Anyone else using Xbox as OTT Streamer for sound quality?

[superczar]

I

Resurrecting this thread to note my experiences with the Xbox series S as an OTT streamer. it's definitely good and as posters above have noted, the sound has "heft" and body but it's still not perfect. If you search other forums such as AVS, one thing that comes out is that true "bitstream passthrough" or unadulterated passthrough is still not available. Let me explain by posting my comments from another forum.
I started using my Xbox series S as a media streamer from the time I recently upgraded to a 5.1.2 setup. Let me quickly summarize the reasons:
1. My equipment consists of Denon S960 H AVR, Dali Zensor 7/Vokal as LCR, Taga Harmony Platinum bookshelves doing surround duties and a pair of on-ceiling JBL Control 1 Pros providing Atmos cover, completing my 5.1.2 setup. display is handled by a Mi Q1 LED 75 and a 1080P Epson Projector that I use very occasionally on a 110" screen
2. I felt the audio output from the Xbox had more "heft" and voice clarity compared to my Firestick 4K and Shield TV 2017
3. I also get more vibrant colors in Dolby Vision content on the Xbox as compared to the FTV 4k. Have any of you experienced the washed out color syndrome of Dolby Vision on the FTV 4K? Shield 2017 anyway doesn't support
I have gone through numerous threads on AVS explaining the pros and cons of the Xbox as a media center and the limited "bitstream passthrough" functionality offered by it. Here are my observations:
1. The only supported streaming apps on the Xbox Series S are Netflix and Amazon Prime (apart from Youtube)
2. In the Xbox audio settings, I have chosen Dolby Atmos for Home Theater as the preferred format and I have enabled passthrough in the advanced settings
The below is what i am observing:
1. Since I believe the passthrough feature is app dependent and Netflix on Xbox doesn't support passthrough, I get Atmos audio output in the AVR correctly. The display also shows the same
2. For non-Atmos 5.1 content on Netflix (say a series like the Blacklist in DD+), my AVR display only shows DDSurround. DD+ and DDSurr is NOT displayed. so I have to conclude that Netflix isn't passing on DD+ to my AVR which is rather disappointing. The AVR shows the incoming audio signal as PCM and is applying the Dolby Surround processing to it
3. More importantly, for non-Atmos Netflix audio, I am not able to choose DTS or Neural X processing in the AVR. The AVR on-screen choices are only Stereo, Multi-Channel and Dolby Surround. Maybe this limitation is due to the fact that in the Xbox menu, Dolby Atmos for Home Theater is the chosen format
4. For Amazon Prime, the behavior is as expected for 5.1 audio streams. I am able to choose either Dolby Surround/Atmos or DTS/Neural X. The AVR also correctly displays DD+ plus corresponding processing (either DD Surr or Neural X). However, when there are non-5.1 audio streams in Prime (a series like Luther), I am again not able to get DTS/Neural X processing in the AVR menu. In this situation, the behavior is similar to the Netflix app
5. I have tested this in my FTV 4k and Shield TV 2017 and everything is as expected

Conclusion:
1. It appears that Netflix doesn't passthrough non-Atmos audio untouched by the Xbox, which is actually a big deal considering that a majority of the audio streams are in DD+
2. The Prime app is supposed to support full bitstream passthrough. While 5.1 audio gets correctly passed through (meaning you are able to apply both Dolby Surround and DTS Neural X processing in the AVR and AVR display shows DD+ Plus any processing applied on it by the AVR), for non-5.1 audio, the processing choice is limited to Dolby Surround, Stereo and Multi-channel in the AVR menu, like it is the case for the Netflix app. While I know true passthrough in Xbox Netflix is not available, I am assuming Xbox is interfering in the non-5.1 streams of the Prime app also which is another disappointment

i would request Xbox users to check on these points and confirm. All in all, i am pretty happy with the Xbox's gaming and the as of now limited streaming capabilities but if true passthrough for all supported apps is implemented, it would unleash the true capabilities of this powerhouse.

Cheers
Harsha

Thanks for sharing your observations.
I added a series S recently , largely due to the gamepass benefits.

The sound from the xbox is certainly different from any other streamer i have tried/used - and this is what surprises me.
Bitstreamed audio should sound the same regardless of the playback device.

And atmos via my TV app, PS5, ATV 4K and Firestick do indeed sound the same (ATV does some resampling i think but did not seem to make a perceptible difference)
However the x-box has a very different sound - for the lack of a better term, I will call it more surround-ey.

However , to your point, There is certainly some upmixing going on behind the scenes even when set to bitstream.
This is not to say that sound is not enjoyable - depending on the scene/movie, the sound may actually turn out to be more enjoyable in fact ..

One problem I did notice that on prime , there was noticeably AV sync issue on xbox which I have not seen in a long while on any streamer.
I think I would still prefer to use a dedicated streamer over a console for streaming usage

 

[sandeepmohan]

i would request Xbox users to check on these points and confirm.

Some parts of what you are saying are a bit confusing.
You've enabled pass through but you're saying pass through isn't supported by the respective App running on the Xbox S?

I do not have an Atmos capable setup. I do have a Series S.
You should not have to define that you're running a Atmos capable setup on your Xbox. The audio signal should ideally flow to your Denon, unaltered. Your Denon will decide what the correct decode method is based on the input signal. If the respective film you stream has a Atmos signal, your Denon should pick it up. If it isn't present, it defaults to Dolby Digital or whatever the input signal is. The app should not manipulate the input stream. It will do so only if it detects hardware that isn't capable of processing a particular stream and then default to the next closest Listening Mode. Leaving the Sound Mode in Auto should allow your Denon to decide the best Listening Mode or decode method.

My knowledge maybe dated on this. I've not come across an AV receiver that can flip the input signal over to something else. Example : I cannot force my AV receiver to flip a Dolby True HD signal into a DTS-HD and vice versa. It has to stay in the realm of a Dolby signal path.

This chart explains the various Sound Modes you can select based on the input signal for your Denon

 

[ankitbhargava]

Update on thread after a long time

I have been using Xbox One S for all my OTT streaming and found it best in terms of sound. Even if most of the content off Netflix/Prime sounds upscaled and processed, whatever it does to Audio output it's more immersive and has fuller body.

I recently bought Xbox Series X for gaming and OTT streaming, did not find much of a difference in quality over One S as far as streaming goes.

Therefore, One S still serves the purpose well.

 

[Shinto]

Update on thread after a long time

I have been using Xbox One S for all my OTT streaming and found it best in terms of sound. Even if most of the content off Netflix/Prime sounds upscaled and processed, whatever it does to Audio output it's more immersive and has fuller body.

I recently bought Xbox Series X for gaming and OTT streaming, did not find much of a difference in quality over One S as far as streaming goes.

Therefore, One S still serves the purpose well.

Have you ever compared the sound quality for stnadalone bluray player to XBox one S paying bluray discs.