Best Streaming Device

[gillieee]

Hi Friends,

My current Home Theater setup:
1. Benq DLP Projector (720P 16:9)
2. Yamaha RX-V6A 7.2 (Atmos support)

I am planning for an an Atmos set up. I am currently using Google's Chromecast 4K. I am well aware that, when I insert the Chromecast directly to receiver, it will only provide 2.1 output.

My question here is, which streaming device or any additional device between my Chromecast and AV Receiver, can give me the Atmos effect or 5.1?

When I searched online, I end up with Apple TV, which has the facility to give the 5.1 output to the receiver. The cost of Apple TV 4K is being too high and like I mentioned earlier, my projector is just 720P, I am looking for an alternative. Let the alternative be lesser than the cost of apple tv.

Apple TV 4K : 20,900 INR

I have no plans of introducing a TV in my room or a 4K projector or even a 1080P, so kindly avoid that answer.

Thanks & Thank you' s in advance,
Vijay

 

[mbhangui]

Chromecast can very well do 5.1, dolby, AC3, EAC3, etc. You just need to enable it

 

[gillieee]

Chromecast can very well do 5.1, dolby, AC3, EAC3, etc. You just need to enable it
View attachment 64531

These settings are only, when we connect Chromecast to a TV. I am not having a TV, I have only an AV Receiver and a Projector (720P). I don't need a 4K resolution, but I need Dolby Atmos or 5.1 output at least.

 

[mbhangui]

These settings are only, when we connect Chromecast to a TV. I am not having a TV, I have only an AV Receiver and a Projector (720P). I don't need a 4K resolution, but I need Dolby Atmos or 5.1 output at least.

Where are you connecting your Chromecast? I connect mine directly to AVR hdmi input. If I connect it to TV, I lose 5.1 because my TV doesn't do passthrough. It is exactly the same with Firestick. If I connect firestick directly to TV i don't get Dolby. But connecting it to AVR gives me dolby. In your case your projector is probably not doing passthrough.

 

[MaSh]

These settings are only, when we connect Chromecast to a TV. I am not having a TV, I have only an AV Receiver and a Projector (720P). I don't need a 4K resolution, but I need Dolby Atmos or 5.1 output at least.

Are you sure? Ideally, I would expect it to be the other way round. 5.1 with receiver and stereo with TV.

MaSh

 

[mbhangui]

Here is the status of Dolby support of all chromecast devices on the dolby's official site.

Dolby Audio Google Cast Device Support | Dolby Developer

Want to know what Chromecast devices support Dolby technology? Go to the Google Cast Supported Devices section of Dolby Developer to find the answer.

developer.dolby.com

 

[mbhangui]

Are you sure? Ideally, I would expect it to be the other way round. 5.1 with receiver and stereo with TV.

MaSh

Exactly. TV's have crappy speakers and mostly just two speakers. It would be too much to expect the TV to do dolby and expect breath taking sound out of it. Some TVs may have the ability to pass through the original codec through optical cable. Mine doesnt (Panasonic Viera). It doesn't support dolby etc and chromecast, firestick etc detect the device capabilities connected to it's HDMI port and will switch off surround sound if the device doesn't support it.

 

[gillieee]

Are you sure? Ideally, I would expect it to be the other way round. 5.1 with receiver and stereo with TV.

MaSh

Chromecast needs a TV.

 

[MaSh]

View attachment 64535
Chromecast needs a TV.

Yes, this is correct. You do need HDCP 2.2 to view 4k content. However, your requirement is an Audio passthrough via TV. In most TVs that is a limitation. Your bottleneck is not the Chromecast device, rather the TV if you intend to connect it to the TV. I would suggest connecting it to Receiver and seeing if it can decode multichannel. The receiver might also not do 4k if it is not HDCP2.2 compatible, however, it will do Full HD.

MaSh

 

[gillieee]

Yes, this is correct. You do need HDCP 2.2 to view 4k content. However, your requirement is an Audio passthrough via TV. In most TVs that is a limitation. Your bottleneck is not the Chromecast device, rather the TV if you intend to connect it to the TV. I would suggest connecting it to Receiver and seeing if it can decode multichannel. The receiver might also not do 4k if it is not HDCP2.2 compatible, however, it will do Full HD.

MaSh

I am using Chromecast from the 1st generation, and currently using Chromecast Ultra. When I set "Straight Enhancer" in the AV Receiver, it enhances only 2.1. I have tried all settings, believe me I have constantly from 1st generation Chromecast. That is the reason, now I am searching for other devices, which can help me. If I am doing something wrong, please guide me with right direction.

 

[MaSh]

I am using Chromecast from the 1st generation, and currently using Chromecast Ultra. When I set "Straight Enhancer" in the AV Receiver, it enhances only 2.1. I have tried all settings, believe me I have constantly from 1st generation Chromecast. That is the reason, now I am searching for other devices, which can help me. If I am doing something wrong, please guide me with right direction.

I too have a Chromecast connected to the TV. However, I use it for screen mirroring only. My TV has no digital out, so cannot try that. For streaming, I use an Amazon Fire TV which gives me multichannel.

MaSh

 

[sandeepmohan]

When I set "Straight Enhancer" in the AV Receiver, it enhances only 2.1.

What streaming service do you use and does the content have an Atmos sound track?

I suspect your Chromecast unable to decode or do a pass through for Dolby Atmos sound tracks, possibly converting the stream to Dolby Digital Plus which results in the receiver seeing the signal as 2.1. Can anyone confirm a chrome cast ultra supports Atmos decode or a pass through? I can't find any documentation anywhere saying that it does.

You should start with a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 stream and check if your Chromecast sends that signal through your AV receiver nice and clean. If Yes, then its the lack of Atmos support or the content being played does not have an Atmos sound track.

If you have a computer at home with HDMI output, you can check if that can pass through an Atmos sound track.

I don't think there a bridge device or any other option priced below an Apple TV, if Atmos is a priority. You'll probably spend way more with a NUC or anything else. Before you go and buy anything, first make sure the hardware (chrome cast ultra) and what you are playing (the content on the streaming service) is sending or can support/supports an Atmos signal.

 

[abhijeet309]

Since you have Atmos enabled receiver I will suggest you get either Fire Stick 4K or Roku Express 4K. These are the cheaper options to get dolby atmos from the streaming services.

 

[Silentpro]

Apple 4k best among all, Nvidia shield comes next

 

[argho]

You can also look at Mi Box 4k.
Inexpensive and full featured.

 

[Silentpro]

You can also look at Mi Box 4k.
Inexpensive and full featured.

Mi laggs while playing HEVC files i hope .

 

[mbhangui]

View attachment 64535
Chromecast needs a TV.

There are two parts to the above
1. All Chromecast devices require a TV with HDCP 1.3 or higher.
This is true. But that doesn't literally mean that you have to connect to the TV directly. If you connect to an AVR directly, the AVR will do a passthrough for the video to the TV connected to the AVR's HDMI out. Since the AVR will do a passthrough, Chromecast will think it is connected to the TV. In fact this is how I have connected my AVR to my TV. I have absolutely no problem in getting Dolby for Chromecast and Firestick. I even connect a Sony PS5 to the AVR and not to the TV. By doing this I get DTS working. Even my TV has multiple HDMI inputs. But if I connect the Chromecast, Firestick or Sony PS4 or PS5 directly to the TV, I lose all surround information and the AVR uses PCM decoder. Pressing the 'Straight Enhancer' button will make the AVR do DSP using the AVR's own DSP chip. Yamaha calls this 'Natural Sound' processor. But the AVR's DSP processed sound will be totally different than the original sound.

2. For HDR content you need an HDR-capable tv.
This is what you don't have or maybe some options in your TV setup needs to be enabled. That's why you lose the surround information by using the TV. If you had an HDR capable TV with passthrough ability, it would have passed the audio unchanged to the AVR. Currently your TV decodes the audio without any surround information. The AVR connected to your TV has the surround information (Dolby, etc) totally stripped out and hence will not display Dolby in the AVR front panel unit.

I suggest you connect the Chromecast to the AVR directly and connect one of the HDMI inputs (preferably the ARC enabled port) to the HDMI out of the AVR and hear the magic happen.

I also noticed that you have Yamaha. You also need to enable HDMI control to on in AVR setup. And I hope you have enabled HDMI Content Type to Auto in the TV setup menu.

 

[mbhangui]

reply to prev post cont...

And this is what I have done in my TV setup so that the TV lets the AVR know the HDMI content type through the ARC hdmi connection

 

[superczar]

Hi Friends,

My current Home Theater setup:
1. Benq DLP Projector (720P 16:9)
2. Yamaha RX-V6A 7.2 (Atmos support)

I am planning for an an Atmos set up. I am currently using Google's Chromecast 4K. I am well aware that, when I insert the Chromecast directly to receiver, it will only provide 2.1 output.

My question here is, which streaming device or any additional device between my Chromecast and AV Receiver, can give me the Atmos effect or 5.1?

When I searched online, I end up with Apple TV, which has the facility to give the 5.1 output to the receiver. The cost of Apple TV 4K is being too high and like I mentioned earlier, my projector is just 720P, I am looking for an alternative. Let the alternative be lesser than the cost of apple tv.

Apple TV 4K : 20,900 INR

I have no plans of introducing a TV in my room or a 4K projector or even a 1080P, so kindly avoid that answer.

Thanks & Thank you' s in advance,
Vijay

The key question is whether you want Atmos (as mentioned initially) or 5.1 (as mentioned latter)
If its ATMOS, ATV 4K is the way to go
if its jus vanilla 5.1, your existing device will also do

 

[msankadi]

You can go for fire stick if you want atmos otherwise chromecast is best. imo spending 20k on aptv is a waste with no app sideloading and 100 apple restrictions, better to buy a nvidia shield at that price point...or you can do what I did and get a nuc if you already have an ssd+ram it will cost 15k-20k and support everything through kodi