Features, settings & updates

[mfratkin]

Does the Premiere support Dolby Atmos or do I need the Ultra?

[StreamerUser · Accepted solution]

Yes, the Premiere (3920) supports Atmos in all apps except NetFlix.

However, I recommend you get the $30-40 Express 4K+ (3941) - Not the Express 4K (3940) at Walmart-  since it has dual band WiFi and (optional) ethernet support along with a Voice Remote - and it supports NetFlix Atmos.

Check https://my.roku.com/upgrade/  to see if you have a 4K+ upgrade offer.

[mfratkin]

And not the Ultra or Ultra Lite?

[StreamerUser]

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@mfratkin wrote:

And not the Ultra or Ultra Lite?

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Not clear what you are asking here.

The Ultra LT (4662 - Walmart model lacking USB) is a 2 year old model with the same Atmos support as the Premiere (3920) - No NF Atmos.

The 2020 Ultra (4800) has NF Atmos support too (like the 3940/3941), but costs $40-70 more than the Express 4K+.

[atc98092]

And just to clarify, the Dolby Atmos that some Roku devices support is EAC-3, the codec used by online streaming providers, such as Netflix or Vudu. If you were thinking of the version of Atmos that comes on a Bly Ray disc, that is Dolby TrueHD, which no Roku device supports. That is a lossless audio codec, and no Roku will bitstream lossless audio. There is an exception, in that FLAC can be lossless, and Roku will stream FLAC from MKV containers. But you would have to specifically modify your files to convert them to FLAC. 

[mfratkin]

Thanks for the comparison.  So the Express seems to be the best choice for the money.  I am using an Atmos  soundbar with the Premiere and Sonos did not seem to think that it was Roku supported for the Premiere using Apple TV steaming channel.

[StreamerUser]

Yes, the Express 4K+ is the "best bang for the buck" for current Roku models.

Be aware however, that service providers (including Apple TV+) occasionally have bad app updates/server-side provisioning that directly effect quality availability (such as lack of HDR, Atmos, 5.1, subtitles, etc).

[mfratkin]

I do not see on the Roku site or on Amazon where it says that the Roku Express 4K+ (3941) supports Dolby Atmos?

[StreamerUser]

All Roku player devices support passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio (including DD+/Atmos, which is what every streaming service uses for Atmos).

If you look at the tech specs of all models (aside from the 4800, which also mentions Dolby decoding) it will indicate "Supports pass-through of Dolby-encoded audio over HDMI".

The 4800 (2020 Ultra) also has a Dolby (Atmos-level) decoder, so it can also transcode all (non-DTS) output to Atmos (which is what it does by default when connected to an Atmos-capable system - you dont want this), though it also supports passthrough (this is what you do want).

So all Roku models support passthrough of DD+/Atmos, but only the 4800 supports transcoding to Atmos (be it PCM MAT 2.0/Atmos, DTHD/Atmos, DD+Atmos, etc) - Roku doesnt do a good job of explaining/indicating that in their specs.

However, only the more recent 394x and 4800 models have an updated NF client app that supports Atmos (previous models NF client apps dont support Atmos), so all Atmos-capable services are now fully supported.

[mfratkin]

Thanks much for the detailed response.  I have the Roku Premiere and my Sonos soundbar app shows Dolby 5.1 on an Atmos Netflix movie.  So, I will upgrade to the 3941 to see if it indeeds will now show Atmos which it does for Apple TV.   Thanks again.