LG C9 + Arc + UB820 / Multichannel PCM for DTS Blu-Ray discs
I’m running an LG C9 with a Panasonic UB820 Blu-ray player, Sonos Arc + Sub gen 3 + One SL surrounds. The lack of DTS support on the Arc has been frustrating for non Dolby encoded Blu-ray discs, so I have been eagerly awaiting the multichannel PCM update.
It’s finally arrived (thanks, Sonos!) and I tried playing a DTS encoded Blu-ray and… no dice. Still stereo PCM 2.0. Has anyone running a similar set-up managed to get 5.1 PCM output from the Arc?
The C9 supports eARC and multichannel PCM, I’m using 48gbps HDMI cables that support up to 8k60Hz, all of the devices are up to date, I have the C9 set to PCM with eArc enabled, DTS output set to PCM on the UB820… I’m really at a loss here. Any ideas or suggested settings?
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So if I purchase the HD Fury Arcana for use with my LG CX, Panasonic UB820-K, and Sonos 5.1 system, then I should be able to get 5.1 surround for DTS Blu-rays via LPCM?
My original plan was to swap out my Panasonic for the LG UBK90 but I’d rather keep the Panasonic because of the HDR Optimizer. Also, it seems that on the LG UBK90, you can’t set audio input method for Dolby and DTS separately like you can with the Panasonic, so you would have to switch back and forth between PCM and Bitstream for DTS and Dolby tracks. Annoying.
Has anyone with the same setup as me confirmed that the Arcana solves the issue? According to the Arcana site, they will not accept returns if you use the item and I want to make sure it solves the issue here before purchasing it.
Any insight is appreciated!
I have the Panasonic UB820 UHD player and the Arcana, and I can confirm that I get multichannel PCM 5.1/7.1 audio playing from the Arc with all of my DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS:X encoded Blu-rays.
My original plan was to swap out my Panasonic for the LG UBK90 but I’d rather keep the Panasonic because of the HDR Optimizer. Also, it seems that on the LG UBK90, you can’t set audio input method for Dolby and DTS separately like you can with the Panasonic, so you would have to switch back and forth between PCM and Bitstream for DTS and Dolby tracks. Annoying.
GuitarSuperstar answered your question on the audio with the HDFury.
As to this specific part, I have both players and this is exactly the tradeoff I am playing with:
LG UBK90 - Correctly passes DTS audio via LPCM through the LG TV to the Sonos Arc. However, you need to set the UBK90 to PCM output for all audio. It can not be set specifically for DTS tracks vs. Dolby tracks. Non-4K content is sent to the TV in original format.
Panasonic - DTS audio is PCM 2.0 for all tracks regardless of original input and this setting is separate from the Dolby pass through which will correctly send Atmos to the Arc through the TV. Upscaler is excellent on the Panasonic. (The TV is not bad though either.)
Anyway, I have an HDFury on order and can report back whenever I get it.
My original plan was to swap out my Panasonic for the LG UBK90 but I’d rather keep the Panasonic because of the HDR Optimizer. Also, it seems that on the LG UBK90, you can’t set audio input method for Dolby and DTS separately like you can with the Panasonic, so you would have to switch back and forth between PCM and Bitstream for DTS and Dolby tracks. Annoying.
GuitarSuperstar answered your question on the audio with the HDFury.
As to this specific part, I have both players and this is exactly the tradeoff I am playing with:
LG UBK90 - Correctly passes DTS audio via LPCM through the LG TV to the Sonos Arc. However, you need to set the UBK90 to PCM output for all audio. It can not be set specifically for DTS tracks vs. Dolby tracks. Non-4K content is sent to the TV in original format.
Panasonic - DTS audio is PCM 2.0 for all tracks regardless of original input and this setting is separate from the Dolby pass through which will correctly send Atmos to the Arc through the TV. Upscaler is excellent on the Panasonic. (The TV is not bad though either.)
Anyway, I have an HDFury on order and can report back whenever I get it.
Is the purpose of the Arcana not to provide eArc capability for older TV’s that do not have this feature? I don’t see why a CX would require such device something is clearly not working as intended however getting either Sonos/Panasonic or LG to own up that the fault is theirs could prove problematic
@iBoyley Yes, the primary purpose of the Arcana is to provide eARC capabilities for users with TVs with HDMI ARC only. But the Arcana can also allow users to bypass ANY TV with lip sync problems, audio limitations, or handshake issues too, and the LG CX is one of those TVs.
If you are waiting for LG to address the problem, you could be waiting a very long time.
@iBoyley Yes, the primary purpose of the Arcana is to provide eARC capabilities for users with TVs with HDMI ARC only. But the Arcana can also allow users to bypass ANY TV with lip sync problems, audio limitations, or handshake issues too, and the LG CX is one of those TVs.
If you are waiting for LG to address the problem, you could be waiting a very long time.
Im not sure who’s at fault however the LG CX is able to pass LPCM from both my Series X and PS5 so that leads me to believe the issue is with the Panasonic somehow
@iBoyley Yes, the primary purpose of the Arcana is to provide eARC capabilities for users with TVs with HDMI ARC only. But the Arcana can also allow users to bypass ANY TV with lip sync problems, audio limitations, or handshake issues too, and the LG CX is one of those TVs.
If you are waiting for LG to address the problem, you could be waiting a very long time.
Im not sure who’s at fault however the LG CX is able to pass LPCM from both my Series X and PS5 so that leads me to believe the issue is with the Panasonic somehow
The Panasonic player is capable of outputting multichannel PCM audio from DTS-encoded Blu-rays. This has been confirmed from other users, including myself. The problem is a specific handshake issue with LG and the Panasonic UHD player. You can wait for LG or Panasonic to address it, or you can use your Xbox and PS5, or get the Arcana, and enjoy your Arc today.
Purchased HDFury Arcana and am now able to get Multichannel PCM 7.1 through Sonos while watching a DTS-X disc on my LG CX and Panasonic 820.
However, this only works if you plug the Panasonic directly into the Arcana via the HDMI IN port. So it appears that I will need to use an HDMI switcher for my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) so that they can all plug directly into the HDMI IN port of the Arcana.
Someone above suggested that for e-ARC televisions, it would not be necessary to plug the devices into the Arcana because the e-ARC TV would act as the “switcher”. However, when I tried plugging the Panasonic directly into the TV via HDMI like I usually do, I was only able to get Stereo PCM 2.0 through the Arc.
My next thought was to connect only the Panasonic to the Arcana through the HDMI IN port and leave my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) connected directly to the TV via HDMI. But when I tested a Dolby Atmos Netflix film on the Apple TV, I was getting “Dolby Atmos (DD+)” through the Arc. When I used to watch Dolby Atmos content on Netflix, the Sonos app showed “Dolby Atmos”.
I did some research and it appears that the “(DD+)” indicates that the Arc is not connected via e-ARC, only regular Arc. I believe this is a lossy Atmos rather than lossless.
All in all, I’m happy to have found an (annoying) solution and will need to purchase a different HDMI switcher because my current one only has 3 external ports and I have 5 devices that will need to feed into the Arcana.
You will only get lossy Atmos (DD+) when steaming I believe. The Panasonic should give you TrueHD Atmos from an Atmos disc.
I did a bit of playing today with an LG C9 TV and an old PS3, playing a Blu-ray movie. Initially set to bitstream output on the PS3 and TV, the Movie output its audio as Uncompressed Dolby TrueHD. There was no Atmos metadata, but that’s irrelevant here for the following test.
My purpose was to then see if the LG C9 TV would pass-through multichannel LPCM 5.1 uncompressed audio, as I had seen some users mention earlier in the thread (and elsewhere on the forum) that the C9 TV doesn’t support the pass-through of that codec and apparently some were considering getting the Arcana to bypass their TV. Anyhow here is my result … see attached screenshot.
It seems clear the TV will pass-through multichannel LPCM after all.
What I had to do to make this work was switch the PS3 over from Bitstream to do ‘on the fly transcoding’ to LPCM in the video settings menu (LPCM transcoding is its default setting anyway) and it will transcode DD and DTS codecs. I then had to manually change the audio output on the connected HDMI port to support the following codecs (do not use the automatic detection setting):
DD 5.1/Plus/TrueHD
DTS 5.1/HD/HD-MA
Linear PCM 2CH/5.1CH 44.1/48kHz
I didn’t bother with 7.1CH or any higher sampling rates as I understand Sonos supports sampling up to 48kHz... and note again these settings were setup manually.
On the LG C9 TV (additional) sound settings. I changed the HDMI input port audio format (HDMI 3 is where the PS3 was attached) from Bitstream to PCM and played the same Blue-ray Movie which arrived at the Sonos ARC as LPCM 5.1. This revealed that the TV will (and does) pass-through the multichannel LPCM codec.
I just thought that info. was worth sharing here, as I see some were considering bypassing their TV sets thinking that the LG C9 didn’t pass-through the codec. The results here tend to suggest the TV will pass it through.
The TV’s HDMI2 Port for the connected Sonos Arc was set to eARC (obviously) and audio pass-through. TV firmware version 5.00.10
I hope the info above may assist other LG C9 TV owners trying to pass-through the LPCM codec.
@joeytvmusic97 The Panasonic UB820 has to be connected to the Arcana to bypass your TV. That’s the purpose of it.
If you used to get Dolby Atmos audio from Netflix on your Apple TV before connecting the Arcana, you still should be able to get it.
If you are looking for a good HDMI switch that has been proven to work with the Arcana, try this ROOFULL switch:
I am using their 3-port switch and it works well with the Arcana. The only issue I have with it is it doesn’t auto switch inputs. But I have programmed my Harmony remote/hub to take care of the switching.
@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.
@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.
Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts.
...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.
Purchased HDFury Arcana and am now able to get Multichannel PCM 7.1 through Sonos while watching a DTS-X disc on my LG CX and Panasonic 820.
However, this only works if you plug the Panasonic directly into the Arcana via the HDMI IN port. So it appears that I will need to use an HDMI switcher for my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) so that they can all plug directly into the HDMI IN port of the Arcana.
Someone above suggested that for e-ARC televisions, it would not be necessary to plug the devices into the Arcana because the e-ARC TV would act as the “switcher”. However, when I tried plugging the Panasonic directly into the TV via HDMI like I usually do, I was only able to get Stereo PCM 2.0 through the Arc.
My next thought was to connect only the Panasonic to the Arcana through the HDMI IN port and leave my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) connected directly to the TV via HDMI. But when I tested a Dolby Atmos Netflix film on the Apple TV, I was getting “Dolby Atmos (DD+)” through the Arc. When I used to watch Dolby Atmos content on Netflix, the Sonos app showed “Dolby Atmos”.
I did some research and it appears that the “(DD+)” indicates that the Arc is not connected via e-ARC, only regular Arc. I believe this is a lossy Atmos rather than lossless.
All in all, I’m happy to have found an (annoying) solution and will need to purchase a different HDMI switcher because my current one only has 3 external ports and I have 5 devices that will need to feed into the Arcana.
A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable.
I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).
I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.
A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable.
I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).
I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.
So can’t you use bitstream and no transcoding to play the disk in DD5.1 from one of your players?
Purchased HDFury Arcana and am now able to get Multichannel PCM 7.1 through Sonos while watching a DTS-X disc on my LG CX and Panasonic 820.
However, this only works if you plug the Panasonic directly into the Arcana via the HDMI IN port. So it appears that I will need to use an HDMI switcher for my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) so that they can all plug directly into the HDMI IN port of the Arcana.
Someone above suggested that for e-ARC televisions, it would not be necessary to plug the devices into the Arcana because the e-ARC TV would act as the “switcher”. However, when I tried plugging the Panasonic directly into the TV via HDMI like I usually do, I was only able to get Stereo PCM 2.0 through the Arc.
My next thought was to connect only the Panasonic to the Arcana through the HDMI IN port and leave my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) connected directly to the TV via HDMI. But when I tested a Dolby Atmos Netflix film on the Apple TV, I was getting “Dolby Atmos (DD+)” through the Arc. When I used to watch Dolby Atmos content on Netflix, the Sonos app showed “Dolby Atmos”.
I did some research and it appears that the “(DD+)” indicates that the Arc is not connected via e-ARC, only regular Arc. I believe this is a lossy Atmos rather than lossless.
All in all, I’m happy to have found an (annoying) solution and will need to purchase a different HDMI switcher because my current one only has 3 external ports and I have 5 devices that will need to feed into the Arcana.
A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable.
I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).
I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.
Why do you need to run the PlayStation and Xbox through the Arcana and not plug them into the TV?
@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.
Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts.
...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.
Yes you are now the fourth person to suggest it being a handshake issue.
The TV can pass LPCM through from other devices such as XSX or PS5 but for some reason not the UB820 which is capable of outputting it.
When you say you had to manually force a handshake, what did this involve exactly?
@Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.
Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts.
...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.
Yes you are now the fourth person to suggest it being a handshake issue.
The TV can pass LPCM through from other devices such as XSX or PS5 but for some reason not the UB820 which is capable of outputting it.
When you say you had to manually force a handshake, what did this involve exactly?
On the PlayStation I was using, under its sound settings, I ‘manually’ added the LPCM 5.1 codec with sampling rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz to the audio-out on the HDMI port connector.. if left set to automatic the ‘handshake’ does not include that codec when connected to the LG C9 TV - it showed it as supporting LPCM 2.1 channels only, at various sampling rates, (which is correct for the TV audio output). The TV however will allow the ‘pass-through’ of the 5.1 codec through its own ports, even though it doesn’t support it and hence I was able to get it to work with the Arc.
Hope that answers the question.
So Panasonic responded to me directly contradicting all advice that i have come across online
“I would like to inform you that the Technical Department has advised that this Blu-Ray player would not be able to send out PCM content as 5.1 or 7.1 as this is a Downmix to 2.1 channel only. The unit is only capable of outputting 5.1 or 7.1 audio format in Bitstream.”
The issue i have is when i select the playback info screen it always displays 2ch Stereo regardless of whether DTS is set to Bitsteam or PCM in the device settings
So Panasonic responded to me directly contradicting all advice that i have come across online
“I would like to inform you that the Technical Department has advised that this Blu-Ray player would not be able to send out PCM content as 5.1 or 7.1 as this is a Downmix to 2.1 channel only. The unit is only capable of outputting 5.1 or 7.1 audio format in Bitstream.”
The issue i have is when i select the playback info screen it always displays 2ch Stereo regardless of whether DTS is set to Bitsteam or PCM in the device settings
Panasonic’s Technical Department is wrong. I have the UB820 and I am getting it to send 5.1/7.1 PCM to the Arc.
This is from the Panasonic UB820 manual:
Just thought I would share my experiences.
Same problem as everyone else. UB820, GX, Arc. Can only ever get the UB820 to output PCM 2.0 for DTS soundtracks.
Considering the cost of all of the equipment, it is absolutely not acceptable to have to fork out another £200 for an HDFury Arcana just to be able to use functionality which I have already paid for.
And I bought the UB820 specifically for this setup, to get around the lack of DTS support in the GX and Arc.
Has anyone contacted LG about this issue yet?
Has anyone contacted LG about this issue yet?
I think I will contact both Panasonic and LG about this because like Surge mentioned above, I don’t want to spend another £200 on a HDFury Arcana. I’m not sure whether the fault lies with LG (C9 tv), Panasonic (UB820) or Sonos (Arc) because dependent upon what I am using I get different results:
PS4/5 & Pc - All play multi channel lpcm
UB820 set to PCM with DTS soundtrack movie (e.g. Gladiator 4k or Lone Survivor) and C9 set to Passthrough- PCM 2.0
C9 set to PCM with a ripped DTS movie soundtrack on a USB memory stick (hence totally bypassing the UB820 since it is plugged directly into the tv) - PCM 2.0
I received my HDFury Arcana today and I have some positive preliminary results to share, certainly in regards to the Panasonic 820 output. I need to do more tests. But so far, success with DTS multichannel to PCM Multichannel into the Sonos Arc while retaining correct Atmos playback in True HD format.
Here is my set up:
Sources:
Panasonic 820 4k Player
Apple TV 4K
Tivo Bolt
(I have a Nintendo Switch, but I have not connected it to the TV to try with this.)
Display: LG 55” C9 (2019)
Audio: Sonos Arc 5.1 set up
All devices are on latest firmware.
The Arcana arrived via DHL from Taiwan. I ordered on Jan 1, it shipped on Jan 4 and arrived today, Jan 8. Product arrives in a blister pack and includes the Arcana, a USB cable and a power plug (with US plug in my case). No documentation - that is all online. Firmware came as .79 (which was released in Nov in parallel with the Arc’s update to support PCM multichannel audio). I updated, via USB stick, to the December release which is .80 and that fixed some Xbox items according to the notes. Arcana build quality is fine. Not super great, but survivable for a part that likely just sits without much interaction. Menus are nicely laid out and easy to read on the OLED screen.
Happily, my theory that I could use the TV as switcher was accurate for the non-820 sources!
My set up now:
820 via 8k ethernet HDMI cable to the Arcana HDMI in (I doubt I need this high a cable for this, but it is what I had)
Arcana HDMI video out to LG input 2 (ARC port), with a 18 gbps /ethernet cable
Arcana HDMI eARC output to the Sonos input via 18 gbps ethernet
AppleTV 4K to LG input 1
Tivo to LG Input 4
(the 820 used to be in 3 on the LG, hence the gap)
820 has Dolby tracks in bitstream format for output
820 has DTS tracks going out via PCM for output
BR Secondary audio is off
From the Hobbit 4k disc, I get Atmos (True HD) to the Sonos - as expected
From the LA Phil 100th Anniversary Disc, I get 2.0 PCM from the 2.0 PCM track AND….
7.1 (but only 5.1 source) from the DTS MA track. (This disc features a 2D and a 5.1 mix.)
From the new Eiger Sanction blu-ray release, I get PCM 2.0 from the DTS MA track (which might be in 1.0 format)
I am sending 4k 4:4:4 picture (native for the Hobbit, upsampled by the Panasonic for 1080 sources). The Arcana can do this too, but I did not see the need for that.
(Note, I tried to adjust the Panasonic to match the disc channels - e.g. 5.1 for 5.1 - but it seems to always want to send 7.1 - even when I changed the down mix settings. I need to tweak more.)
When I switch to the Apple TV on input 1, the LG correctly passes the bitstream back to the Arcana via eARC, which routes it to the Sonos. (I think it’s crucial to the have the Panasonic off for this to work.) I can get 5.1, Atmos (DD+), and 2.0 PCM - all as expected based on the programming source. Picture is 4K Dolby Vision when the source allows.
Here I have a flag on synchronization between the TV and Sonos. I feel like when I watched Rise of Skywalker via Disney+ that the Atmos audio was slightly late which would be attributed to the extra hop through the Arcana. However, when I watched the same movie via my Apple iTunes Movies version, it was in sync. I looked at Rebecca on Netflix which has Atmos, and it seemed in sync or very close. I did run the Wireless Sync on the AppleTV. but I am not sure that impacts wired connections. There are no settings on the TV that I know of to make the picture lag - only to make the sound lag which is not helpful. I tried both Passthrough and Auto for the ARC Out setting (and with bitstream as the format).
I only flipped through a few channels on the Tivo and it all seemed in sync. The Tivo is sending Dolby Digital through and it seemed in sync.
So, I think I have what I want. Great 4k player that can drive the LG and Sonos with any disc I want to play and with the correct channel output and nicely upsample lower res images. Ability to use multiple sources with the LG and not need a switcher as well.
More to follow as I play around more this weekend and watch feature length content.
And do I think this should be necessary? Heck no! As noted in a previous post, having to spend $200 more to solve a connection problem seems wrong. But if the issue is with the LG CEC, my instinct is that they won’t fix a 2019 problem such as this unless it were impacted a number of players. They might for the 2020 CX line, and perhaps for whatever they announce next week at CES.
Hope my initial tests prove reliable and repeatable over the next few days!
I received my HDFury Arcana today and I have some positive preliminary results to share, certainly in regards to the Panasonic 820 output. I need to do more tests. But so far, success with DTS multichannel to PCM Multichannel into the Sonos Arc while retaining correct Atmos playback in True HD format.
Here is my set up:
Sources:
Panasonic 820 4k Player
Apple TV 4K
Tivo Bolt
(I have a Nintendo Switch, but I have not connected it to the TV to try with this.)
Display: LG 55” C9 (2019)
Audio: Sonos Arc 5.1 set up
All devices are on latest firmware.
The Arcana arrived via DHL from Taiwan. I ordered on Jan 1, it shipped on Jan 4 and arrived today, Jan 8. Product arrives in a blister pack and includes the Arcana, a USB cable and a power plug (with US plug in my case). No documentation - that is all online. Firmware came as .79 (which was released in Nov in parallel with the Arc’s update to support PCM multichannel audio). I updated, via USB stick, to the December release which is .80 and that fixed some Xbox items according to the notes. Arcana build quality is fine. Not super great, but survivable for a part that likely just sits without much interaction. Menus are nicely laid out and easy to read on the OLED screen.
Happily, my theory that I could use the TV as switcher was accurate for the non-820 sources!
My set up now:
820 via 8k ethernet HDMI cable to the Arcana HDMI in (I doubt I need this high a cable for this, but it is what I had)
Arcana HDMI video out to LG input 2 (ARC port), with a 18 gbps /ethernet cable
Arcana HDMI eARC output to the Sonos input via 18 gbps ethernet
AppleTV 4K to LG input 1
Tivo to LG Input 4
(the 820 used to be in 3 on the LG, hence the gap)
820 has Dolby tracks in bitstream format for output
820 has DTS tracks going out via PCM for output
BR Secondary audio is off
From the Hobbit 4k disc, I get Atmos (True HD) to the Sonos - as expected
From the LA Phil 100th Anniversary Disc, I get 2.0 PCM from the 2.0 PCM track AND….
7.1 (but only 5.1 source) from the DTS MA track. (This disc features a 2D and a 5.1 mix.)
From the new Eiger Sanction blu-ray release, I get PCM 2.0 from the DTS MA track (which might be in 1.0 format)
I am sending 4k 4:4:4 picture (native for the Hobbit, upsampled by the Panasonic for 1080 sources). The Arcana can do this too, but I did not see the need for that.
(Note, I tried to adjust the Panasonic to match the disc channels - e.g. 5.1 for 5.1 - but it seems to always want to send 7.1 - even when I changed the down mix settings. I need to tweak more.)
When I switch to the Apple TV on input 1, the LG correctly passes the bitstream back to the Arcana via eARC, which routes it to the Sonos. (I think it’s crucial to the have the Panasonic off for this to work.) I can get 5.1, Atmos (DD+), and 2.0 PCM - all as expected based on the programming source. Picture is 4K Dolby Vision when the source allows.
Here I have a flag on synchronization between the TV and Sonos. I feel like when I watched Rise of Skywalker via Disney+ that the Atmos audio was slightly late which would be attributed to the extra hop through the Arcana. However, when I watched the same movie via my Apple iTunes Movies version, it was in sync. I looked at Rebecca on Netflix which has Atmos, and it seemed in sync or very close. I did run the Wireless Sync on the AppleTV. but I am not sure that impacts wired connections. There are no settings on the TV that I know of to make the picture lag - only to make the sound lag which is not helpful. I tried both Passthrough and Auto for the ARC Out setting (and with bitstream as the format).
I only flipped through a few channels on the Tivo and it all seemed in sync. The Tivo is sending Dolby Digital through and it seemed in sync.
So, I think I have what I want. Great 4k player that can drive the LG and Sonos with any disc I want to play and with the correct channel output and nicely upsample lower res images. Ability to use multiple sources with the LG and not need a switcher as well.
More to follow as I play around more this weekend and watch feature length content.
And do I think this should be necessary? Heck no! As noted in a previous post, having to spend $200 more to solve a connection problem seems wrong. But if the issue is with the LG CEC, my instinct is that they won’t fix a 2019 problem such as this unless it were impacted a number of players. They might for the 2020 CX line, and perhaps for whatever they announce next week at CES.
Hope my initial tests prove reliable and repeatable over the next few days!
Thanks for info. Question: can you still output 5.1 LPCM from Apple TV (or another device, such as PS5)? I thought that Apple TV needed to be hooked up to the Arcana for the 5.1 LPCM to work with Sonos Arc and Arcana.
then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable. 