Hi, I'm using a Mini Mac or Macbook Pro (mid 2014) as a media player on my AV setup. My AV receiver is a Denon that supports Dolby Atmos. I would like to know if my macs can output the atmos capability of the movies that I am playing and what video players should I use? Right now I am using VLC player.
MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14
I am not sure if a Mac mini 2014 model is up to the job of supporting Dolby Atmos or say Dolby HD. It certainly is in my opinion inadequate to do 4K and HDR unless your display is connected via Displayport. (It only has a HDMI 1.4a port.) The Mac mini 2018 on the other hand has a HDMI 2.0 port. The same issue would apply to MacBooks - older models only have HDMI 1.4a newer ones either have no HDMI at all or might have HDMI 2.0 - check your specs.
I do see that Apple are now starting to offer Dolby Atmos on movies via the iTunes Store. For these you have to use iTunes to play them so the implication is that iTunes on a Mac might support this but remember these will be mainly aimed at use on the Apple TV4K box.
In theory formats like Dolby Atmos, Dolby HD, etc. should be just passed through untouched over the HDMI link. In the past macOS has not made this easy or possible and this has been Apple's fault. I get the impression this should work better on newer Macs with Mojave but I don't have a suitable setup i.e. receiver to test this. See this official Dolby article which does not shed a promising light on the situation.
https://developer.dolby.com/platforms/apple/macos/os-support/
Software to try would include -
iTunes (for iTunes Store movies)
VLC 3.0.6 - http://www.videolan.org/
iina - https://iina.io/
KodiTV - https://kodi.tv/download/851
Also have a look at commercial Blu-Ray and UHD capable software players for Mac, they can also play video files as well. Some of them claim to support these high capability audio formats i.e. Dolby HD.
You would need the 'pro' versions.
“Dolby Atmos® is an immersive audio format that can be delivered via multiple audio codecs including Dolby Digital Plus “ and
“MacOS supports Dolby Audio™ with native CoreAudio decoders for Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus™. These system decoders are accessible to all developers building apps on the macOS platform, and support for Dolby Audio is also built into native applications such as Safari, QuickTime Player, QuickLook, DVD Player, etc. “
And yet Dolby did not specifically tick (or cross out) the ATMOS entry in their table.
You need to try it. Some programs like VLC may or may not use CoreAudio.
Why even look there? Stop after seeing the tick for Dolby Digital Plus. It's supported.
MINI MAC AS MEDIA PLAYER IN A AV SETUP FOR 4K ATMOS MOVIES
