Yesterday’s premiere of Amazon’s latest original series, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, marked the arrival of the first Prime Video content to support Dolby Atmos surround sound. Some Fire TV owners eager to finally fully utilize their advanced home theater audio equipment have been perplexed to find that the new TV series isn’t lighting up the Dolby Atmos indicator on their A/V receiver. That’s because Dolby Atmos is not automatically enabled, like other surround sound formats, and must be manually selected.
To watch Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan with Dolby Atmos surround sound, you’ll obviously first need a Dolby Atmos compatible streaming device. The Amazon Fire TV 3 (pendant) and Fire TV Cube are the only two Fire TV models that support Dolby Atmos. Some smart TVs will also be able to stream the series with Dolby Atmos through the Amazon Prime Video app built into the TV’s operating system. The Roku Ultra and Apple TV running the latest beta version of iOS 12 should also be able to stream with Dolby Atmos.
With compatible streaming equipment, you’ll then need to ensure that you’re watching the correct listing for the series. Unfortunately, Amazon complicates things by having separate listings for Ultra HD versions of their content and 1080p versions of their content. Only the Ultra HD version includes Dolby Atmos audio, so look for “[Ultra HD]” in the title of the content. Simply searching for content often brings up the 1080p version and adding “Ultra HD” to your query usually brings up no results.
The best way to find the Ultra HD version is to find the row of content labeled “Prime Original Series in 4K Ultra HD.” This row can usually be found in the new Prime Video section on Fire TV devices. It is also sometimes featured on the Fire TV home screen and the “Your Videos” section. If you’re having trouble finding it, you can go to the Amazon.com listing for the Ultra HD version and add it to your watchlist through the website. It’ll then appear at the top of the “Your Videos” section of the Fire TV interface.
Once you’re streaming the Ultra HD version through a Dolby Atmos compatible device, you then need to manually select the Dolby Atmos audio stream. While the series is playing, press the Menu (hamburger) button on the remote and select “Audio” from the menu that appears in the lower right corner of the screen. Press right to get to the “Audio output” options and then select Dolby Atmos.
Dolby Atmos surround sound audio will likely not immediately start once it’s enabled. That’s because the non-Atmos audio is likely still stored in the stream buffer. After a minute, the stream should automatically switch to Dolby Atmos once the buffer is replaced. Optionally, you can select to restart the video to force the buffer to refresh.
To summarize:
- Have a Dolby Atmos compatible device, which includes the Fire TV 3 (pendant) and Fire TV Cube.
- Stream the Ultra HD version.
- Enable Dolby Atmos from the stream’s audio options.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Fire Fire TV 2nd Gen is Atmos compatible. See the tech specs on it.
http://www.aftvnews.com/comparing-the-1st-and-2nd-gen-amazon-fire-tv-specs/
– Under Audio Formats
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UH4D8G2/?tag=aftvn-20
– Under Content Format Supported
It is the same as the Pendant and the Cube. Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC).
So why is Atmos not supported ( currently on the new Jack Ryan show ), when it clearly states it is for the 2nd Gen AFTV in the specs?
I couldn’t verify whether Dolby Atmos worked on the Fire TV 2, so I left it out of the article. Amazon’s device specs page says that Dolby Atmos is not supported on the Fire TV 2, so I went by that info because that page is newer than the product page.
Maybe someone with a Dolby Atmos receiver and a Fire TV 2 can let us know if Jack Ryan plays in Dolby Atmos on their setup.
OK.
Another matter then:
I have a 2nd Generation Fire TV.
A few days after I received the new Update ( 5.2.6.6 Build 617513120 ) , the “Apps” Section reverts to the Home Screen.
By that I mean that when I scroll over from: Home – Your Videos – Movies – TV Shows – Apps – Settings … scrolling upon the “Apps” section automatically reverts me to the Home Screen.
It seems to me, that is the same manner as if I were to press the ” House / Home” button on the remote. Obviously I do not.
Mind you that this new update installed automatically on August 31st for me. And this issue appeared on September 3rd. Before then, everything worked as it should.
Also, besides this App section issue, my 2nd Gen FTV works great.
This App Section issue literally appeared overnight. I do not know whether is it a backend issue, or a true Bug that crept up.
I have tried rebooting to no avail. As well as other things I have read that might have helped. They did not.
I ask if you have any contacts at Amazon please relay my message to them. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You.
I have the old fire stick 4k. Takes getting used to, to find the Atmos compatible movies. I generally use the Sonos app to tell me what format the audio is in. Some Disney shows work on Disney + and some amazon shows. If you want to find the amazon shows you can search adobe Atmos and they got a filter that will bring it up. I hope this answers your question. The stick is updated to the new software update.
Anyone ever found a reason why Amazon makes it so complicated to find the UHD Versions? You could think they don’t want us to stream it.
In the recommendations you always find the FullHD Versions of a series, the search normally also only replies the FullHD Versions.
It always annoyed me, that’s why this time i complained about to to the PrimeVideo Twitter Account. They even replied, that they will forward the complain. I unfortunately don’t think anything will happen, but it wouldn’t hurt if more people comlain about this bullsh*t
Just search Atmos and it will come up with all Atmos amazon movies.
UHD Only, WTF?
Since the repeal of net neutrality,
some ISPs will not allow you to stream 4K.
Get a better ISP.
Competition is so fierce in some markets,
you only have one choice.
It’s also a waste of bandwidth to stream 4K
if your TV is only 1080p.
The UHD version will stream in 1080p if the TV is not 4K. You can also use the Fire TV’s video quality settings to manage the stream.
My recommendation, get an Xbox One S. More options for UHD content in other apps and UHD Blu Ray. Less complications in getting Dolby Atmos out. Added bonus: it’s also a great game console.
Good plan but even though your AVR says Atmos when watching Amazon Prime, it’s not. Xbox is simulating the height channels. Amazon does not currently support Atmos on Xbox One.
In fact, right now, my Xbox One always says Atmos on my receiver. You can find posts elsewhere on this issue.
What about when I’m running it through my LG OLED (2018)? I finally got it to where it said Atmos on the receiver but I didn’t hear any difference on my Onkyo add on front speakers. I’m not sure I even heard anything coming out if them while watching Jack Ryan (opening scene with the plane attack)
What a pain but it does work. Indiotic that you must bore down into the Menus to find out whether it is Ultra or 1080. Jack Ryan on my LG Oled through WebOS confirms Atmos and Dolby Vision. My FireTV confirms Atmos but not sure whether Video is in HDR or Vision.
Do have to manually select Atmos with Menu key and my Onkyo has to be manually switched too or NO sound at all.
All hit or miss. Too much user interaction required.
Checked. Fire TV cube pushes HDR while WebOS pushes Dolby Vision. Obviously Vision is in the AMZ Prime stream but I guess their Cube won’t decode it. Too HARD!
Thanks for confirming. No Fire TV model supports Dolby Vision, so Jack Ryan is in HDR10 through a Fire TV 3 and Fire TV Cube.
I don’t get a Dolby Vision stream on my Dolby Vision capable LG TV (OLED55C6D) :(
Also tried on Apple TV 4k. Both “only” output in HDR UHD.
Dolby Vision from any of the Amazon Fire products (Fire Cube, Fire Stick, Fire TV) or the Xbox 1 X/S will not trigger the Dolby Vision function on any of the 2016 LG OLEDs (B6, C6, E6 – not sure about the G6) – because the 2016 LG OLEDs support Dolby Vision in 2160P/30FPS the Fire Devices & XBOX are looking for a TV that supports Dolby Vision at 2160P/60FPS. I believe that this problem is also causing Dolby ATMOS issues with certain Streaming Services like MoviesAnywhere, HBOMax & Disney+ – because when a movies has both Dolby ATMOS and Dolby Vision – some apps switch on Dolby Vision in 1080P on the LG and this HD version does not contain the Dolby ATMOS option for that movie.
Work Around – to get Dolby Vision to work on Fire Device and 2016 LG – there is a hidden menu on the Fire Devices (I have a Fire Cube Gen 2 that I just purchased to replace Fire Cube Gen 1 just for DV) – HOLD UP on the round control pad on remote while simultaneously holding down the REWIND (<<) button for about 5 seconds – the screen will cycle through available resolution/FPS options – for example – 720P/60, 1080i/60. 1080P/60, 2160P/25, 2160P/30, 2160P/60. If you press "SELECT" (center button inside round pad on remote) at the 2160P/25 or 2160P/30 – this will lock in the native LG resolution of 2160P/30 for Dolby Vision. So when a Dolby Vision movie is selected from Netflix or Amazon – Dolby Vision will work. There is STILL a Problem with some streaming services like MoviesAnywhere and HBOMAX – in HBOMAX the DV works but you lose Dolby ATMOS (Dolby ATMOS and HDR10 works with older GEN1 Fire Cube, Gen 1 Fire Cube does not support Dolby Vision with any TV even new ones) – so Still trying to figure out if there is another solution – I have a bunch of HDMI cables so I may start swapping them out between my TV and EMOTIVA RMC-1 Processor and the RMC-1 and the Cube to see if I could get ATMOS back – At this point I may return my Gen 2 Cube so I can at least get back Dolby Atmos which given the choice of regular Ultra HD @ 2160P/60 & Dolby Atmos (Gen 1) and Dolby Vision @ 2160P/30FPS and no Dolby ATMOS = I think I prefer the GEN 1 Video/Audio.
Chris
I am running an Amazon Cube and I was able to find the UHD version but the audio choices were still limited to ‘stereo’ and ‘dolby digital +’. Is there something else needed to enable atmos? My receiver is atmos capable and I have successfully listened to atmos through other sources.
After chatting with Amazon technical support, they explained the issue,
“I’m sorry, due to technical issue Dolby atmos isn’t currently working and we’re aware of it. Our best minds are working on it. Please allow some time to resolve this issue.”
So, hopefully that gets corrected quickly.
Just purchased a new Fire TV today and upgraded the latest version. The “Audio” option when I activate the “hamburger” menu does not show up for me to select like your image shows. Jack Ryan is playing in 4K HDR but I only get 5.1 audio. The Settings Audio is set for automatic Dolby Digital Plus. The last post says Dolby Atmos is not working; that may be the problem. I was on line with their Customer Support for over an hour and they did not even know what Dolby Atmos was.
Just restarted and tried again and the Audio option is now available and I am now getting the Atmos with Jack Ryan!
I restarted the Cube but still no joy and no atmos option.
My LG OLED in built app supports Dolby Vision with Jack Ryan. The TV can decode Atmos but it is set to output to my receiver over ARC. Even though my receiver (Onkyo TX-NR676) can decode Atmos ARC cannot transmit it. I believe ARC is limited to at best DD+.
My FTV2 does not have an audio option from the hamburger menu.
I too wish Amazon would do away with separate [Ultra HD] versions of shows and TVs. Just manage it like Apple TV. Play the best stream quality the connection allows up to but not exceeding the resolution of the screen.
My Onkyo TX-NR676 is showing dolby atmos from my C7P ARC output. It is DD+ Lossy but still atmos. Had to hit the audio mode on the onkyo and eventually it showed Dolby Atmos on the reciever screen. Using Amazon basic 15ft hdmi cable.
I had to find it with another amazon app and put it in my watchlist so i could find it on my oled app. searching for jack ryan on the oled only gave regular version.
Very impressed with the film in dolby vision but maybe its just the OLED thats so dang good.
I was wrong saying the LG OLED doesn’t do Atmos over ARC. It does – thanks for the info. I too have been watching Jack Ryan which I really enjoyed. Watching in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on the C7 with a good speaker system is almost cinematic. It does look better on the native app than any other box. I’ve tried with FTV2 & 3, Apple TV 4K (with 12 beta) and Xbox One S.
Agree Amazon isn’t making this easy as it should be, but looked and sounded great with FTV 3 pendant wired for me. The episodes always start in 1080p and DD+, then switch to UHD and ATMOS after 3-5 seconds. I have a 800-900Mbps connection.
no option for atmos on the jack ryan stream for me it is playing in UHD though but there is not even a audio option to select also tried a file via kodi with atmos audio, all the fire tv is giving me is DD+ where as if I play the same file on my android tv box my AVR plays the atmos audio will be returning it if I cannot get atmos audio that was the main point of buying as I already have 4k aftv.
Thank you for the great article!
I didn’t have sound options available either on my FireTV Gen3 last night. Turned on the TV this morning and the sound options are miraculously there. I did have to click on the “Effects” button of my soundbar Samsung HW-K950 to trigger ATMOS. I get the ATMOS light and the soundbar main unit audio is amazing. Strangely, the rear speakers are just static in ATMOS mode.
Having looked into this; the reason your rear speakers don’t get sound is that ARC is limited to either lossless stereo PCM or 6 channels of lossy sound. In the original ARC implementation that usually translated to 5.1 sound. To shoehorn Atmos over ARC manufacturers have had to sacrifice the rear surround channels to get height channels so you get a 3.1.2 source instead of 5.1. A lot of AV receivers (mine included – an Onkyo 676 only have speaker posts for 7 channels + subwoofer rather than 9 for a full 7.1.2 setup. So 2 of the binding posts are labelled surround rear/height. You can have one but not both.
This does not explain why you get static though rather than silence in the rear speakers.
Why not plug the FireTV directly into the soundbar instead of relying on ARC? Are there just not enough inputs? Maybe get a cheap HDMI switch from Monoprice to add inputs to it?
Hi, were you able to change the audio options on firetv 4k settings ?
I have HW-K950 and not able to get atmos working.
In firetv audio settings, i do not see dolby atmos at all.
my setup is below
fire tv 4k is connected to HWK950 via hdmi1 port on soundbar
HW-K950 is connected TV via hdmi arc.
Is there any setting on firetv to get atmos working ?
I’m with you Ravikanth (saw comment below too).
Russ, can you please tell us all of your settings?
For the HW-K850 and 950 folks, I was on chat with Samsung for 3+ hours last night trying to figure it out. The last thing they said was the FireTV doesn’t output Atmos…. well that doesn’t make much sense to me. They also said I need two HDMI from the FireTV; one to the soundbar and one to the tv. Well the FireTV only has one HDMI. It’s a simple dongle for crying out loud. I guess that may be the ARC issue.
So I purchased a HDMI splitter for like $35 but haven’t opened the package yet. Hoping someone (maybe Russ) can show me my errors before I have to go this annoying route.
Russ, when I hit Effect it says “not available”. What does yours say when you hit it? What else can you tell us?
Thanks in advance.
Even when I hit effect, it shows as not available.
Waiting for Russ reply on this.
Once upon a time, Amazon had separate pages for SD and HD content for Prime videos. As UHD and Atmos become more ubiquitous, I’m sure they’ll merge the content together into a single entry. These are power-user/early adoper woes at the moment. The fact that they are offering UHD and Atmos as no extra charge is pretty fantastic, given that Netflix requires a few bucks more each month for UHD.
Atmos option does not show up with my Fire TV pendant. It has the latest update (just updated last night Sept7) and I have restarted the device. My AVR is not Atmos capable but I do have a 7.1 speaker set up which still takes advantage of the Atmos signal from BluRay discs.
Does the Fire TV Atmos option only show up if it is connected to an Atmos AVR?
In another forum someone with a pre-Atmos AVR is getting the Atmos option with their Fire TV device.
Why am I not getting the Atmos option? (rhetorical question,just ranting, maybe I should have upgraded my Roku device instead of trying this Fire TV thing).
Well….. After spending around half an hour searching it looks like in the UK we only get the 1080 version which seems a bit of a con !
I definitely get UHD/Atmos and I am in the UK
Richard, Can you please let me know where you found the UHD Version of Jack Ryan as for the life of me I can’t find it !
I have a samsung soundbar with Atmos and the FireTV dongle connected to it through HDMI. I start Jack Ryan and immediately switch it to ATMOS sound. But my Atmos indicator light doesn’t go on at the top right of soundbar. Soundbar doesn’t say Atmos either.
What am I missing?
Should I have FireTV set for DD+ automatic or DD+ over HDMI?
Thanks.
Brian, I am facing the same issue . I have samsung K-950 soundbar. I got my firetv yesterday and did the same setup as yours but couldn’t get the atmos indicator working.
Ok, I finally got it to work. In the past it has shown Dolby Atmos was the input during the show but no blue light. Now I finally have the blue light on the soundbar….Though not until the third episode of Jack Ryan… can’t say why that would be the case. Here is my setup:
FireTV direct into the soundbar (I use HDMI 2). Video goes to the tv through 4K HDMI through the ARC ports.
In FireTV settings, Audio is Surround Sound – best Available. Display is Auto, which means Video Resolution is Auto (up to 4K ultra hd). I also have HDMI CEC Device Control on.
These are the updated settings after a recent system update from a few weeks ago.
Good luck. Hope more content comes soon AND we get some Netflix support.
I have to turn off surround sound on my Samsung TV settings to get the blue light Dolby Atmos indicator on. Why is that ?
No idea.
In fact, I was successful only once with the instructions above. Episode 3 of Jack Ryan. That’s it. Didn’t change a thing between that and Episode 4, yet Atmos was gone. Really frustrating. Heck, maybe I’ll try that, though I don’t usually pay attention to the TV settings since it’s all through the soundbar…
Hi Guys,
I have Onkyo atmos HTIB system,hooked FTV 3rd gen directly to the receiver. I tried playing Jack Ryan and other Ultra HD original. But no luck, only seeing Stereo and DD+ in hamburger options. What am I missing to get Dolby Atmos?
Can’t get don’t Atmos to work for shows on Netflix such as dare devil. Is there away to make Atmos work using the Netflix app?
For Netflix, only XBOX One (S or X) is working with ATMOS…
Netflix has Atmos support also on Win 10 PC. It isn’t elegant but I’ve hooked up my laptop via HDMI cable and it does work.
For Amazon Prime, with Fire TV (pendant), still no luck… no ATMOS
I have an hw-k950 samsung soundbar and a nvidia tv. The Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan plays in dolby atmos.This is the only show I’ve gotten atmos on so far
No atmos for me either, just got my 4k fire stick for this aswell
Same for me, it doesnt show atmos, only dd+ and thats with the new firetv 4k stick as well as the pendant. Neyflix atmos is not supported on fire tv and neither on ps4.
Does anyone use a Denon AVR-X5200 ?
I am not able to get any Atmos from the 4K Fire TV stick.
My trial with the Lindy adapter to convert HDCP 2.2 (FireTV) to HDCP1.4 (Denon AVR) enabled 4K Video on the TV but no ATMOS in the AVR. (PS4 BlueRay Playback in ATMOS is ok) Does anyone have an Idea how I can solve this?
Thank you in advance for your great ideas :)
WoW, you it definitely to a lot of work around to finally get Dolby Atmos to work with LG OLED65C8 ONKYO TX-NR787 FIRE TV CUBE, the original poster was correct, allow the saved watched list then allow for Jack Ryan to play a few seconds to buffer and the Atmos selection will become available in the Audio options tab. It wall also say HD at first the change to UHD HDR after a few seconds as well.
I still having issues with Pendant, Onkyo tx-nr676 and Dolby Atmos. Created a support ticket with Amazon this evening.
Funny the first 2 episodes played fine, now nothing works.
I’ve got my compatible Fire Stick plugged into the HDMI in of my soundbar with no option for Atmos. I’m thinking that since I don’t have a 4K TV I never get the UHD stream and thus no Atmos. Can anyone confirm?
Ive got the firestick 4k and have been looking for a way to get atmos out of it as multichannel pcm to my pre atmos pioneer elite 7.1 hdmi reciever…It will play dtshd ma and dolby true hd ect as pure 7.1 pcm..it should do atmos the same way..There is no audio option in settings to allow passthrough or multi channel pcm but is there a hack to be able to acsess those options? There must be a hidden menu or hidden android settings Somewhere in this thing..My receiver doesnt do DD + so the stick is transcoding the output to dolby digital..there is a loss of quality and id much prefer PCM 5.1 out…There is also ,to my ears it seems, Dynamic range compression that is limiting the full range of sound and no option to sdisable this either.. any suggestions?I have the UHD netflix plan and UHD amazon videos showing ,but my tv is 1080p…does this mean i cannot get the higher quality sound unless tv is 4k and reciever does atmos? looking for workarounds
I just want multichannel pcm ,either 5.1 or 7.1 out from the firestick 4k….I dont want the sound stream transcoded to DD+ , just pure pcm.. isnt this possible? there are no settings in audio other than DD, pcm 2 channel, or best available…Does anyone know how to gain acess to any hidden settings, to enable multichannel pcm? my receiver is early hdmi and will not do DD+ so the firestick is transcoding audio to make it compatible…id rather have the pure pcm stream