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Beam2 + ATV4K + Feintech eARC passthrough + Philips TV - audio channels mixup (no dialogue) with Atmos?

  • 12 April 2024
  • 1 reply
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B

Hi!

I am not sure where the issue lies, but I would really appreciate some help, as I am losing my sanity here. :) Here is my setup:
1. Apple TV 4K, 1st gen
2. Feintech VAX04101 eARC Pass Switch (video input set to 2nd HDMI (the Apple TV), audio set to Auto, eARC switch ON)
3. Sonos Beam 2nd gen + Sonos Sub Mini
4. Philips 55PUS6482 TV (has HDMI ARC, but not eARC, hence Feintech VAX04101)

Now the issue is the following, which only started to happen recently, and I have no clue why. In the Apple TV, I have set audio out to Auto, and Atmos enabled. We first noticed that the Netflix shows does not have any dialogue for most trailers or even the shows if started. I also use Infuse to stream some stuff from my PC, and those (e.g. Blade Runner 2048), does also not have some of the dialogue. I suppose the ones that would be the rear speakers, but I don't have any additional speakers (I only have the Beam 2nd gen soundbard and the Sub Mini).

If I switch manually on the Apple TV to 5.1 and Atmos is off, it works fine, but I would like to have Atmos. :) 

I have found the following workaround here on the Sonos forums, which worked once, but now it does not work anymore:
"I turned off Atmos and set the Audio Format to Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Apple TV, which restored the dialogue. I later rebooted the Apple TV, set Dolby Atmos back to auto and the issue hasn’t reoccurred."

I have now tried rebooting (with the plug) the Beam, and it seems to have fixed the issue. BUt I am not sure how long this will last and whether it's maybe just coincidence but another component is giving the trouble.

Any ideas? Which component could the culprit here? AppleTV? The eARC Switch? Sonos? Or the TV? :)

Thanks a lot for any pointers!

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Best answer by Corry P 15 April 2024, 12:35

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Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @bbence84 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of the issue you’ve been having. I can understand why this is so frustrating - hopefully, the following information will be of help to you:

  • If you hear audio but not dialogue, then it seems very likely that you are not hearing all of the channels.
  • Your Beam (as with any other Sonos Home Theatre device) does not alter the incoming audio stream in any way - it will not convert formats, and it will not change any of the audio channels.
  • Your TV is quite likely to convert audio formats if it feels the connected audio device (your Beam) will not play the format it has been given, but I think it unlikely (but not definite) that it will alter any of the actual channels.

Due to these points, I would have to suspect either the Apple TV or the Feintech VAX04101 to be the culprit. Do you have any other source devices capable of uncompressed (MAT) Atmos output, such as a Playstation 5? If you do, testing with it would be the best way to determine if the Switch or Apple TV is the source of the issue. Otherwise, I can only recommend searching forums for these devices and this issue specifically. I have heard reports of Apple TVs altering the channel layout, though I do not know if this affected the first generation of Apple TV. The related post is here:

Due to these reports alone, I recommend starting with your focus being on the Apple TV.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

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