbar with dolby Atmos sound and I have a beamer connected to my PC from which I can watch. The beamer is connected to the PC with its own HDMI cable just as the Samsung N950 is connected to the PC with its own HDMI (so they are not directly connected, which is not necessary). During installation I used the latest HDMI cables with the best speed.

 

Now i'm watching videos from the PC through the projector (which works fine by the way) and had hoped to hear the audio through the dolby Atmos surround system. However, when I plug in the dolby Atmos, the PC reads it via the AMD High Definition Audio Driver and it also shows the option to click on "dolby atmos for home theater", but as soon as I click on the option it stays on Stereo. If I then try it using the "spatial sound" option, it also doesn't work and stays on stereo.

 

I then tried it with a laptop (which is already 3 years old) to see if that works, and it works. No problems. All options can be clicked on and the sound works fine. The laptop has the following features;

 

Asus X556UQ-XO760D / 15.6" HD / Intel Core i5-7200U / 8GB RAM / 1TB HDD / Geforce 940MX / Free DOS (with intel(R) high definition audio driver)

 

Now I can't figure out why the laptop works fine, but the desktop doesn't. I suspect it's in the driver. I have therefore also tried to install other drivers on the desktop, but I am unable (except to replace the AMD driver with the microsoft high definition audio driver which also doesn’t fix the problem).

 

Now I also own a receiver Onkyo TX-NR656 that can handle atmos. I've put this as an intermediate solution between the PC and the soundbar. If I turn on the Onkyo and the soundbar at the same time, the PC sees the Onkyo and I can put the volume on atmos. However, the Onkyo does not send the sound to the soundbar (because of course it assumes that there are speakers attached to the receiver and sends the sound there. This receiver doesn't have an option to let the audio go out via hdmi, but perhaps someone might know if other receivers do?).

 

Eventually I found a way that works (but it is far from optimal). What does work is when I put the receiver on passthrough. For this, he has to be off/standby and the soundbar needs to be on. Then the receiver sends the audio through HDMI and the total configuration succeeds. I get to see the receiver, which is on standby, from the PC with the ability to use atmos. The receiver then passes the sound through via HDMI to the soundbar. However, sometimes when I turn on the soundbar, the PC passes the receiver and detects the soundbar, which causes atmos to no longer function (as described above). It's literally a coin toss. Performing certain steps such as first PC, then receiver, etc. does help either. It is now every day hoping that the sound does it (which is frustrating!)

 

 I hope there's someone who can help me with this. Have been around with it for a long time!

 

Thanks for all the help!

1 Reply
desdi
Journeyman III

I guess it is on AMD's side because i just change configuration and the trick was to use the integrated GPU and the HDMI out from my motherboard since 5700xt wouldn't switch to atmos. Now I have a 3700x and since there is no APU i cannot get atmos back to working...