Spacial Audio Support - AirPods Pro Support

[JrD 22]

So since the update on the AirPods Pro’s recieving Spatial Audio, which supports Dobly Atmos, I decided to see if it worked with the Dolby atmos movies that I have in my Emby server, but found that it didnt work. Like I know that it works on my device as it works with the Disney+ app, but not on Emby? Will there be support for this in the future?

[Luke 42077]

Hi there, what do you mean by didn't work?

[samuelqwe 317]

I’ve noticed the same, as it does not trigger the feature on my AirPods Pro either.

I assume this has to do with the fact that the iOS Emby app uses MPV as the video player and not Apple’s native media playback framework, which means it probably does not work with the AirPods Pro’s spatial audio feature by default. For it to work, the feature likely needs to be manually implemented by either the Emby team or within the MPV player library.

Edited October 6, 2020 by samuelqwe

[JrD 22]

3 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi there, what do you mean by didn't work?

@Luke so the AirPods Pro got upgraded, so now they technically support Dolby Atmos. And I have content that is in Dobly Atmos on my Emby server. But you just don’t hear it as it’s not in full 3D surround sound, it is still plays back as just stereo sound besides the content and headphones supporting the format. So I’m guessing it’s the app itself as other content such as the the Mandalorian for example on Disney+ does 

Edited October 6, 2020 by JrD

[Luke 42077]

Yes this is something that we'll need to take a look at. Thanks.

[tonyliangli 1]

On 10/8/2020 at 11:49 PM, Luke said:

Yes this is something that we'll need to take a look at. Thanks.

Hi,

How's it going with the Spatial Audio Function? I'm a new Emby Premiere user from Plex. I think the easiest way to achieve this is to add an option to use "the native player" just like the one in the TV OS client, and another option "Convert all audio format to EAC3". Of course for the native player, the "MP4 container" my be required, which isn't difficult for Emby to convert. For all these conditions satisfied, Spatial Audio will work perfectly. Hope you could consider my suggestion to add these settings, as this is the only thing Emby is weaker than Plex for Apple users. I'm using Plex for Spatial Audio only. I think owing to the "native player", JellyFin supports spatial audio too. Thanks!

Edited July 5, 2021 by tonyliangli

[Luke 42077]

Hi, yes we're looking into it. Thanks.

[pXius 3]

Any updates on this?

[Luke 42077]

Hi, not yet but we're looking into it. Thanks.

[donfitz927 0]

hmm... well its back to Plex for me.  I was starting to like you Emby - hope someone gets back to this thread once they get this working!  

[NeverExists 21]

On 25/03/2022 at 19:54, donfitz927 said:

hmm... well its back to Plex for me.  I was starting to like you Emby - hope someone gets back to this thread once they get this working!  

I too would like to know if there will be spatial audio support for Apple tv. Seems like the emby team is just ignoring this thread or stringing it along with no answer. Spatial audio is the future of Apple so if emby is not getting on board then it will fail on Apple devices. Plain and simple. It's been 2 years guys. I have been with emby for years but without this support I do not know if I will continue to use emby.

Edited September 18, 2022 by NeverExists

[pwhodges 2012]

I think the latest iOS beta uses the native player under some circumstances (but I haven't investigated yet).

Paul

[Luke 42077]

7 hours ago, pwhodges said:

I think the latest iOS beta uses the native player under some circumstances (but I haven't investigated yet).

Paul

That's correct. We'll be using the native player now whenever it supports the content you're playing.

So that will help with this.

[svaughan17 0]

Years later is there an update on this? You said looking into it but saw not updates on any forums. Spatial Audio not working because STEREO shows. I've posted to other posts as well..

[Luke 42077]

Hi, Emby integrates mpv for playback and it looks like it finally has some movement on this: https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/pull/11955

So hopefully in the near future we'll get that via an updated version.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, please try Emby for iOS 2.2.21+. Thanks !

[Yinghai7508 2]

On 5/26/2024 at 11:00 AM, Luke said:

Hi, please try Emby for iOS 2.2.21+. Thanks !

Can you have a look into Emby for MacOS as well?

[Luke 42077]

5 hours ago, Yinghai7508 said:

Can you have a look into Emby for MacOS as well?

Hi, yes we can. Thanks !

[DarS23 15]

Only way to have multichannel spatial audio is with a compatible files for the native player? While using MPV, it shows as stereo

[Luke 42077]

4 hours ago, DarS23 said:

Only way to have multichannel spatial audio is with a compatible files for the native player? While using MPV, it shows as stereo

HI, currently yes that is true.

[Macrossvfx06 0]

Is this also for TVOS ? I do use my apple tv 4ks for Emby playback since its direct play.

[Luke 42077]

On 10/6/2025 at 6:34 PM, Macrossvfx06 said:

Is this also for TVOS ? I do use my apple tv 4ks for Emby playback since its direct play.

HI, if it is direct playing with the native player then it should already work. If it's direct playing with mpv, then we'll have to look into what's possible there. Thanks.

[Fch11 3]

Any updates on this? Using infuse to get spatial audio multichannel

[Luke 42077]

On 10/22/2025 at 3:15 PM, Fch11 said:

Any updates on this? Using infuse to get spatial audio multichannel

HI, have you tried the latest updates to Emby for iOS?

[Fch11 3]

On 10/28/2025 at 2:39 PM, Luke said:

HI, have you tried the latest updates to Emby for iOS?

Not sure if my last post went through. But this is what it shows on emby which is stereo and what it shows on infuse the multichannel. Same video in both examples using audio e-ac3 5.1. Emby for ios is on the latest update 2.2.44