Question

Connecting Sony XBR65930D to Sonos Arc


I have a 2016 Sony XBR-65X930D.  According to the specs, it has Dolby Digital Plus which according to Dolby, supports Dolby Atmos.  After finding this, I bought a Sonos Arc to get Dolby Atmos.  I have not been able to connect to Atmos. Not a single stream service (Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+)  appear as having Atmos and movies that are D Atmos, doesn’t show the logo. All I can get is Dolby 5.1.   

  • I'm using the Sonos 2 app. 
  • I updated the firmware of the TV to the latest (Android Oreo)
  • I have tried all possible sound settings on the TV including connecting to the HDMI ARC and the optical output
  • I set the speakers to Audio system

Can someone help me!???    Thanks!


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13 replies

Userlevel 7

Hi @luisjolivieri 

See you answers below.

Sonos Arc can connect to TVs with eARC, ARC, or optical outputs. For greatest compatibility, eARC is recommended.

If you connect to a TV with eARC, the Dolby audio formats supported include Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, MAT, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital.

If you connect to a TV using ARC, the Dolby audio formats supported are dependent on your TV model and manufacturer. The TV may be capable of sending Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital. An ARC connection cannot support TrueHD or MAT.

If you connect to a TV using the optical adapter, the Dolby audio formats supported are dependent on your TV model and manufacturer. The TV may be capable of sending Dolby Digital. An optical connection cannot support Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, MAT, or Dolby Digital Plus.

Cheers!

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Just a few thoughts from my experience.

Make sure you have the highest tier of Netflix or the Atmos emblem will not appear. My tv Netflix app would show the Atmos emblem but no other app would. I would suggest trying a streaming device, in saying that I would not try Apple TV. I have a Apple TV 4K and it “will not” do Atmos for me but I recently tried a Nvidia shield tv 4K (the latest cylinder model) and I now have Atmos in Netflix and Disney+. I too have a non eArch tv and this has worked for me. Best of luck.

Just a few thoughts from my experience.

Make sure you have the highest tier of Netflix or the Atmos emblem will not appear. My tv Netflix app would show the Atmos emblem but no other app would. I would suggest trying a streaming device, in saying that I would not try Apple TV. I have a Apple TV 4K and it “will not” do Atmos for me but I recently tried a Nvidia shield tv 4K (the latest cylinder model) and I now have Atmos in Netflix and Disney+. I too have a non eArch tv and this has worked for me. Best of luck.

Hello Lst05:

Thank you for your reply.  I do have Netflix Premium.  I thought about the option of using a streaming device, actually, I thought about an Apple TV 4K and the Nvidia Shield TV 4k.  Thank you for telling me about not using the Apple TV.  How do you connect the Nvidia to the TV and to the Sonos.   I suppose it would be.     Nvidia (HDMI is only the option) to one of the regular HDMI on the TV and from the TV using the HDMI ARC to the Sonos Arc. 

 

Even though my 4 years old TV is supposed to be Dolby Digital Plus, I’m afraid that is not Atmos compatible or capable.  I’m wondering if in this case the going through it if it will pass the Atmos signal through.     

 

Once again THANK YOU!

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The connection path you suggested is correct, Sonos to HDMI Arch and the streaming device to another HDMI input. I would say you have a pretty good chance to get it to work with the shield, just make sure it is the latest version. If it works it cost $150 instead of buying a new tv.

I hope you can get it going without having to buy a new tv….best of luck!

The connection path you suggested is correct, Sonos to HDMI Arch and the streaming device to another HDMI input. I would say you have a pretty good chance to get it to work with the shield, just make sure it is the latest version. If it works it cost $150 instead of buying a new tv.

I hope you can get it going without having to buy a new tv….best of luck!

I just ordered a Shield online from Best Buy and will be ready for pick up in about 1 hour.  I will let you know if it works.  I really hope so.  My wife will KILL me if I mention “we” need a new TV.  :-)

The connection path you suggested is correct, Sonos to HDMI Arch and the streaming device to another HDMI input. I would say you have a pretty good chance to get it to work with the shield, just make sure it is the latest version. If it works it cost $150 instead of buying a new tv.

I hope you can get it going without having to buy a new tv….best of luck!

I just ordered a Shield online from Best Buy and will be ready for pick up in about 1 hour.  I will let you know if it works.  I really hope so.  My wife will KILL me if I mention “we” need a new TV.  :-)

Ok… got the shield, installed, and set it up.  Still no Atmos on my Sonos Arc. My guess is that I’m missing a setting I need to change on the TV or my TV doesn’t support Atmos and is filtering the signal from getting from the Shield to the Sonos Arc.  Anyway, Thank you for the recommendation. 

 

If you or any other have a suggestion it will be appreciated.  As I said, for now, my wife is not going to go for the suggestion of getting a new TV.  :-(     

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I’m not sure how your tv menu is setup but if it’s similar to mine(I own a Sony tv also) you can try this and see if it helps.

settings-sound-sound adjustments-advanced settings-input related and make sure it says Dolby Digital plus. the next thing is…

settings-external inputs-HDMI signal format-and select enhanced format and make sure the shield is plugged into one of the designated inputs.

I go to the Input related and the only option I get is Dolby Dynamic Range. Dolby Digital Plus is not an option.  I looked for info on the Sony site and there is a section on “How do I set Dolby Dynamic Range?” There is a note at the end, “Note: This setting affects Dolby Digital®, Dolby Digital Plus™, and Dolby® AC-4 sound sources.”     I guess, that even though there is no DD+ listed, it’s covered by the Dolby Dynamis Range.  

By the way, after going back and forward with the Shield, I was able to get it to display the D-Atmos logo on Disney+, but regular 5.1 going to the Sonos Arc.  

I’m getting close to the point of packing the Sonos Arc and taking it back.  :-(. 

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Unfortunately that may be what you have to do

:(  If you do take it back look for a soundbar that has a HDMI input as well as an output and you will be able to bypass the whole issue, because at that point you plug the shield directly to the soundbar then the soundbar to the tv, so the soundbar does all the work. In a perfect world the Arc would be a great soundbar, but we don’t live in a perfect world.

I was finally able to get my Sonos Arc to play Dolby Atmos.  My TV is a 2016 model and even though it has an ARC output, it wasn’t passing through the Atmos signal.  @Lst05 tried to help me but in the end, the conclusion was that there was no way to do it.  

I was going to return it when I read about the HD Furry 4K Arcana 18Gbps.  I preordered it hoping for the best and got it yesterday.  Within 2 minutes I had it hooked up and was getting Atmos!  I’m getting Atmos from Netflix and Disney+, but not from Prime Video but that’s is more than what I what getting before. 

The Arcana cost me $199 including shipping and another $150 for the Nvidia Shield as the Atmos source.  $350 was cheaper than buying a new TV beside, I’m still happy with it.  I also added an HDMI switch to switch between the cable box and the Shield.  I’m all set and enjoying sound like never before.    

I was finally able to get my Sonos Arc to play Dolby Atmos.  My TV is a 2016 model and even though it has an ARC output, it wasn’t passing through the Atmos signal.  @Lst05 tried to help me but in the end, the conclusion was that there was no way to do it.  

I was going to return it when I read about the HD Furry 4K Arcana 18Gbps.  I preordered it hoping for the best and got it yesterday.  Within 2 minutes I had it hooked up and was getting Atmos!  I’m getting Atmos from Netflix and Disney+, but not from Prime Video but that’s is more than what I what getting before. 

The Arcana cost me $199 including shipping and another $150 for the Nvidia Shield as the Atmos source.  $350 was cheaper than buying a new TV beside, I’m still happy with it.  I also added an HDMI switch to switch between the cable box and the Shield.  I’m all set and enjoying sound like never before.    

So, thank you all so  much for sharing your expériences. So, I am also having similar issues but a bit different. I have the XBR930D as well, I  ordered the Sonos ARC and the Arcana based specifically on this post. I received my Arcana last night but not my SONOS ARC yet. So, being excited and all, I did attempt to connect the Arcana to just have everything ready when the ARC arrives. So I have my Xfinity X1 and my Roku connected to an HDMI switch, then the switch is connected to Arcana HDMI in, then my Arcana HDMI out to the TV, and the eARC out to sound system. Everything worked briefly until I decided to upgrade the HDMI cable connecting Arcana to TV. This is when the sound out of my current Sony sound bar disappeared  and never came back. I tried everything and nothing works. The sounds id not returning from the TV. Everything works on its own. It seems that my issue is the Audio Return from TV to my current sound bar. I am suspecting I am either missing a setting on the Arcana itself or my ARC output on the TV is just not returning sound. Do I need a new TV? Thanks for your help

I’m sorry your are having the problem with the Audio Return from your TV to the Arcana and from there to your soundbar but also glad that you mentioned it. 

My original setup didn’t include an HDMI switch.  I was expecting I was going to have the audio returned from the TV to the Arcana.  When I originally set it up, I was getting it and without changing anything, it stopped working.  I ended up convincing myself that I never got the return and that the sound was really coming from the TV speakers.  With this setup, what I did was to start using the TV speakers when watching cable.  The problem was that every time, I changed the source from the TV to the Shield, the TV automatically changed to the External Speakers.  When I went back to the cable box I did’t have sound and had to go back and switch the audio source of the TV to TV speakers.  

After, I added the HDMI switch as you did.  With this, my Sony smart TV was just a dumb display getting the cable signal from the Xfinity box and the smart part from the Nvidea Shield.  Another problem was the part of having to switch the HDMI switch manually bauase even though it is supposed to detect the source, because the cable box and the Shield are not really off it doens’t detect a change.  

Now that you mentioned that we were having connection at the beginning, I’m going to go back to check other alternatives.  I will keep you posted and please, do the same if you find a solution. 

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. In fact, I tried multiple power recycled on both TV and Sound Bar and the turning devices back on in certain sequence . I finally ended up fixing the sound issue from TV/APP. Now the sounds is coming into the Arcana from the TV and out again into the Sound bar from the Arcana/ however, I am only getting picture from the Arcana inputs and no sounds whether i connect the source directly to Arcana or through the switch. I am now sure that this is not a TV ARC issue because picture and sound are now coming from TV and internai Apps. Now the issue is Arcana inputs transmitting picture but not sound. This is mind boggling. Now I am switching back and forth from TV speakers for all external inputs to Sound bar for TV internal apps, and now it seems that it is not a sound bar issue either. Could it be settings on TV or Arcana?? I really  don’t want to fork out $2500 for LG OLED CX

 

 

TV: Sony Bravia XBR65-930D

sound: Sony Hi-Res HT-NT5 (Pending Sonos Arc 5.1.2

Arcana 

Inputs:

HDMI switch Totu

Roku 4K and Xfinity X1