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I got a chance to try Dolby audio from Windows 10 store. Just wondering whether Ubuntu (16.04) has an alternative.

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I've googled out a very good advise on forums that helps me to achieve a Dolby like sound on my Kubuntu 19.04 with Lenovo g780.

  1. Install PulseEffects https://github.com/wwmm/pulseeffects
    (repos with deb files are here: https://github.com/wwmm/pulseeffects/wiki/Package-Repositories#debian--ubuntu)
  2. Restart the user session or reboot after this, because PulseAudio will be upgraded, and it may cause problems if you don't restart.
  3. Run PulseEffects and close it. It'll create all settings dirs on first launch. They required for next step.
  4. Install PulseEffects-Presets from here: https://github.com/JackHack96/PulseEffects-Presets
    (I've used the suggested script that automatically downloads them to PulseEffects import dirs, it will require flatpak that could be got from repos with sudo apt install flatpak)
  5. Launch PulseEffects again. Select Convolver. Enable it. Click on wave button. You'll see a list of presets. Enable: 
Dolby ATMOS ((128K MP3)) 1.Default.irs

Close the dialog and that's it. You can toggle Convolver in PulseEffects on and off while playng music to compare results. You may play with other presets as well.

For improving sound on a notebook or a tablet PulseEffects help pages come with a tuorial about how to achieve this.

App can be minimized to tray on GTK-enabled desktops with an additional application: https://github.com/boomshop/pulseffectstray

It's better enable autostart in app settings (it will copy it's desktop file to ~/.config/autostart with --gapplication-service command line. So next time start without GUI).

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  • 4
    Now much better, thanks :) works on ubuntu 20.04
    – madzohan
    Aug 11, 2020 at 20:15
  • Great answer. Should be accepted.
    – Abhi
    Sep 21, 2020 at 16:09
  • It does sound different on a thinkpad p53, Ubuntu 20
    – binithb
    Oct 6, 2020 at 22:10
  • I got 1&2 done. On 3 I got a bunch of warnings when running pulseeffects in the terminal, but it did open. I closed it and ran sudo apt install flatpak, which installed. But on step 4, even though I followed the link, I'm not seeing any instructions on how to use flatpak to install the next bit of software? It just kinda says at the bottom, "If you used flatpak..." Can anyone fill in this missing step for me?
    – Pinkie B
    Mar 31 at 12:45
  • @PinkieB Instructions are here: github.com/JackHack96/EasyEffects-Presets#installation your need to execute bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JackHack96/PulseEffects-Presets/master/install.sh)"
    – truf
    Mar 31 at 17:27
6 
Windows 10 PC Support Notice:
This application is designed specifically for PC Manufacturers and comes
pre-installed on licensed devices. It will not function properly on
unlicensed devices.

Dolby Audio is a proprietary technology, and is something featured with specific hardware in a system. The only way to enable Dolby features on such hardware is with proprietary drivers, which as of yet, do not appear to have been released for Linux.

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    Thanks for the Dolby clarification, Dobey.
    – Lucas Bustamante
    Jul 3, 2019 at 19:08

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