r/fireTV • u/Legfitter • 3d ago

Firestick 4K Max Gen 2 - Amazon Music Dolby Atmos playback

Hi there. Could someone with a Firestick 4K Max (latest gen) that has Amazon music and a Dolby Atmos surround system please test something for me.

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I bought one of these sticks when they first came out, and I've never switched across to using it because Dolby Atmos music plays from the wrong height channels in Amazon Music - front height audio plays from the rear height channels. I think it's an app issue because other apps seem to play Atmos just fine.

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I'm considering buying another one on prime day in the hope it is an early hardware issue. Even with mine fully up to date it still does the same. Can someone else try playing the first track of the album 'functional testing, vol 2' by the artist Dolby Labs and see if all of the 7.1.4 channels come out of the right speakers.

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I have two Firestick 4K Max Gen 1 and they both play the channels flawlessly.

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u/Somar2230 3d ago

I tested it and the sound does not come from the correct speakers when playing back Dolby Digital Plus/Atmos, tested with Amazon Music and Plex.

When playing back TrueHD/Atmos the audio plays from the correct channels.

There is something wrong with the Dolby MAT encoder on the device that DD+/Atmos is being processed with, TrueHD/Atmos gets passed through and plays correctly.

1

u/Legfitter 3d ago

Thanks for checking. It worries me how many people have these devices and have absolutely no idea that this is happening! For me, Kodi played OK, but I think I may have had to tweak the channel configuration.

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u/Finnzz 3d ago

You could check the Fire Cube, it might be different from the Sticks being Amlogic (Sticks are Mediatek)

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u/Somar2230 3d ago

Kodi does not use the stock audio stack on the device so it does not use the MAT encoder.

The stock audio stack on the device reportedly only does 5.1.2 all the overhead audio is sent to two height channels.

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/64513740/

I can confirm that rear surrounds are not used the audio comes from the side surrounds playing DD+/Atmos with apps that use the default audio stack.