LG C9 + Arc + UB820 / Multichannel PCM for DTS Blu-Ray discs

@Parkerdip Secondary Audio needs to be turned OFF when watching Dolby Atmos-encoded discs.

Trap for young players (and some not so young): Make sure the firmware update for your devices has been done. The newly-updated Sonos iOS app doesn’t warn you if your speakers are not up to date. 
 

I had to turn eARC off for it to work for me.

(Panasonic UB820 —> LG C9 —> Arc)

@Laird M Malamed 

Can you clarify how you are using the arcana with the UB820, Sonos Arc, and your tv? I have the UB820, Arc 5.1 set up, and LG CX. Other posts (and HD fury's website) suggest that I need to split the audio and video from the arcana, with the "HDMI out" going to the tv and the "eARC out" going to the Sonos Arc. But it sounds like you are saying I could just go from UB820 --> arcana --> TV, using only "HDMI out"? I don't really get how the arcana fixes the passthrough issue with that set up, but I'm hoping I understand you correctly because that would mean I don't need an HDMI switch. If this is correct, is there a particular setting to look for on the arcana for this specific issue? Thank you in advance!

I purchased a Panasonic UB820 this week and have a Beam 2 connected connected to a LG C1 TV using eARC HDMI. I could only ever get 2 PCM 2.0 stereo as I found out the LG C1 TV does not support DTS even for HDMI pass through (I am not sure if this is the same case for C9). In the end I have got DTS audio out but only by using the optical adapter to HDMI adapter that came with my Beam 2 and using it to directly connect from the optical port of the UB820 to the HDMI of the Beam 2. This means I have to swap HDMI cables at the back when I don’t need DTS and audio may need to be synced but it’s worth it. I plan on trying a HDMI switch with this setup in the future to save on cable swapping. I think the ARC comes with an optical to HDMI adapter so may help in this situation. I think they can also be purchased (check with Sonos for compatibility). For UB820 audio settings when using DTS I have DTS bitstream and the second hdmi audio set to on as it says it down mixes DTS Master audio to DTS which the Beam 2 can handle. Although not tested with HDMI second audio off or auto.

Sure thing. When I started down the path of solving this issue, I used the Arcana. My TV is a C9, so it still supports DTS pass through (which will be helpful when Sonos releases their pending update to accept DTS to the Arc and process it). The Arcana’s design is to split the audio out between the sound and the picture. The designed application is to bridge the gap between eARC sound bars and non-eARC TVs. This allows the full Dolby Atmos / True HD Dolby signal to reach the Sonos Arc.

As part of this, the Arcana inserts its own EDID data and sends that the 820. This small file basically expresses the capabilities between devices. The issue between the 820, the LG C9/X/1 and Sonos Arc is that for some reason, the Panasonic machine does not think the downstream devices can handle anything beyond PCM 2.0 for decompressed data. Since the Arcana correctly presents that it can handle this, the Panasonic 820 properly send out 7.1 PCM audio. This issue exists with the higher end Panasonic 9000 too.

The Arcana has a setting that allows the audio to be sent to both the eARC output but also to be wrapped with the video and sent to the video out. Hence, because the C9 supports eARC to the Sonos Arc, there is no need to split the signal. And because the C9 and Sonos can handle other sources such as Apple TV and the Xbox correctly, the Arcana just becomes effectively an EDID cleaner. You still need to decode the DTS at the Panasonic. (Dolby can be sent out as is since this always worked.)

In my own set up, I guessed that the Dr HDMI 4K would also work if I edited the EDID files. So, my current situation is that I am using that and bought their USB/Bluetooth dongle. I then sold by Arcana on eBay. But in any case, I am solving the same issue - showing an EDID to the Panasonic that it reads as being 7.1 compliant. If you read through this full thread, I think you can find my findings and final settings.

I hope that is all helpful. If not, just reply and let me know!

Laird

Thanks so much for this thorough reply! Very helpful and informative.

Wow that was a very long read! Some very clever people in here, thank you.

Sadly i am not one of those very clever people! 

I think i have read and understood everything correctly, so basically the panasonic 820/sonos 5.1/LG CX&newer are the perfect storm of not talking to each other. The only work around is to buy an arcana fury (pay more but plug n play) or the DR version but you need to be pretty tech confident? 

I only own 2 uhds and both are dolby vision so i stupidly thought all uhds would be, but if i am reading it right the vast majority are in DTS. 

Should i just return my panasonic 820 and buy a different brand that works? I dont know about anyone else but after spending roughly 3.5k on it all  i thought it would all just work lol. 

Sorry i know this is rehashing old ground for alot of you...on a side note the lotr uhd was amazing ;)

I think that's basically correct. Seems you have 3 options to fix the issue: 1. HD Fury Arcana; 2. Dr. HDMI (at least per Laird's experience and expertise); 3. Buy a different 4k blu ray player. 

You can find threads discussing the Sony UBP-X700 as an alternative. Main setback with this player, in my opinion, is that you have to manually toggle Dolby Vision on/off, but it does transcode DTS into multi channel PCM. I got one around black friday to test it out, and it works with my DTS movies. Now I have two 4k players, but it was about $150 cheaper than the arcana. 

Really depends on how much physical media you have or plan to obtain. In my experience, most recently produced films have an Atmos soundtrack; older, remastered 4k discs tend to have DTS; and the majority of my standard Blu ray collection is DTS.

I love the Panasonic player, but if I still had the opportunity to get a full refund, I just might do that and pay a fraction to get the Sony that works with all of my movies.

Yes, that’s right as of now with one more option (not all that good!) I will list below. I was hoping that with the Sonos DTS update that perhaps another workaround would show up. Alas, that was not the case. DTS does work (but not with the CX or later LGs) and even then, there are issues with getting the Panasonic (or any player) to output the lossy DTS track instead of the lossless DTS-MA track. When the Sonos “sees” this, it throws an error. The only way to prevent that is to use the secondary audio toggle - but that will eliminate Atmos output as a consequence.

In terms of physical media, if you have a lot of 5.1 DTS tracks, then these limitations are frustrating (at best). If your physical collection is of older movies with original 2.0 or mono tracks (for example, much of the Criterion Collection regular blu-rays or even older films before 1990 such as the 4K Universal Monster box set that just came out), the limitation of 2.0 PCM is actually not a problem. So, it depends on the collection. (Similar to what Jray1987 mentioned about the Sony player and toggling Dolby Vision.)

I really do love the Panasonic high end players and particularly their upsampling of 1080 content. I have tried the LG 4k and still have my Oppo 203 4k player (which I use for SACDs). Neither look quite as good to me as the Panasonic. 

So, for the other options to consider - which is greater in cost but adds more functionality - one could get a low cost receiver with enough HDMI inputs as necessary and eARC functionality. In theory - I have not tested this though - you could have the decoding done by the receiver and pass that along the HDMI path to the LG and then onto the Sonos. It’s also possible on some receivers to output video on one HDMI and audio on another (which is why eARC is a must). While adding equipment and cost, you could get more inputs than the LG has, amplification for future speakers and likely one remote that can control this set up. I only add this here as a possibility. I have NOT gone down this route despite wanting more inputs for my LG (for which I got an inexpensive 4k switcher). However, this should work too. 

By far, the least expensive option is to go with the Sony player.

The good news is that regardless of how you get there, I truly believe that once the Panasonic or Sony is paired with the LG and Sonos Arc (+ surrounds & sub if you have them), that this is the best combo without having to invest in completely separate speakers. 

I don’t get it I have tried exactly what is said and I have the LG C9 and UB820 with the Sonos Arc and I am still getting no sound with the unsupported tv audio message. 
I tried the above and turning EARC off and nothing…

There may be a few other settings you need to tweak with. Do you wanna post your settings and we can take a look?

These are the settings that I have tried to match what was said above but doesn’t seem to be doing anything for me

At first glance the main difference I see between your settings and mine is that I have BD-Video Secondary Audio set to off. Perhaps give that a try, to see if it helps.

That’s weird I’ve just turned it on to give it another try and it’s sorted itself out without me doing anything. I tried BD audio on off and auto and the only one where it worked is having it on . Also turned EARC back on and still works. 
 

does having it on affect the Dolby Atmos discs and have to turn it back off? 

Are you still getting DTS output with eARC on? If so, would be good to see what your settings are?

I’m still not getting any DTS sound with my eARC turned on, but I’m pretty sure it’s a UB820 issue, as I get DTS through my PS5 with eARC on.

Any chance this might be fixed, do people think? Or do we just have to suck it up and keep eARC off?