[Sandyb]

interesting of course, but not sure if it addresses the original question though.

[Sandyb]

Yeah, it was only in the FlatPanels review that something was mentioned.

Anyway, I’m not too stressed about it tbh, as most of my movie preferences are not action type stuff, so Atmos is less of an issue (I used 6 Underground this morning just as a test, not a film I’d watch myself)

But having put in the UHD Dune disc this morning (Dolby True HD as the Atmos container) early on in the film there was some rain effects that were clearly noticeable as a pretty good height effect.

When I watched Dune for the first time last week on Sky (DD+ Atmos), that rain from above effect was weaker.

And thats before we get to the vocal mixing – on the broadcast DD+ Dune, usual problem of vocals back in the mix, hard to hear at sensible volumes, and the usual dance of volume up, and then back down,  The UHD disc was perfect – could listen at volume 43-44 with perfect mix and clarity, whereas in the broadcast DD+ mix, at times volume was up to 55-56 to hear the vocals inteligegably.

Discs rule (at least for a movie worth buying)

 

[Sandyb]

I understand the “issue”, and picked a Netflix atmos movie (6 Underground) on both the WebOS NTFLX app and on the ATV NTFLX app.

I cant really tell any difference between the sound image produced, specifically when it comes to height effects (I dont have physical height speakers, only 50s up front and 17s behind me).

From what I understand (from the FlatPanels Theatre review), B&O have somewhat turned down the height/Atmos effects on the Theatre (they mentioned something about it being fatiguing in their opinion if jacked up fully).

I say this simply because, specifically absent physical height / ceiling speakers), and with the height image tuned down by the Theatre (by their design / admission), its not surprising we hear no difference (image height wise) between the Atmos / PCM and Atmos / DD+ signals.

So in the end, its not something I get over-exercised with.

If I really want a generally superior audio soundtrack, I just use a UHD BluRay.  I just got Dune (2021) on UHD disc, and it sounds pretty fantastic, although of course thats full everything – Atmos / Dolby True HD, and the height effects are at times quite noticeable, and certainly better than either of the 6 Undergound Netflix paths I tried above.

[Sandyb]

Steve, please do say hi to John when you next speak to him, and pass on my best wishes.  Truly seems like one of life’s nice guys. Wish him well.

I’ll for sure give him a call when I next need some pointless and expensive upgrade!

[Sandyb]

the guys are correct – however you pass through DTS-X to the Theatre, it cannot decode it.

I’ve set my BluRay player to output DTS sources as PCM 5.1.  Some media players only offer the choice of outputting DTS sources as PCM 2.0, it varies from player to player.

It is what it is I’m afraid.

[Sandyb]

Thanks – so you are using an HDMI extender (i.e what you refer to as the “Balun kit”) to connect the ATV across the room to the LG?

So, if that ATV is not running through the matrix, then I dont really have any suggestions.

I’m guessing you are in the Uk / London? Who did your installation? (I’m in London myself)

[Sandyb]

er, ok, though I dont understand the paragraph below that you wrote earlier…

“There is an AppleTV is in the rack.  It connected to the LG via the HDI Balun bringing the feed from the rack to HDMI 1 on the LG.  Conclusively, the AppleTV connects to the LG using the HDI Balun, and the former is in a rack which is 10 metres away.”

There’s not much more I can add really – i.e if the ATV, that is feeding the Theatre/LG setup, is going via the matrix, then as above, you won’t get DV. It’s as  simple as that.   Otherwise it doesn’t make sense – an ATV does not output video via network cable, that can then go into a balun, and then HDMI out to the LG.  The ATV (in question) must be HDMI out into the matrix, and then out via network cable to the Balun.  i.e it must be going via the matrix.

 

[Sandyb]

Your setup then must be as I thought.

The ATV is connected using HDMi to your matrix.  The matrix outputs via network cable (CAT 6 to Cat 7 network cable) across your room (assuming this is hidden) to the LG/Theatre.  At the LG/Theatre end, the network cable goes into the HDMI Balun, and HDMI comes out of the Balun and goes into the LG.

Thats how matrix setups work.

And if you have the Neo Pro 4*4, it is not DV capable.

So that is why you are not getting DV “from your Apple TV’. Its the Neo matrix in the middle that is preventing it.

It sounds like your matrix / rack setup was done a while ago by one installer, and now you are using a different installer?  Not every installer is familiar with the nuances on different matrices.  The Atlona 4*4 in recent years has been DV (i.e full UHD) capable, but the Neo Pro 4*4, whilst almost indentical, does not pass through Dolby Vision.

It’s really that simple. And if you want DV from your ATV, then you need to literally directly connect it to either the Theatre or LG (doesn’t really matter which).

 

[Sandyb]

I’m slightly confused, as you say the ATV is connected to the LG, but elsewhere you mention the HDI balun to bring things from the rack to the TV/Theatre.

So does the Apple TV physically sit next to / close to the LG / Theatre?

Forgive me if I am missing something.

[Sandyb]

Again, it’s hard to help without you describing more closely the setup to the Theatre.

It does sound like you have your ATV connected into your matrix, and out to the Theatre (thats what the HDMI balun is for after all!)  I have the same matrix setup in my home, and both of my Theatre rooms are connected to the matrix (albeit they only get/use one source from it).

If you have a Neo Pro 4*4, which is exactly the same as mine, it does NOT pass through Dolby Vision.  It has a “profile” setting for 4K HDR, but I do not believe that covers Dolby Vision, only regular HDR.

So when Theatre does its handshake with the matrix and Apple TV, the matrix will only pass through 4K HDR, and not DV.

That’s why in my case, I have connected a ATV 4k directly to my Theatre, and I do not route it through the matrix, for the above reasons. The only thing I route through the matrix now is my SKY Q set top box for regular broadcast tv, and DV is not a factor there.

The unfortunate thing with the Theatre is that it has no matrix integration like the previous B&O TVs, so while you can receive signals/sources from anything connected to the matrix, you cannot switch between different matrix inputs using the Beoremote / Theatre.

Anyway, thats my strong guess as to what is happening.

again though, you would need to describe the setup a bit more clearly for anyone to help here.

[Sandyb]

you referred earlier to an HDmI balun – which suggests you have a matrix video distributor in you rack? Is that not correct?

This should be easy to sort out, but its a bit tricky w/o knowing exactly your setup

[Sandyb]

personally, I’d got for the 20s for music listening.

I might be a bit old fashioned in my love for 2.0 music, but when I had 18s and 19, I didnt love the way music was reproduced.  Wasnt by any means bad at all, but just didn’t quite seem right to my ears.

[Sandyb]

no, all your settings / calibrations are maintained.

I’ve been on 2.5.3 for a couple of months, nothing to really be concerned about.

[Sandyb]

But even before the Mozart days, Beovisions could use Beolabs speakers in a surround setup, but could not use the Beoplay/Beosound speaker systems.

So there has always been a separation of which part of the speaker range one could use for a surround setup.

This is not new.

 

[Sandyb]

Sounds like you are routing some of your video sources through a matrix to the Theatre?  If so, I do the same with my Sky Q, though thats the only source routed that way.

If your ATV 4K is passing through the matrix to the LG / theatre, then you need to make sure your matrix can pass through Dolby Vision.   Mine does not, so my ATV 4K doesn’t go through the matrix and is connected directly to the Theatre without issues.

If you matrix does support DV, make sure that that the matrix settings for that output (that carries the ATV) is set to an EDID profile that allows DV (i.e full UHD). Not sure what your pre-theatre television was, but it may be that just that the matrix output settings need to be toggled to full UHD.  Then the ATV and Theatre/Lg will recognise the whole chain as full UHD capable.

 

[Sandyb]

It would be interesting to know if that Picture Mute option was available with the Eclipse / Harmony? (I never owned either myself).

I guess the point being, if that option wasnt there for those LG based BV’s, then I suspect its unlikely that it gets introduced on the Theatre.

 

[Sandyb]

@c-larsen, thanks for the power cycle recommendation.

Just so you know, this PUC non-response issue has happened to me again, and this time on both of my Theatre’s.

Power cycling has fixed it for the moment.

That said, this type of recurring issue isn’t really very acceptable, for the record.

 

[Sandyb]

Yes, I had this exact same problem on my bedroom Theatre a month ago.

To be clear, the BR1 List button would show on its screen the PUC function list, but none of the functions did anything. It was as if that while the BR1 still had the list, the Theatre just went deaf to any PUC commands sent from the BR1.

I got nowhere with my dealer, long story.

I factory reset everything, including deleting the B&O app from the LG tv, and once it was all set up again, its been fine.

I think someone on Discord posted a similar issue, to which Christian responded that a power cycle should fix it (I actually didnt try that, and did the reset route above, but if it recurs, a power cycle should be the first thing to try I guess)

But it certainly tested my patience.

[Sandyb]

As someone who had an Avant for a few years, I remember this.

There is a bug someone in the Avant’s UI and the information it reports, with respect to this. So with 4K content being input, the UI will say 1080P, when it is actually 4K.  I went through this with my dealer at the time.

 

[Sandyb]

TSG = technical sound guide

its the full user manual for the 50s, and available on the B&O site

I meant that its worth reading, and you can use the find function on your computer to locate the relevant part relating to input settings

as for input impedance, the app gives you 2 choices : 50 ohms or 50 k ohms.

mine is set to 50 k

chose the one most appropriate to your Marantz.

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