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

Ah no (sorry) - I am just using a PlayStation - I don’t have to switch off eARC on the C9 TV however in order to play DTS 5.1 audio - that codec works with eARC either ‘on’ or ‘off’ and I just leave it enabled for that and obviously for the Mc-LPCM (lossless) audio too.

I’m assuming everyone with this setup got this issue sorted now?

Hi Community,

I am sort of having the same problem what others have described in this thread, albeit having slightly different equipement: I own a LG OLED55BX9LB TV, connected to a Sonos Beam. Some time ago, I bought a Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray Player and would like to play my existing Blu-rays with the 5.1 DTS Sound on the discs - hoping that I can somehow tweak my settings from the Panasonic Blu-ray, that the Sonos Beam is playing it with transcoded 5.1 Multichannel PCM.

I tried already all kinds of settings, but whatever I choose, I end up with the crappy Stereo PCM sound. I know that the LG OLED55BX9LB (as most other recent LG TVs) do not support DTS passthrough ... but isn't there a way that I pass the sound as raw "Bitstream" from the Blu-ray Player so that the Sonos Beam is then playing it as 5.1 Multichannel? I read through this thread, but I’m a little lost. 😔 Some apparently have figured it out, some did not … ?

Here is how I connected my setup (TV, Blu-ray and Beam all running the latest available software updates as of 18th Jan. 2024):

1. LG OLED55BX9LB connected on eARC/ARC with Sonos HDMI cable to Sonos Beam
2. TV Audio set to ARC
3. Panasonic DP-UB820 Blu-ray connected on HDMI 2.1 Port of TV via 2.1 HDMI cable

I screenshotted all relevant (I think) settings from the Blu-ray player, please see attached files from a session where I had a DTS disc in use. Somehow I feel like I am getting lost in the settings and I'm not sure if I made a mistake somewhere which I overlook.

So my question to others who are using a similar setup: is there a way to overcome the "DTS passthrough burden" with this LG TV and the Panasonic Blu-ray player, to have the Blu-rays play with 5.1 sound?

I highly appreciate any tips, hints or feedback! 

@fabian,

Rtings show these codecs supported by the TV…

So there’s no DTS 5.1 or McPCM option either (assuming it’s a Beam gen 2) - so I don’t think you’ll find success with that TV - at least that’s my guess, but you could probably achieve success by bypassing the TV with an audio extractor, like the HDFury Arcana etc, but there are some cheaper options on the market too if you’re just looking to get DTS 5.1 audio to your Beam. Maybe checkout Amazon for such ‘compatible’ audio extractors.

In the mean time try setting Downmix in your first screenshot to surround encoded and bump up the volume in your surrounds a touch. I get some surround info with my Playbase that way with DTS tracks. DTS X doesn't need the volume bump as much for some reason.

@fabian The DTS/DTS-HD setting on the UB820 needs to be set to PCM to get Multichannel PCM audio.

 Appreciate your input and help! 👍🏻

@Ken_Griffiths: yes, it’s the Beam 2 (should have mentioned it first). I heard about the HDFury Arcana (I have not looked in detail into it), but always thought that it’s primarily for users with a TV that does not have an ARC (or eARC) capable HDMI port - which my LG BX has, despite lacking the DTS passthrough. I’m not sure if want to invest another 250$ “just” for that. Is there any recommendation on any cheaper device that you can give? I was really hoping to somehow solve this with tweaking the Audio Settings in my setup - specifically with my Blu-ray player.

@Silverthorn: unfortunately, changing “Downmix” to “Surround encoded” did not help either. Still says “Stereo PCM” when I play my disc. I left all other settings as seen in my initial screenshot. The discs I am trying to play have just “normal” DTS, not DTS X. Here is a photo of the disc:

@GuitarSuperstar: tried also that: switching “Bitstream” to “PCM” for DTS/DTS-HD in the second screenshot. Still, Sonos App shows the sound as “Stereo PCM” when I play the disc.

I even tried both: setting it to “PCM” and changing Downmix to “Surround encoded”. Still no luck.

Anything else worth trying?

@fabian Does your TV have the latest firmware installed?

You misunderstood my post about the downmix option @fabian . Yes the Sonos app will still show stereo PCM but it will have a dolby pro logic style information added to it. I suggest you try it again and have a listen again to a good DTS soundtrack and put your head next to the one of the surrounds. It does work at least it does for me with my Playbase.

Dolby Surround Pro Logic is the full name that refers to the matrix surround format and decoding system in one. When a Dolby Surround soundtrack is created in post-production (Dolby MP Matrix), four channels of sound are matrix-encoded into an ordinary stereo (two-channel) soundtrack.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Pro_Logic

Yes, 100%. I usually have it on auto-update and my LG BX is running v04.50.53, as of today. Panasonic Blu-ray player and Sonos system for Beam 2 also running latest update.

Interesting, sorry for my misunderstanding - I will give this of more thorough test later. Could you post a screenshot of how this exactly looks like in your Sonos app? Just to be sure: the only thing I would need to change in the settings from my posted screenshots is changing “Downmix” to “Surround encoded”? All the values under “Digital Audio Output” should (must?) be left as “Bitstream” … correct?