Dolby Atmos

[Demosthenes]

Question for Amazon music users. Is there an easy way to pull up Dolby Atmos tracks with the built in Amazon music in the car? I ask Alexa to play ‘Dolby Atmos music’ and it works but pulls up the same playlist every time (‘best of spatial audio’ playlist). I tried commands like ‘play XXX-genre music in Dolby atmos’ and it worked for classical but nothing else. And the graphical interface in the air for Amazon Music doesn’t have the Dolby Atmos badge so I don’t know which tracks are actually Atmos.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I’m not sure, I haven’t tried Amazon Music on the Lucid, I don’t have a subscription. On the Tidal app you can find Atmos songs and it says it’s playing it in Atmos. Most music recordings that say “Atmos” are not natively mixed in Atmos though, like with height channels, etc, so it matters less than people think given most artist/engineers never recorded or mixed it that way. Maybe Bluetooth can handle the bandwidth, I don’t know. All I know is I’ve tried many times to play audio from my phone via Bluetooth and it’s unreliable, can’t ever tell when it’s going to work or just get hung up trying to load a song for eternity.

I have created a "Playlist" on Tidal that only has recordings identified as having Dolby Atmos capability. Most sound fantastic in my car. There are many that have obviously been "re-mastered" to have Dolby Atmos included (e.g. old Beatles songs) but they still sound very good. I did initially use my iPhone with my Apple Music Dolby Atmos recordings via Bluetooth and they also sounded excellent, but I think the streaming through Tidal is better. Some have advised asking Alexa to play Tidal instead of going through the built in Tidal app will result in even better sound but I have been unable to get Alexa to play my "Playlist" from Tidal.

 

[OCDC]

Does anyone know if you can use a DAP with the Lucid? Do they have bluetooth that will connect directly and will the car handle it and make beautiful music? MidwestLucidDude, can you educate me (and others) about this? I am hoping you have tried it/are trying it....

Bluetooth audio is a compressed signal sent over a narrow channel. It’s only intended to be for low power, low bandwidth stereo applications like phone headsets. The standard has improved over the years, to the point most people can’t really hear the difference or don’t care. To get true multi-channel high fidelity though, it needs to be connected through a) direct wired connection like a USB DAC, b) a WiFi enabled connection like CarPlay, or c) a native app running on the car.

Tl;dr, a DAP over Bluetooth is massive overkill that won’t net you a better sounding system.

 

[histal]

Bluetooth audio is a compressed signal sent over a narrow channel. It’s only intended to be for low power, low bandwidth stereo applications like phone headsets. The standard has improved over the years, to the point most people can’t really hear the difference or don’t care. To get true multi-channel high fidelity though, it needs to be connected through a) direct wired connection like a USB DAC, b) a WiFi enabled connection like CarPlay, or c) a native app running on the car.

Tl;dr, a DAP over Bluetooth is massive overkill that won’t net you a better sounding system.

Good to know, thank you! I guess once again, we need Lucid to make the USB cable ports work!

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Good to know, thank you! I guess once again, we need Lucid to make the USB cable ports work!

YES!! That would solve a lot of problems.

 

[MPawelek]

A few years back when CD players were being phased out of cars I transferred many hundreds of my favorites to a memory stick. Now I find out Lucid does not allow me to plug it in. Car companies are forcing folks little by little to subscription services….

 

[OCDC]

A few years back when CD players were being phased out of cars I transferred many hundreds of my favorites to a memory stick. Now I find out Lucid does not allow me to plug it in. Car companies are forcing folks little by little to subscription services….

I hate being nickel-and-dime’d. I have thousands of disks I’ve ripped and put onto my Plex server. It lets me download them direct to my phone and play them without cellular, or stream them uncompressed if the connection is good. They’re not Atmos good, but much better than mp3. FWIW, the Plexamp app over CarPlay is a nice alternative for those of us who still like physical media.

 

[Alex]

Does anyone know if you can use a DAP with the Lucid? Do they have bluetooth that will connect directly and will the car handle it and make beautiful music? MidwestLucidDude, can you educate me (and others) about this? I am hoping you have tried it/are trying it....

Lucid does have a Bluetooth music connection available. But it only supports devices such as phones and iPads. It does not support the bluetooth headset profile (HSP), which a DAP probably uses. I’ve spent a lot of time with a Lucid customer support trying to get them to acknowledge that their Implementation is lacking. Their initial reply was that they support Bluetooth 5, as if that is all you need. I have a slew of audio to USB devices that don’t work. They have agreed to forward my ‘concerns’ up the chain.

 

[OCDC]

Lucid does have a Bluetooth music connection available. But it only supports devices such as phones and iPads. It does not support the bluetooth headset profile (HSP), which a DAP probably uses. I’ve spent a lot of time with a Lucid customer support trying to get them to acknowledge that their Implementation is lacking. Their initial reply was that they support Bluetooth 5, as if that is all you need. I have a slew of audio to USB devices that don’t work. They have agreed to forward my ‘concerns’ up the chain.

The Qualcomm aptX HD codec over Bluetooth seems to be the the most accurate sounding so far ("they" say that, I haven't sampled it myself yet), but there are very few phones that have it enabled, and I'm pretty sure Lucid doesn't either. There are some multi-channel Bluetooth codecs in the works. Until such time though, CarPlay / Android Auto are the best wireless options.

 

[Demosthenes]

Noob comment here as I’m not much of an audio person, but when I was playing Dolby Atmos tracks via Amazon music and sitting in the driver’s seat it didn’t seem all that special. But when I sat in the back seat, I was blown away! I think music will sound way better to people sitting in the back seat than the front.

 

[LucidvsTeslaS]

So I emailed Tidal customer support since I had a strange feeling that the Tidal native app on Lucid does NOT support Dolby Atmos. Lucid is NOT present on Tidal's page of supported devices. So either the customer service is not knowledgeable, or the audio stream the Lucid is getting for all the Atmos tracks is nothing but stereo, which is then up-mixed in Dolby Surround ( which is not real Dolby Atmos)

https://tidal.com/supported-devices?filter=dolby-atmos&category=auto

So I guess if the Lucid app does not support Dolby Atmos, maybe android car play will provide the real Atmos?

The problem with many apps is that they work in PCM 2 channel on some devices and in Surround on other devices ( for example, some streaming apps would be PCM 2 channel on my Smart TV and 5.1 on Nvidia Shield, or vice-versa).
One more thing, I will say it again. If your phone, tablet, etc., is Dolby Atmos, and you stream over BlueTooth to Lucid, you will NOT get DolbyAtmos.
I think those Atmos phones are designed for headphone listening; you will get the impression of sound coming all around you with the headphones on through DSP employing psycho-acoustics.
I have been criticized on this forum, people were telling me how Lucid is made for Atmos, etc., and I am afraid that all of us were caught believing that we are getting real Dolby Atmos.
I will try to create a 7.1 AC3 track +Atmos, and publish it on Tidal; it would be a channel test track.
That is the only way we can be sure.
Is there a music track where the sounds are obviously coming from Above -front, back, etc., so I can listen to it?
Thank you
At home I am getting Tidal Atmos through Nvidia Shield TV

https://www.audfree.com/tidal-music/tidal-on-nvidia-shield.ht

This is the conversation I had with Tidal.

Jan 4, 2023, 2:43 AM EST Please publish some Atmos channel check tracks, with Upper Left, Right, Center, Top left, etc., all 7.1.4 channels, like in the DTS-x call-out box. So people can tell when they get the Atmos bitstream. It is disappointing that you did not develop a Windows 10 app that can play Atmos through HDMI to the receiver https://www.demolandia.net/cinema/dts-demo-trailers-hd/page-6.html . Lucid Air does not show on your supported devices page. Does the Lucid app get the Atmos bitstream in Lucid or a PCM downmix, which is then processed with Dolby Surround? I cannot tell without a channel test track. The answer few days later: Maria S. (TIDAL) Jan 7, 2023, 2:47 PM EST Hi, Thank you for contacting TIDAL Support! We are more than glad to help you with your concern. Currently, TIDAL is not supported with Lucid Air. Therefore, most features will not be compatible with your operating system. However, you can stream TIDAL using CarPlay or Android Auto. We’ll be sure your request gets in the right hands. Your feedback helps us improve and we appreciate your thoughts! For more information and FAQs, visit support.TIDAL.com. Feel free to reach out if you have any additional feedback. Thank you, Maria TIDAL Support Twitter @TIDALSupport | TIDAL FAQs | [email protected]

 

[Bunnylebowski]

There are multiple Atmos tracks you can find on Tidal that play back on the Tidal app in the air in Atmos format. While Tidal themselves may not provide technical support for the Lucid Tidal app, that does NOT mean that Tidal in the Lucid does not play back Atmos, even though that's the conclusion that you drew, which is NOT what the Tidal representative's email states. Here's one that will play various elements through the channels and then combine it in the end. Explain to me how it does this if the car doesn't play back Atmos, as you state? https://tidal.com/browse/track/243820594

Tidal is a streaming application which offers some tracks encoded Dolby Atmos, while the car itself is equipped with the Dolby codec which is not cheap to license, so it can play back Atmos tracks. So either the car plays Atmos tracks or you're accusing them of fraud. Which is it?

 

[Bobby]

@LucidvsTeslaS Let's not make this thread into another back-and-forth like the one that had to be shut down in the past. You have repeatedly stated that you feel Lucid is not providing Dolby Atmos and you prefer your Tesla Model S audio system. The forum has heard you. Time to move on. Thanks!

 

[Alex]

@LucidvsTeslaS Let's not make this thread into another back-and-forth like the one that had to be shut down in the past. You have repeatedly stated that you feel Lucid is not providing Dolby Atmos and you prefer your Tesla Model S audio system. The forum has heard you. Time to move on. Thanks!

It would still be educational to have @LucidvsTeslaS play the above Solaris Dolby Atmos Theater Test (https://tidal.com/browse/track/243820594) in the Lucid and listen for the various channels. I can no longer try it – I'm just on the free subscription now....

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Should we ask Lucid representatives on this forum to weigh in whether the car can actually play back Atmos? It’s a rather serious statement he’s made, that the car cannot play Atmos tracks.

 

[Alex]

Should we ask Lucid representatives on this forum to weigh in whether the car can actually play back Atmos?

And you are saying that you have played the above tracks and can hear the distinct channels?

 

[Bunnylebowski]

And you are saying that you have played the above tracks and can hear the distinct channels?

Yeah it announces what the channels are also as it plays them. Or you can just play back Billie Eilish’s Oxytocin Atmos mix. Unless the car is employing some customized fake codec, which I can’t fathom to be possible, there’s no way it can send audio to discreet front left heigh and front right height or even discreet left surround or right surround (all of which are clearly audible on many Atmos tracks) without the Dolby codec.

 

[Bobby]

It would still be educational to have @LucidvsTeslaS play the above Solaris Dolby Atmos Theater Test (https://tidal.com/browse/track/243820594) in the Lucid and listen for the various channels. I can no longer try it – I'm just on the free subscription now....

Agree. Just trying to stay that way.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

This is so dumb. So is what’s most likely?: that the car is fake sending discreet audio to these extra channels somehow only on tracks labeled Atmos, even though there’s no other known codec in existence that can take Dolby Atmos encoded audio and decode it without a Dolby license….or is it more likely the car can do what it says it can do? I think this Tidal rep didn’t investigate very far which cars can play Tidal natively, otherwise the implication is that Lucid somehow made an imposter Tidal app that looks like Tidal and has access to its library, but is in fact not Tidal and doesn’t play Atmos but somehow magically can also send something to only the left and right surround height channels? If the Lucid software team was able to pull that off, holy crap they are magicians and deserve major credit and this should be spun as a positive!

 

[LucidvsTeslaS]

@LucidvsTeslaS Let's not make this thread into another back-and-forth like the one that had to be shut down in the past. You have repeatedly stated that you feel Lucid is not providing Dolby Atmos and you prefer your Tesla Model S audio system. The forum has heard you. Time to move on. Thanks!

This has nothing to do with Tesla. Tesla does not support atmos yet, and Model S does not have height channels, it will have to virtualize them, which is inferior to the Lucid setup

I was suspicious after Tidal customer service told me Lucid was not supported. Having a feeling/suspicion and drawing a conclusion are different things. Thank you for the track. I will test it. When the car receives stereo signals, it will up-mix them and send a signal to height channels. Those are not discrete channels like an Atmos track. It is simply up-mixing.



If Lucid is not listed on Tidal supported Atmos page, and cust service told me it is not supported, I started wondering. It sounded like we might have been dupped based on the info I got, but I am not sure since the cust serv might have been wrong. Once I hear discrete height channels, I know for sure. https://tidal.com/browse/track/243820594 Thank you for the link. Is there a 5.1.4 also? Are the 2 from 7.1.2 front height, middle height, or back height

One more thing. I never used the word dumb to refer to others' posts. I doubt Lucid dupped us; it is more likely the cust serv was wrong.