Dolby Atmos Support for PC

[Mark0z]

Dear Nixxes,

First, congratulations on an exemplary port of a great game. Job well done. A feature that would make this already great port even better would be the inclusion of Dolby Atmos.

Could you please enable Dolby Atmos on the PC version? As Dolby Atmos is already present in the Xbox One X version, it should be technologically feasible to enable on the PC version. It would greatly enhance the experience of this otherwise great game. This game pushes the boundaries of the PC graphically, even including ray tracing in a future patch. It would be a downright shame for the audio to be neglected, especially when it's already implemented on the Xbox version.

I hope to see this feature in a future patch.

Thank you!

[Mark0z]

Originally posted by satsun:

Sounds like it's only for headphones. From the game:

Spatial Audio
This option enables the use of Windows Sonic Spatial Sound, for example for the use of Dolby Atmos.

As far as I know, Sonic Spatial Sound is for headphones and the Windows 10 Atmos app simply upmixes audio (I'm not a fan of upmixing).

Thankfully, Spatial Sound is far more than upmixing. It's actually an "object based" API that allows for the dynamic modeling of how objects move in 3D space.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/coreaudio/spatial-sound

"The spatial sound APIs allow developers to create audio objects that emit audio from positions in 3D space. "

Also, it's not just for headphones. According to the same Microsoft doc, "The actual output format is selected by the user, and can be abstracted from Windows Sonic implementations; audio will be presented to existing speakers, headphones, and home theater receivers without needing any code or content changes."

[satsun]

So as long as you have and choose the "Dolby Atmos for home theater" options in the sound device properties under the "Advanced" and "Spatial sound" tabs, this should work, right?

[PhrostB]

hell yeah that would be awesome.. especially since nvidia shield supports atmos passthrough, but i don't know if the gamestream and steam link apps support it?

[Mark0z]

Originally posted by satsun:

So as long as you have and choose the "Dolby Atmos for home theater" options in the sound device properties under the "Advanced" and "Spatial sound" tabs, this should work, right?

Yes, you got it: Spatial Sound option in the game + Spatial Sound option out of game (in your case Dolby Atmos for home theater). If you have an atmos-enabled home theater receiver, it should have some kind of indicator to show it's receiving a Dolby Atmos signal.

Basically the way I understand it is:

The spatial sound option in the game outputs the spatial sound format, but then you still need something to interpret that format (Windows Sonic for Headphones, Dolby Atmos for Headphones, Dolby Atmos for Home Theater, etc). If the game isn't outputting a spatial sound stream, there's nothing for your Atmos/Sonic-enabled sound device to work with. If the game is outputting the spatial sound stream, but Atmos/Sonic isn't enabled on your sound device, there's noting to make use of it. You need both.

[kkellboy]

After latest patch dolby atmos works again. You simply must set dolby atmos in win 10 and set home theatre or multichannel in the game. Obviously all through hdmi. My denon av receiver shows dolby atmos starting from main page of the game. The result is amazing the forest is full of life now....

[Mark0z]

HOW TO PROPERLY SETUP SPATIAL AUDIO IN SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER

It's easy to think that Spatial Sound only works with Headphones or Dolby Atmos Home Theater setups, but Spatial Sound works with regular speakers as well (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, what have you). This is becuase the Spatial Sound setting is simply a way for the game to more accurately determine and render where sounds should be coming from in the game world.

Let's take a page from Microsoft's Spatial Sound Doc (the API the game is using):

"The spatial sound APIs allow developers to create audio objects that emit audio from positions in 3D space...The actual output format is selected by the user, and can be abstracted from Windows Sonic implementations; audio will be presented to existing speakers, headphones, and home theater receivers without needing any code or content changes. "

The key part is at the end, "the actual output format is selected by the user" and includes speakers. That's right. To get get the best, most positional sound on regular speakers, you should enable spatial sound in game.

For instance, I have a 5.1 speaker setup, and my settings are as follows.

In game:
Audio Channels = Spatial Sound

Out of game:
Windows Sound = 5.1 Speakers

I just tried this combination on my 5.1 speaker setup, and the sound is significantly more positional with the "spatial sound" option selected in-game (rather than the "5.1"). It's clear that the game is using the Spatial Sound API to render more accurate placements of sounds, and then simply outputting them to the speakers. It's incredible.

That said, if you are using headphones, by all means, enable Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for Headphones in the Windows Control Panel. That way the Spatial Sound will be encoded specifically for headphones, rather than stereo speakers.

Another page from Microsofts Spatial Sound doc:

"The [Spatial Sound] platform fully supports real-time Dolby Atmos encoding for both HDMI and stereo headphone output, as well as Windows Sonic for Headphones encoding for stereo headphones."

So here's the...

***TAKE HOME MESSAGE***
For the best sound experience, ALWAYS use the in-game Spatial Sound option whenever possible, whether you have speakers or headphones.

...If you have regular speakers (stereo or surround)...
Set the in-game audio channels setting to spatial sound.

...If you have headphones...
Set the in-game audio channels setting to Spatial Sound AND the Windows control panel to Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for Headphones.

...if you have Dolby Atmos Home Theater Speakers...
Set the in-game audion channels setting to Spatial Sound AND the Windows control panel to Dolby Atmos for Home Theater.

Basically, you only need to enable Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for Headphones if you have...headphones. Otherwise, just keep the spatial sound option in-game enabled. That way you can enjoy the rich, depth, and atmosphere of the spatial sound in this game! Happy gaming everyone!



Microsoft Saptial Sound Doc: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/coreaudio/spatial-sound

[Tomme]

hey there, i have a problem... i enabled Dolby Atmos for Headphones in Win10 and when iam in the game i do have sound,.... but... its cranking a little bit... hm i dont know how to discribe this... it sounds like a speaker is defect (Mine are ok), i dont know what i can do to solve this.

any ideas?

[Tomme]

i just tried to switch through the speaker options (5.1, 7.1, etc) and when i use Stereo the cracking sound is gone and sounds good... but i really want to use Surround with my Dolby Atmos for Headphones...
but when i choose it i have a cracking sound, hmmm... i need help ;)

[Nelder Scrolnt]

Originally posted by Tomme:

hey there, i have a problem... i enabled Dolby Atmos for Headphones in Win10 and when iam in the game i do have sound,.... but... its cranking a little bit... hm i dont know how to discribe this... it sounds like a speaker is defect (Mine are ok), i dont know what i can do to solve this.

any ideas?

What kind of headphones are you using? I was experiencing the same problem with my HyperX Cloud II headset, which has a USB soundcard and connects to the PC via USB. For some reason, spatial audio in SotTR and Dolby Atmos/Windows Sonic didn't work with my headset plugged into the USB part.

What fixed it for me was to unplug the headphone jack from the USB portion of the headset and plug it directly into my motherboard's sound output (actually I have it in my front panel, because the cable is a lot shorter while it's unplugged from the USB soundcard portion, but it's still part of my motherboard's sound hardware).

I think the problem with the HyperX Cloud II's USB sound card is that it only seems to output 2-channel audio, and the spatial surround setting in SotTR won't work with that. Looking at my audio settings, the HyperX Cloud's output only goes up to 2-channel, 16-bit, 48000 Hz (DVD quality), while my Realtek audio from my motherboard, it says 16-bit, 48000 Hz (DVD quality). There's no indication of it being only 2-channel, like my headset. I could be wrong about all this, but that's the only explanation I can come up with. Plus, I think SotTR is the only game I've seen that has a 'spatial audio' setting. Although, I think Overwatch has a Dolby Atmos setting, and I've used my headset (plugged into the USB soundcard) with that.

[Tomme]

Hey NAked Man ;)
well, i dont use a USB Headset. i have a AKG K712 . and i dont use the onboard Motherboard Realtek Audio, i disabled it in BIOS. I have a Soundcard (Creative Fatality X-Fi) and i just looked at my settings there, and i can go up to 32Bit 192000 Hz (Studio Quality) which i never used before. i will give it a try with this setting but i thing that wont solve the problem.
USB Headsets, i think i read that somewhere, do have a own soundcard in it, or some do so. the other thing is the power supply via USB.
i dont like these USB Headsets and soundcards... but thats not the point here ;)

[Tomme]

ok game crash when i choose this 32 bit 192000 Hz settings...
but yeah, i cant solve this problem with the crackling sound... damn

[Nelder Scrolnt]

Ah, sorry, I must have misread your original post. You said you do have sound, but you get crackling sounds? Hmm.. Sorry, I'm not sure what's going on there. I wish I could be of more help.

[Tomme]

yes i do have sound. seems to be a sound bug... after some minutes the sound starts to cracckkking . i found a way to fix it but it really is a fun to do.
i press escape --> options ---> sounds ---> and then i just switch from spartial to the next and back and the cracckling sound is gone.... then i have super good sound for about 2 minutes... then the same procedere....
In every other game or app all is good.

[Noctor]

How can I enable Atmos under Linux? I use the latest Linux Mint and the Smyth A16 as Atmos device via HDMI.

[satsun]

Originally posted by Noctor:

How can I enable Atmos under Linux? I use the latest Linux Mint and the Smyth A16 as Atmos device via HDMI.

The reason that games can send 3D audio (which ends up as Atmos on most devices) in Windows is because Microsoft provides a system-level API (Microsoft Spatial Sound) for games to send 3D audio information to any end-user device that can render that 3D audio into something useful. If Linux doesn't have some kind of equivalent means of receiving 3D audio from games and handing it off to HDMI devices, then this feature is likely not available in the Linux version of the game.

In Windows 10/11, you select your spatial sound output device from the volume menu in the OS, then select the spatial option in the game.