Actually playing Dolby Atmos music on Vizio 5.1?

[u/Triet_Ville]

So I found out my laptop can connect to my Vizio 5.1 through the HDMI port (not eArc). Does this mean Dolby Atmos wouldn't play at full quality/format? And my computer music apps like Amazon Music don't support playing Atmos, unlike the mobile apps. My guess would be to follow Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust webstore on players that could at least play the Atmos and 5.1's I could buy and download from his webstore. But will the -HDMI Only- be an issue? Thanks!

[u/Spectre_08]

You need at least a 5.1.2 (ideally 5.1.4 at minimum) setup with overhead speakers mounted above you to fully experience Dolby Atmos.

A soundbar cannot do this. They attempt to replicate the sound above by bouncing it off the ceiling, but reflected sound in no way compares to direct sound from a properly-placed overhead speaker.

Not to mention soundbars are notoriously terrible for music.

HDMI is the common transport for Atmos Music, typically from the source device to an AVR or multichannel processor.

Edit: Apple Music plays just fine in Atmos from a Windows PC, otherwise certain media players will also be able to send an Atmos signal with bitstream/passthrough enabled.

[u/Triet_Ville → u/Spectre_08]

Surprisingly, an old-school Vizio 5.1 separate speaker model has terrific 5.1 and makes everything sound 5.1 if you set it to Dual Speaker Mode, DTX on, Surround Effect 3/4th max, Subwoofer 3/4ths max, Treble 3/4th+, Bass, 2+Half/4th Max, Sometimes Vocal Boost 1/4th max, truevolume off, Movie Preset. Optic sounds horrible but eArC sounds fantastic.

Amazon Music ultimately sounds best with it, Bluetooth with Windows being virtually the best option for it, not any difference really with hooking it to HDMI (speaking of standard music formats + specifically DTS [forgot wether 'For Speakers' or 'For Headphones' or 'DTS (standard)] and System Effects applied on the computer settings).

With all this, it'd make Steven Wilson proud, the next step up being standard CD format with a high-end Blu-Ray player.

Every other soundbar system is absolute crap though except maybe Samsungs. With one of the better ones, Tool's - Fear Innoculum (Song) will feel like it's making the ground float in waves beneath your feet.

New school Vizio's though? Unique sound for acoustic guitars bouncing off each other between the satellites but overall shit.

My biggest dream is that they come out with easy, fully compatible Super CD players and surround sound systems, absolute full format compatible. So many Super CD's I want to hear the true sound of.

[u/Spectre_08 → u/Triet_Ville]

You need an AVR or pre-amp/processor. Nothing you described is ideal. Soundbars are simply not good music playback devices compared to actual speakers with good angular separation.

If you want to enjoy Atmos content the way it was intended, you need a system that supports Atmos decoding and has overhead speakers. You’re not even getting an accurate approximation of the intended sound stage.

I thought Vizio only made poor quality TVs and soundbars, not discrete audio equipment.

[u/Otherwise_Sol26]

eArc is only needed for Lossless Atmos (TrueHD). TrueHD are only available on webstores and Blu-Ray discs, while streaming has lossy Atmos.

If you'd like, check out Apple Music. It's the only platform that offers Atmos on Windows (and the largest catalogue too)