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Comment by garyfirestorm | Hacker News Reader

Unfortunately AirPlay doesn't support Atmos music. Despite spending thousand dollar plus on a Denon and Klipsch setup, I quickly found out that my Apple Music Atmos songs play only as stereo using AirPlay. It's probably Apple's fault...but it reduced the value of my receiver for me. Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

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Yeah, AirPlay is such a disappointment. I'm thinking about investing more heavily into Chromecast related things since they're more amenable to custom code. Unfortunately, there's no way I'll sign up for any Google-based music service (and I work for Alphabet!).

Edit to add: Dolby <anything> is also a bit of a fiasco. LG TVs went through multiple firmware updates to attempt to correctly negotiate Dolby Vision. I appreciate that they want to push audio / video quality, but it seems weird that the industry testing process for integration is so poor.

Spotify on Chromecast works great!

Spotify works great with Chromecasts. I'm still really bummed they killed the Chromecast audio.. there's workarounds but it was the perfect device IMO.

If you're a tinkerer there's also DIY solutions like running snapcast on a Pi.

I’m running strong with three chrome cast audios and a 1970’s sansui in my living room, a little speaker with line in for the outdoor system, and a jbl boom box with line in in the garage

I'm also bummed they stopped selling the Chromecast audio.

But if you can get your hands on on they still work perfectly.

> Buy a 7.1 channel setup and effectively listen to only 2 channels :/

Apple determined that multiple channels were confusing for customers. One should be enough. /mouse/s

It’s entirely limitations of Apple Airplay that are known and not new. Whether it’s Apples fault - I mean Airplay does what it says it does. Anybody that cares about would simply not use Airplay. If you want to use Apple Music then the best bet is an Apple TV which can stream it over HDMI to the receiver.

But it’s not like there aren’t alternative music providers - Spotify, qobuz, tidal, your own pick your poison DLNA all +/- Roon.

I’m not an Apple fanboi but having to purchase an Apple TV when it’s pretty clear they’re a lifestyle brand just doesn’t make me feel too bad for anyone.

exactly! despite spending money on a receiver, TV (smart OLED), nVidia Shield and a bunch of speakers - i now have to buy yet another device (AppleTV) to be able to maximize my experience.

And? This is Apples business MO for nearly 40 years.

I don’t see any piece of Apple hardware there. The Shield in your setup is superfluous, no? Apple is a hardware company - they need you to buy at least something for that HT setup.

I mean use Apple Music or don’t, but this sounds a bit leopards ate my face.

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