I’m happy with the performance of our recently required Sonos Arc--a much welcomed upgrade to our Sonos home theater system, originally built around the optical-audio-input-dependent and disappointing Sonos Playbase. I gave the new Arc, sub, and rear One speakers a workout yesterday, playing Hollywood’s 2019 iteration of “Midway” on our 11-year-old 55-inch Samsung. Planes roared overhead; when somebody crashed into the drink and sank below the surface, I heard bubbles above me, even without Dolby Atmos. The upgraded system’s performance was pretty much on a par with the infinitely more complex (don’t ask), and ultimately failed Bose 5.1 wireless surround system that preceded my initial Sonos surround setup. The Playbase-centered solution had never come close to the Bose system’s performance, when said Bose system--long-since discontinued--was working. So, to paraphrase the Beatles, I was glad to get our surround sound back to where it once belonged.
But with our vintage-2009 Samsung unable to take full advantage of the Arc’s features (no Atmos passthrough for one), and the TV being technologically long in the tooth to boot, I feel justified in replacing it, even though it still works fine. (Unplanned obsolescence?) After a reasonable amount of online research, I’ve settled on a 55-inch Sony X950H with HDMI eARC support. This chart from rtings.com helped me decide between the X950H and Sony’s slightly less-expensive X900H. Per the chart, the X950H can pass Dolby Atmos, DTS, TrueHD, etc.--basically every format they tested--through its HDMI (eArc) port to the Sonos Arc. The rtings.com chart is exhaustive, listing TVs from every major manufacturer, starting with the 2017 model year. So, if you have any questions about your existing TV’s or prospective future TV’s audio passthrough capabilities, you’ll find definitive answers here.
If you are happy with your current TV, you should get this device that will allow you to get Atmos audio from external devices: https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/
I also decided it would be nice to have a new TV that can handle 4K and HDR.
Even a high end tv with passthrough and eARC is no guarantee for succes. I got a LG C9 and the audio is known to be too late (= unsolvable lip sync issue). I ordered the above mentioned HDfury Arcana to solve this. So just be aware that a new TV might introduce lipsync issues!
WandB, I hope lip sync won’t be an issue with the Sony. I’d like to avoid adding another level of complexity to my setup that the HDfury box would introduce if I can. I deployed an HDMI splitter--three HDMI video pass-through inputs and an optical audio output--as a workaround for my Playbase, which relied on an optical audio input. The Samsung’s optical audio output only supported PCM, so there was no way I was going to get anything close to real surround sound via that route. I got something closer to it with the splitter/Playbase combination, but it was never satisfactory. The Arc is a big improvement. (Full disclosure: before i learned about the Sonos Arc, I didn’t know that my TV’s HDMI (ARC) port could send audio to a compatible receiver.) Since wedding the Arc with our 11-year-old Samsung, I have noticed some lip sync problems while watching the nightly news, but not, for example, when streaming Netflix or Amazon with Roku, or watching a movie via our cable box. If the Sony turns out to perform like our LG, at least I know there’s a workaround for the problem with the HDfury, and I’ll be interested in hearing how it works out for you.
I’ve read HDfury’s Arcana FAQ and note that they say that “there is absolutely no TV” they know of that will modify its “internal EDID” (I had to look it up) to---yada, yada, yada. The latter was about as clear as mud to this lay non-geek, but I inferred it to mean that there’s no eArc HDMI TV that will properly lip sync video with audio from external sources when said audio is forwarded to an external A/V solution like Sonos’s Arc soundbar. If this turns out to be the case with my new Sony TV, then I’ll no doubt end up ordering the Arcana plus a new HDMI splitter with HDMI audio out as a workaround--which would be a shame, because one of the features that I chose this model over a slightly less expensive one was its native HDMI eARC support for Dolby Atmos, etc.
(Parenthetically--literally--the folks at HDfury could use an editor. I’m a professional writer, retired. In my last job, circa 2000-’01, I worked for a small--and long-since defunct--company that made cutting-edge DSL access multiplexers SDSLAMS] boxes that enabled AT&T and other providers to send broadband signals over copper phone wire. My job was to translate geeky sales-engineer talk into readable/comprensible press releases and trade-publication articles for lay audiences, the objective being to clearly explain my employer’s advanced, internet-protocol-based solution for DSL broadband delivery. HDfury needs to hire somebody who can do likewise for their products.)
I presently use/and will continue to use three external video sources via HDMI: our cable box, Roku box, and DVD player. The new Sony has native apps for a couple of my current streaming services: Netflix and Amazon. I wonder whether lip-syncing would be less of an issue, or no issue at all,with the TV’s native streaming apps, vs. streaming the same services from the Roku box.
Even a high end tv with passthrough and eARC is no guarantee for succes. I got a LG C9 and the audio is known to be too late (= unsolvable lip sync issue). I ordered the above mentioned HDfury Arcana to solve this. So just be aware that a new TV might introduce lipsync issues!
You got me very concerned about potential lip-sync issues with my yet-to-be-delivered Sony X950H TV. I did a fair amount of searching online today and learned that Sony’s TV Android operating system has a couple of setting tweaks to address this issue, but not on all models, and I couldn’t discover whether these tweaks are included with the X950H. Then, on Sonos’s website, I learned what the S2 app’s TV “Dialog Sync” feature does. (As I recall, this feature was also available in the S1 app. But I never used it, not understanding how it worked or ever feeling compelled to find out.) As Sonos support explains, it takes fancy, new TVs longer to process HD, UHD, 4K video signals than audio signals, and that’s why (I guess) the audio of somebody speaking may get to the soundbar later than the images of their moving lips do. I noticed this happening on our Samsung since we got the Arc soundbar. The solution in the app is to move a slider to delay the sound so the video can catch up with it. I tried this with the Samsung, setting the “audio delay (Lip Sync)” to +3. Voila, lips and dialog were synced. I assume S2 tweak will also work with the Sony. Have you tried this S2 app feature with your LG C9? If it works to your satisfaction, it might save you a few bucks.
First, I think you made an excellent decision with the TV. I am also of the opinion that Sony, albeit expensive, is the best of the bunch. As for your concerns:
I have an older Sony TV ( x850e). There are no lipsync issues. This has nothing to do with EDID, although it is related to the HDMI handshake. The TLDR version is: under the sound menu, there is an AV sync setting. If you notice any lip sync issues, turn it off and then on again. This will fix it.
p.s. There is a known bug with Sony TVs’ implementation of deep sleep. Thus might cause occasional reboots of the TV when connected to a Sonos soundbar over HDMI. The fix is simple: under the network setting, turn on simple IP control. (Alternatively, turn off wifi, but this may not be a viable option for you if you use the TV’s built-in apps).
p.p.s. Do yourself a favor, and set the TV on “cinema home” or “cinema pro” mode rather than the terrible “standard” mode. Also, I am very sensitive to motion smoothing, so I use the truecinema mode (or turn it off entirely).
I’m happy with the performance of our recently required Sonos Arc--a much welcomed upgrade to our Sonos home theater system, originally built around the optical-audio-input-dependent and disappointing Sonos Playbase. I gave the new Arc, sub, and rear One speakers a workout yesterday, playing Hollywood’s 2019 iteration of “Midway” on our 11-year-old 55-inch Samsung. Planes roared overhead; when somebody crashed into the drink and sank below the surface, I heard bubbles above me, even without Dolby Atmos. The upgraded system’s performance was pretty much on a par with the infinitely more complex (don’t ask), and ultimately failed Bose 5.1 wireless surround system that preceded my initial Sonos surround setup. The Playbase-centered solution had never come close to the Bose system’s performance, when said Bose system--long-since discontinued--was working. So, to paraphrase the Beatles, I was glad to get our surround sound back to where it once belonged.
But with our vintage-2009 Samsung unable to take full advantage of the Arc’s features (no Atmos passthrough for one), and the TV being technologically long in the tooth to boot, I feel justified in replacing it, even though it still works fine. (Unplanned obsolescence?) After a reasonable amount of online research, I’ve settled on a 55-inch Sony X950H with HDMI eARC support. This chart from rtings.com helped me decide between the X950H and Sony’s slightly less-expensive X900H. Per the chart, the X950H can pass Dolby Atmos, DTS, TrueHD, etc.--basically every format they tested--through its HDMI (eArc) port to the Sonos Arc. The rtings.com chart is exhaustive, listing TVs from every major manufacturer, starting with the 2017 model year. So, if you have any questions about your existing TV’s or prospective future TV’s audio passthrough capabilities, you’ll find definitive answers here.
The Sony might be the go. I hope to be looking at that model at some stage. Sony has support for DTS which some don't support anymore.
This person. Had success with a Sony OLED and a beam. Looked like the player and tv worked around the lack of DTS support with the beam.
https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/surprised-puzzled-dts-converts-to-dolby-digital-5-1-in-my-beam-setup-6840536
