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studiomatthewbrooks
Contributor I
November 17, 2020

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

  • November 17, 2020
  • 344 replies
  • 32087 views

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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    iBoyley
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 21, 2020


    still no difference when changing either of the above. I think I’m just going to wait until the new LG FW comes out now as there is no reason why this shouldn’t be working

     

    i just played the disk on my Xbox series x and can get whatever audio format I want (was even displaying Atmos at one point on my “about my system” screen which I thought was a bit odd)

    -shak-
    Lyricist II
    December 21, 2020

    This is exactly what I see playing 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    it’s funny though first putting the disc in it, there’s Dolby Atmos just for the Warner Bros. logo and then when you play the movie, it’s as above. Gutted.

    iBoyley
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 27, 2020

    Do you think it’s normal that if you have the Ub820 set to both bitstream or PCM when you press the playback info screen it still shows PCM 2 ch regardless? 
     

     

    I was hoping the latest 03.21.09 update for the TV would alleviate this problem but it hasn’t so back to square one. Ridiculous 

    Laird M Malamed
    Enthusiast I
    December 29, 2020

    Thanks for the thread.

    I have a Panasonic UB820 on order from Best Buy (took advantage of the $100 off sale). Meanwhile, I have been using a LG UBK90 4k Blu-ray player with the Arc (+Sub + 2 SLs) and LG C9 55”. I can confirm that I can get multichannel PCM from a DTS track through the TV to the Arc by converting it at the Blu-Ray player. I have 18 gbps + ethernet cables connecting all components.

     

    Sharing my set up to see if we can isolate the problem with the UB820. See below for ideas on testing for those with the three components in this thread. 

     

    My current set up:

    LG UBK90 4k player via HDMI to Input 3 of LG C9 55”. Both are on the latest firmware

    Sonos Arc + Sub + SL (x2) bought in November 2020. Also on latest firmware.

     

    TV settings:

    Audio out: HDMI ARC

    eARC enabled

    Passthrough Audio

     

     

    From the UBK90 for DTS-MA discs

    Audio Output set to PCM. I think that is the only setting that impacts this.

    When I play a DTS 1.0 (mono) disc, I get PCM 3 Channel reported on the Arc. (Presumably, the converter in the 4k player is sending silence to the L&R and passing the 1.0 channel to the center.)

    With DTS 2.0, I get PCM 2.0

    With DTS 5.0, I get PCM 5.0

    With DTS 5.1, I get PCM 5.1

     

    I do not have a DTS X disc to try, so nothing to report there.

     

    If I leave the UBK90 in Bitstream mode, I get no audio at all. (This makes sense since the Sonos at the end of the chain cannot process DTS. I thought if the TV were in Auto HDMI Arc out, it might handle decoding and re-encoding, but no luck on that.)

     

    If I want to play a Dolby Atmos track from a 4K disc, then I have to put the UBK40 back into Bitstream mode. There is no separate option for Dolby and DTS handling on this player as there is on the Panasonic higher end models. If I don’t do this, I get a PCM 2.0 track which is probably the UBK taking the back up 2.0 channel that I think is in most Atmos mixes. Not sure. So, the annoyance is having to remember to swap settings on the UBK if I change discs. Dolby Digital 5.1 will decoded to PCM if in that mode or will pass through to the Sonos if I am in bitstream mode.

     

    However, everything else is working as I would expect - I can get all the channels delivered to the Sonos from the source media. They sound correct to my ears during playback. So, if there is a handshake issue with the Panasonic, it is not a general failure - it is a specific one.

     

    I can also report that AppleTV and my Tivo are all producing the right amount of audio as I would expect on the Sonos Arc via the LG C9. Atmos works and everything else is correct in terms of channels.

     

    Back to the question of this thread and wondering if this configuration has been tested:

    Using the Audio only HDMI output, directly connect the Panasonic to the Sonos. Use the first HDMI for the video to the LG C9. From there, adjust the output settings on on the Panasonic for DTS to mix down and for Dolby to passthrough to the 2nd HDMI port. TV can be in TV speaker mode (and should not get any audio anyway). 

     

    I know this is not a good end state (since there would be no way to easily include other components), but it would at least determine if the Arc and Panasonic can hand off the multichannel PCM audio correctly. This may still mean that the LG or the Panasonic is at fault for the handshake error, but at least it would eliminate the Sonos.

     

    I will try this if no one else gets a chance to. (My Panasonic is due in a week.)

     

    Laird

     

     

     

     

     

    GuitarSuperstar
    Lead Maestro
    December 29, 2020

    Thanks for the thread.

    I have a Panasonic UB820 on order from Best Buy (took advantage of the $100 off sale). Meanwhile, I have been using a LG UBK90 4k Blu-ray player with the Arc (+Sub + 2 SLs) and LG C9 55”. I can confirm that I can get multichannel PCM from a DTS track through the TV to the Arc by converting it at the Blu-Ray player. I have 18 gbps + ethernet cables connecting all components.

     

    Sharing my set up to see if we can isolate the problem with the UB820. See below for ideas on testing for those with the three components in this thread. 

     

    My current set up:

    LG UBK90 4k player via HDMI to Input 3 of LG C9 55”. Both are on the latest firmware

    Sonos Arc + Sub + SL (x2) bought in November 2020. Also on latest firmware.

     

    TV settings:

    Audio out: HDMI ARC

    eARC enabled

    Passthrough Audio

     

     

    From the UBK90 for DTS-MA discs

    Audio Output set to PCM. I think that is the only setting that impacts this.

    When I play a DTS 1.0 (mono) disc, I get PCM 3 Channel reported on the Arc. (Presumably, the converter in the 4k player is sending silence to the L&R and passing the 1.0 channel to the center.)

    With DTS 2.0, I get PCM 2.0

    With DTS 5.0, I get PCM 5.0

    With DTS 5.1, I get PCM 5.1

     

    I do not have a DTS X disc to try, so nothing to report there.

     

    If I leave the UBK90 in Bitstream mode, I get no audio at all. (This makes sense since the Sonos at the end of the chain cannot process DTS. I thought if the TV were in Auto HDMI Arc out, it might handle decoding and re-encoding, but no luck on that.)

     

    If I want to play a Dolby Atmos track from a 4K disc, then I have to put the UBK40 back into Bitstream mode. There is no separate option for Dolby and DTS handling on this player as there is on the Panasonic higher end models. If I don’t do this, I get a PCM 2.0 track which is probably the UBK taking the back up 2.0 channel that I think is in most Atmos mixes. Not sure. So, the annoyance is having to remember to swap settings on the UBK if I change discs. Dolby Digital 5.1 will decoded to PCM if in that mode or will pass through to the Sonos if I am in bitstream mode.

     

    However, everything else is working as I would expect - I can get all the channels delivered to the Sonos from the source media. They sound correct to my ears during playback. So, if there is a handshake issue with the Panasonic, it is not a general failure - it is a specific one.

     

    I can also report that AppleTV and my Tivo are all producing the right amount of audio as I would expect on the Sonos Arc via the LG C9. Atmos works and everything else is correct in terms of channels.

     

    Back to the question of this thread and wondering if this configuration has been tested:

    Using the Audio only HDMI output, directly connect the Panasonic to the Sonos. Use the first HDMI for the video to the LG C9. From there, adjust the output settings on on the Panasonic for DTS to mix down and for Dolby to passthrough to the 2nd HDMI port. TV can be in TV speaker mode (and should not get any audio anyway). 

     

    I know this is not a good end state (since there would be no way to easily include other components), but it would at least determine if the Arc and Panasonic can hand off the multichannel PCM audio correctly. This may still mean that the LG or the Panasonic is at fault for the handshake error, but at least it would eliminate the Sonos.

     

    I will try this if no one else gets a chance to. (My Panasonic is due in a week.)

     

    Laird

     

    The Arc isn’t the problem. I don’t even think the UB820 is the problem. I have the UB820 and I get multichannel PCM playing through my Arc. There is a specific handshake issue between the LG and UB820 and I believe the problem needs to be addressed by LG.

    "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
    Laird M Malamed
    Enthusiast I
    December 29, 2020

    Thanks for the thread.

    I have a Panasonic UB820 on order from Best Buy (took advantage of the $100 off sale). Meanwhile, I have been using a LG UBK90 4k Blu-ray player with the Arc (+Sub + 2 SLs) and LG C9 55”. I can confirm that I can get multichannel PCM from a DTS track through the TV to the Arc by converting it at the Blu-Ray player. I have 18 gbps + ethernet cables connecting all components.

     

    Sharing my set up to see if we can isolate the problem with the UB820. See below for ideas on testing for those with the three components in this thread. 

     

    My current set up:

    LG UBK90 4k player via HDMI to Input 3 of LG C9 55”. Both are on the latest firmware

    Sonos Arc + Sub + SL (x2) bought in November 2020. Also on latest firmware.

     

    TV settings:

    Audio out: HDMI ARC

    eARC enabled

    Passthrough Audio

     

     

    From the UBK90 for DTS-MA discs

    Audio Output set to PCM. I think that is the only setting that impacts this.

    When I play a DTS 1.0 (mono) disc, I get PCM 3 Channel reported on the Arc. (Presumably, the converter in the 4k player is sending silence to the L&R and passing the 1.0 channel to the center.)

    With DTS 2.0, I get PCM 2.0

    With DTS 5.0, I get PCM 5.0

    With DTS 5.1, I get PCM 5.1

     

    I do not have a DTS X disc to try, so nothing to report there.

     

    If I leave the UBK90 in Bitstream mode, I get no audio at all. (This makes sense since the Sonos at the end of the chain cannot process DTS. I thought if the TV were in Auto HDMI Arc out, it might handle decoding and re-encoding, but no luck on that.)

     

    If I want to play a Dolby Atmos track from a 4K disc, then I have to put the UBK40 back into Bitstream mode. There is no separate option for Dolby and DTS handling on this player as there is on the Panasonic higher end models. If I don’t do this, I get a PCM 2.0 track which is probably the UBK taking the back up 2.0 channel that I think is in most Atmos mixes. Not sure. So, the annoyance is having to remember to swap settings on the UBK if I change discs. Dolby Digital 5.1 will decoded to PCM if in that mode or will pass through to the Sonos if I am in bitstream mode.

     

    However, everything else is working as I would expect - I can get all the channels delivered to the Sonos from the source media. They sound correct to my ears during playback. So, if there is a handshake issue with the Panasonic, it is not a general failure - it is a specific one.

     

    I can also report that AppleTV and my Tivo are all producing the right amount of audio as I would expect on the Sonos Arc via the LG C9. Atmos works and everything else is correct in terms of channels.

     

    Back to the question of this thread and wondering if this configuration has been tested:

    Using the Audio only HDMI output, directly connect the Panasonic to the Sonos. Use the first HDMI for the video to the LG C9. From there, adjust the output settings on on the Panasonic for DTS to mix down and for Dolby to passthrough to the 2nd HDMI port. TV can be in TV speaker mode (and should not get any audio anyway). 

     

    I know this is not a good end state (since there would be no way to easily include other components), but it would at least determine if the Arc and Panasonic can hand off the multichannel PCM audio correctly. This may still mean that the LG or the Panasonic is at fault for the handshake error, but at least it would eliminate the Sonos.

     

    I will try this if no one else gets a chance to. (My Panasonic is due in a week.)

     

    Laird

     

    The Arc isn’t the problem. I don’t even think the UB820 is the problem. I have the UB820 and I get multichannel PCM playing through my Arc. There is a specific handshake issue between the LG and UB820 and I believe the problem needs to be addressed by LG.

    Ok cool. Glad you were able to check that. Here’s hoping some sort of update comes along from LG. 

     

    I did realize that Psycho 4K has a DTS:X 5.1 new mix (in addition to the now included mono mix), and I have the replacement disc on hand. On the set up described above with the LG player, I can report that with the LG in PCM mode, it passes a multichannel 7.1 to the Sonos (although I think it is only 5.1). 

    iBoyley
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 29, 2020

    I tried connecting the arc directly to the audio out HDMI terminal on the UB820 and the arc just kept flashing orange and white trying to establish a connection 

     

    The Sonos app reported no audio at all 

    iBoyley
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 29, 2020

    Thanks for the thread.

    I have a Panasonic UB820 on order from Best Buy (took advantage of the $100 off sale). Meanwhile, I have been using a LG UBK90 4k Blu-ray player with the Arc (+Sub + 2 SLs) and LG C9 55”. I can confirm that I can get multichannel PCM from a DTS track through the TV to the Arc by converting it at the Blu-Ray player. I have 18 gbps + ethernet cables connecting all components.

     

    Sharing my set up to see if we can isolate the problem with the UB820. See below for ideas on testing for those with the three components in this thread. 

     

    My current set up:

    LG UBK90 4k player via HDMI to Input 3 of LG C9 55”. Both are on the latest firmware

    Sonos Arc + Sub + SL (x2) bought in November 2020. Also on latest firmware.

     

    TV settings:

    Audio out: HDMI ARC

    eARC enabled

    Passthrough Audio

     

     

    From the UBK90 for DTS-MA discs

    Audio Output set to PCM. I think that is the only setting that impacts this.

    When I play a DTS 1.0 (mono) disc, I get PCM 3 Channel reported on the Arc. (Presumably, the converter in the 4k player is sending silence to the L&R and passing the 1.0 channel to the center.)

    With DTS 2.0, I get PCM 2.0

    With DTS 5.0, I get PCM 5.0

    With DTS 5.1, I get PCM 5.1

     

    I do not have a DTS X disc to try, so nothing to report there.

     

    If I leave the UBK90 in Bitstream mode, I get no audio at all. (This makes sense since the Sonos at the end of the chain cannot process DTS. I thought if the TV were in Auto HDMI Arc out, it might handle decoding and re-encoding, but no luck on that.)

     

    If I want to play a Dolby Atmos track from a 4K disc, then I have to put the UBK40 back into Bitstream mode. There is no separate option for Dolby and DTS handling on this player as there is on the Panasonic higher end models. If I don’t do this, I get a PCM 2.0 track which is probably the UBK taking the back up 2.0 channel that I think is in most Atmos mixes. Not sure. So, the annoyance is having to remember to swap settings on the UBK if I change discs. Dolby Digital 5.1 will decoded to PCM if in that mode or will pass through to the Sonos if I am in bitstream mode.

     

    However, everything else is working as I would expect - I can get all the channels delivered to the Sonos from the source media. They sound correct to my ears during playback. So, if there is a handshake issue with the Panasonic, it is not a general failure - it is a specific one.

     

    I can also report that AppleTV and my Tivo are all producing the right amount of audio as I would expect on the Sonos Arc via the LG C9. Atmos works and everything else is correct in terms of channels.

     

    Back to the question of this thread and wondering if this configuration has been tested:

    Using the Audio only HDMI output, directly connect the Panasonic to the Sonos. Use the first HDMI for the video to the LG C9. From there, adjust the output settings on on the Panasonic for DTS to mix down and for Dolby to passthrough to the 2nd HDMI port. TV can be in TV speaker mode (and should not get any audio anyway). 

     

    I know this is not a good end state (since there would be no way to easily include other components), but it would at least determine if the Arc and Panasonic can hand off the multichannel PCM audio correctly. This may still mean that the LG or the Panasonic is at fault for the handshake error, but at least it would eliminate the Sonos.

     

    I will try this if no one else gets a chance to. (My Panasonic is due in a week.)

     

    Laird

     

    The Arc isn’t the problem. I don’t even think the UB820 is the problem. I have the UB820 and I get multichannel PCM playing through my Arc. There is a specific handshake issue between the LG and UB820 and I believe the problem needs to be addressed by LG.

    Am I correct in saying you have a C9 not a CX?

    BW_falkirk
    Avid Contributor I
    December 31, 2020

    For what its worth I dont think its 'just' the player or 'just' the TV rather the two seem incompatible when passing LPCM for some reason. 

    I have C9 TV and my player (Oppo) is able to convert DTS to LPCM meaning I get LPCM7.1 or LPCM5.1 depending on DTS soundtrack used on disc. The HDMI port for TV from bluray is set to bitstream. Setting the TV to PCM results in downgrade to 2.0.

    Others are stating the Panasonic player works seamlessly with other TV brands.

      iBoyley
      Trending Lyricist I
      December 31, 2020

      I think you may be right. At least three people have suggested it must be a CEC/Handshake issue between the two devices 

       

      Everybody who I’ve spoken to that has this working as “intended” has either a C9/Oppo203 or HDFury device. I haven’t come across anybody with a CX/UB820/Arc combo that has managed to get anything other than stereo 2ch from a DTS disc.

       

      For what it’s worth I tweeted David Ludlow the author of This article who has said that he will try and investigate the issue, fingers crossed!

       

       

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