So I just bought a Sonos Playbase (front) and two Sonos One SL (rear). My TV is a Philips 70PUS7555. It supports SPDIF (Optical) to the Playbase, and have setup everything in surround. My problem is, that in my TVs audio settings I can pick “Stereo”, “Multichannel” or “Multichannel Bypass”. It seems like in the description, that it manages/alters the HDMI ARC audio, in which I have none of.
When watching TV (streamed channels), or movies (Netflix, etc.) the Audio isn’t great. It seems like the rear speakers are at 5% volume, and only play some random background noise. I dont get any “wow” feeling from the surround, and it seems like theres something wrong. Am i missing something? I followed every step of the Sonos setup guide; and deactivated the built in TV speakers. Help please - I’m starting to regret my $ 1500 setup…..
Help with Playbase + 2 x Sonos One SL
Set your TV to “multichannel”. When watching Netflix while the audio is playing, in the Sonos app, go to Settings > System > About My System and scroll down to the Sonos Playbase information and tell us what it says after “Audio In:”.
Set your TV to “multichannel”. When watching Netflix while the audio is playing, in the Sonos app, go to Settings > System > About My System and scroll down to the Sonos Playbase information and tell us what it says after “Audio In:”.
There is no such thing as “About my system”. It’s a Saphi TV. Don’t know if that has something to say. I can find software information, but not anything showing audio source...
Look in the Sonos app.
Oh. When watching The Witcher it says the following:
playbase: Dolby digital 5.1
wm: 1
x 2 sonos one sl: wm 2 and no audio in information
Is there no way to even out all three speakers, so the rear speakers are at 100% as well as the Playbase? So the rear speakers arent isolated for small ambient critter noises?
I don’t think you have the Ones set up as surrounds. Can you screenshot your Settings/System page? Or tell us what it says for the room with the Playbase.
Look in the Sonos app.
Oh. When watching The Witcher it says the following:
playbase: Dolby digital 5.1
wm: 1
x 2 sonos one sl: wm 2 and no audio in information
According to the Sonos app, you are getting the correct audio.
FYI… the rear surround speakers are designed only to play the left and right rear surround channels from a 5.1 audio mix. It won’t play the same audio you are getting from the Playbase. So depending on the particular scene of the movie or show, the rear audio can be quiet if there isn’t any action behind the camera. If you want the volume of the One SLs to be louder, you can always adjust the surround levels in the Sonos app.
Also, if you are watching a stereo 2.0 source, which is very common, the audio from the rear speakers will be even softer because the rear speakers perform an audio up-mix of the stereo signal to create a simulated surround sound.
When you stream music, and the surrounds are set to full mode in the Sonos app, does the music sound good from your rear speakers?
Look in the Sonos app.
Oh. When watching The Witcher it says the following:
playbase: Dolby digital 5.1
wm: 1
x 2 sonos one sl: wm 2 and no audio in information
According to the Sonos app, you are getting the correct audio.
FYI… the rear surround speakers are designed only to play the left and right rear surround channels from a 5.1 audio mix. It won’t play the same audio you are getting from the Playbase. So depending on the particular scene of the movie or show, the rear audio can be quiet if there isn’t any action behind the camera. If you want the volume of the One SLs to be louder, you can always adjust the surround levels in the Sonos app.
Also, if you are watching a stereo 2.0 source, which is very common, the audio from the rear speakers will be even softer because the rear speakers perform an audio up-mix of the stereo signal to create a simulated surround sound.
When you stream music, and the surrounds are set to full mode in the Sonos app, does the music sound good from your rear speakers?
Okay. I probably watch mostly 2.0 sources, then that’s the issue.
when playing music it sounds good. Not 1000$ good, but yeah. Would it be easier/better for me to return the playbase and buy the beam or arc with hdmi arc input?
The Arc would produce much better sound than the Playbase, but the Arc or Beam won’t change how the audio is played through your rear speakers. Surround speakers work the same way regardless of whether you are using the Playbase, Arc, or Beam.
I see that your TV supports Dolby Atmos audio but isn’t equipped with HDMI eARC. Because of this, you won’t be able to get Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Atmos from Blu-ray discs or multichannel PCM/Dolby Atmos from an Apple TV 4K. But you should be able to get Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby Atmos from other sources like your TV’s Netflix app.
What other streaming apps do you use? Do you have any external media devices connected to your TV?
How can the beam produce better Sound when it’s ¼ of the size of the Playbase?
btw. Thanks alot for ur help!
How can the beam produce better Sound when it’s ¼ of the size of the Playbase?
btw. Thanks alot for ur help!
My mistake. The Playbase should sound better than the Beam, but not better than the Arc.
Im mostly using Chromecast Ultra. Any alternative for better Sound?
The Chromecast Ultra should work fine with the Playbase or Beam, but it isn’t the best streaming device for Dolby Atmos audio. I think the only app that supports Atmos on the Chromecast Ultra is VUDU. If you decide to get the Sonos Arc, a better media device would be the latest Roku Ultra, Amazon Fire TV Cube, or Nvidia Shield TV. The Apple TV 4K is a great Dolby Atmos device too but only if your TV is equipped with HDMI eARC.
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