Questions - HTPCs and Atmos Sound

[Benedict_Arnold]

Simple questions really, probably very complicated answers: Is Atmos ripping and playback possible at all? And if so, how and what hardware and software?

Currently using an i5 based HTPC running Windows 10 Pro and an Nvidia GEForce 950 graphics card, connected to the Marantz 7010 by a good HDMI cable. Ripping software is MakeMKV and playback software is Cyberlink PowerDVD 15.

 

[Feral]

You are just remuxing without touching the audio and with MakeMKV you just select the ATMOS track.

I'm not sure on the aspect for running audio from the GPU via HDMI but i would have thought if you are passing the audio to the amp for processing then it would also be fine. Assuming you don't have a dedicated sound card but found this relating to the 960 GPU

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/932003/geforce-drivers/-solved-nvidia-driver-issue-dts-hd-and-dolby-truehd-audio-formats/

 

[Feral]

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2371312

looks like you need at least a GTX 960 but for a few dollars more you could get a shield TV.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

You are just remuxing without touching the audio and with MakeMKV you just select the ATMOS track.

My version of MakeMKV - 1.10.2 beta - doesn't have the option to select Atmos, but it does have "TrueHD", which may be the same thing. Please enlighten.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

I have the choice of three "high end" graphics cards, which I can swap around between my HTPC, home office PC and office-office PC as follows:

Current HTPC card: EVGA GeFroce GTX950 with 2 gigs of RAM

Home office PC card: EVGA Ge Force GTX970 with 4 gigs of RAM

Office office PC card: PowerColor PCS+ AMD Radeon R9 290X with 4 gigs of RAM

The home office and office office cards are ach used to run two monitors, two 1600 x 1200 Samsungs at home, two 4K Samsungs at the office, but only at 3200 x 1800 on the second monitor (I can't seem to get the card to "do" full 4K on both monitors).

I also have a small number of old Zotac GeFroce GTX950 cards I can use to supplement for seconds screens if needed.

Priorities are:

1, what's best for the HTPC,

2, running two 4Ks at full 4K at the office,

3, running two monitors at 1600 x 1200 at the home office.

Suggestions?

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

PS no money for new toys until after Chrimbo....

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Had to forgoe one spare hard disk and the cooling fan on the CPU liquid cooler to shoe-horn everything in (the 950 card was half-length, the 970 is huge in comparison).

The graphics card in the office-office PC stays put, for now, but may just get swapped out for two 940-series Zotac 4K cards. I'm having some compatibility issues or something trying to mix and match those with the Asus card, and since I don't play games I'm only really interested in 2D/4K static performance and the odd Youtube.

Still no Atmos though....

 

[Feral]

The 970 should be able to pass the audio out without issue. My speaker set up is 5.1 so cannot confirm the Atmos on the rips but i found some freeware i've yet to install which supposedly gives you a breakdown of all the media information in a container.

It's just occured to me that i might be able to activate 2 top speakers on the amp without actually having any to see of the atmos tracks appear as atmos on front of amp which might answer your question.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

you have to "back up" the full BD, not "open" it, select Tracks and rip those to mkv files.

I've done a couple but haven't had the chance to transfer them to the HTPC yet - I use my home office PC for ripping as it has a hex-core i7, 32 gigs of RAM and a solid state hard drive, so it's faster.

Still haven't solved the problems with "bad" BD discs though.....

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Put the 970 in the HTPC case, but had to sacrifice the cooling fan strapped to the CPU liquid cooler and an internal (unused anyway) spinning rust unit to be able to shoe-horn it in. The Silverstone Grandia HTPC case is a bit tight for space, especially with an internal liquid CPU cooler - more for quietness than need - fitted. If / when I have more time, I might be able to solve thse problems, but I don't think the CPU gets used intensively enough in HTPC mode to worry in the interim.

Solved the "no Atmos" issue by using MakMKV to "back up" the full discs rather than selecting individual titles and making mkvs out of them. Works better for TV show box sets like GoT anyway, but means I get all the "bonus" features (like the interview with the chap that made the wig for the second row, third soldier from the left in the 30 second hero rides past the troops scene...). Still, never mind. At least I get Atmos that way.

I put the 950 in the home desktop PC, where it's running two Samsung 1600 x 1200 4:3 monitors no problem. It's not an overly long card, which is why I bought it for the HTPC to begin with, so no space problems there.

I put two Zotac 740 / 2 gig units in the work desktop. The Zotaxs are each running a Samsung 26-inch widescreen 4K monitor at full 4K resolution without any problems (I'm not a gamer so "static" displays are fine for me). Found out one other Zotac is kaput or at least won't cooperate with the others.

That leaves the Pwercolor PCS+ graphics card without a home. and the three Silverstone Milo casded HTPCs reliant on their motherboard graphics until I can afford replacement Zotac low profile cards for them.