Dolby Atmos has been one of the most significant developments in surround sound technology over the past decade. Using object-based audio engineering techniques, movie directors and sound engineers can now add three-dimensional audio with overhead sound effects into their sound, creating a new era of surround sound that is more spacious, immersive and real.

1. Dolby Atmos is an audio format; a stream of information. NOT a codec.

A typical soundtrack is essentially a stream of information consisting of (a) Data of all the sounds engineered inside it and (b) Instructions for your sound system on what each channel should be outputting. A Dolby Atmos soundtrack is basically the same stream of information, but with an added layer of object-based sound data encompassing height/overhead sound effects. Like any other soundtrack, a Dolby Atmos soundtrack needs something to deliver it to your sound system. This ‘something’ is called a CODEC.

2. Understanding the 3 CODECS Used to Deliver Dolby Atmos

The Dolby Digital Plus audio codec delivers Dolby Atmos optimized for digital transmission, i.e. through major video streaming services (such as Netflix) or select cable broadcast services. This codec compresses the Dolby Atmos content to a sampling rate of 48kHz, resulting in a lower bitrate that is most suitable for online streaming.

1. Streaming from TV built in apps

Connect Dolby Atmos enabled TV* to Nakamichi Shockwafe soundbars via TV’s ARC or eARC, using a HDMI 2.1 cable.

2. Streaming from Media Devices

Connect media devices to Nakamichi Shockwafe soundbar. The soundbar will pass audio to the TV’s HDMI ARC or eARC port (which also supports video input).

The Dolby TrueHD audio codec delivers Dolby Atmos in its highest resolution and quality (24-bit 96kHz), resulting in an authentic Dolby Atmos experience, delivered as intended by movie directors, where listeners will be able to hear object-based audio and overhead effects through positional metadata. It is most widely used on HD and UHD Blu-ray Discs.

List of Blu-ray Discs with Dolby Atmos: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=248132

Certain content devices, such as Xbox One X/S and Apple TV 4K, come with a Dolby Atmos MAT encoder, which is designed to encode, decode and incorporate Dolby Atmos metadata into lossless pulse-code modulation (PCM) audio, allowing listeners to experience Dolby Atmos even in PCM audio.

For streaming devices: connect them directly to Dolby Atmos-enabled sound systems like the Nakamichi Shockwafe soundbar. Your soundbar will receive audio directly, and pass video to TV via TV’s ARC or eARC

If you own a gaming console and TV that supports 4K120Hz / 8K60Hz (i.e. PS5 or XBOX Series X), connect the gaming console to your TV. The TV will receive full 4K 120Hz video signals, and pass Dolby MAT content to your soundbar in full quality. 

If your TV or gaming console does not support 4K120Hz / 8K60Hz, connect the gaming console to your soundbar. Your soundbar will receive Dolby MAT signals and play them back directly, while sending HDR/Dolby vision 4K video to your TV.

The science behind these connections

Connecting devices that play movie content (i.e. Dolby Vision/HDR content up to 4K 60Hz) directly to the surround sound system allows it to be the first device in the signal chain that receives the audio signal, without the complications of audio passthrough from TV to home theater (e.g. soundbar). This allows for the most stable audio connection and authentic audio processing. The system is then able to passthrough video signals (including Dolby Vision metadata) to the TV.

However, for devices capable of delivering high bandwidth graphics (i.e. gaming consoles that support 4K120Hz / 8K60Hz video), it is recommended to connect them to the TV, especially if the TV supports eARC. This allows the TV to receive and process high bandwidth graphics directly, without an additional device in the signal chain that may complicate the transfer. The TV is capable of transmitting full quality sound to the Soundbar via the eARC standard.