LPCM and 4k Blu-Ray players

  • 12 November 2020
  • 12 replies
  • 1983 views

So with the 12.2 update and LPCM, I was hoping to solve my issue with DTS sound from 4K blu-rays. I am using an Arc/Sub/Play Ones system on an LG C9 with a Panasonic UB820 player. Last night I messed around with some settings on the TV and the blu-ray player, changing to PCM, and still only showed Stereo 2.0 from my Sonos system. I was under the impression I should see multi-channel now? Does anyone know which settings in particular I need to change or what I may be doing wrong? 


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12 replies

I'm struggling with this as well. 

Setup: Panasonic 824 4K Bluray, Samsung Q850T, Arc.

Arc is updated, TV is on eArc and Passthrough.

No matter if I set the BRP to PCM or Bitstream, I always get PCM Stereo 2.0 instead of 5.1 or 7.1.

Any ideas/experience with a similar setup? 

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Thanks @ledzep1 that’s helpful.  I think the principle here (but as you can tell this isn’t something I am expert on) is that you have to feed a Sonos HT device something it can handle.  If you send DTS to a Sonos HT speaker you will get silence.  So I think it comes down to what your BRP and TV are capable of converting DTS to and outputting. If the gear an Arc user has is capable of turning DTS into multichannel LPCM, then they are sorted now whereas they weren’t before. 

What I don’t know is whether lots of users will have that capability, or it will be the exception rather than the rule.  My gut feeling is that many users will find that the best their equipment can send to the Arc having started from DTS on Blu-ray is PCM2.0.  My gut feeling may well be totally wrong.

 

Yeah I see what you mean, Im unsure where the conversion takes place, I know my cx can pass LPCM, Im presuming its the oppo203 doing the conversion though. Even if I have it set to bitstream, somewhere along the line it realises it can't pass DTS and converts it.

My CX cannot pass DTS, thats why I think its the player that converts it.

 

Thanks @ledzep1 that’s helpful.  I think the principle here (but as you can tell this isn’t something I am expert on) is that you have to feed a Sonos HT device something it can handle.  If you send DTS to a Sonos HT speaker you will get silence.  So I think it comes down to what your BRP and TV are capable of converting DTS to and outputting. If the gear an Arc user has is capable of turning DTS into multichannel LPCM, then they are sorted now whereas they weren’t before. 

What I don’t know is whether lots of users will have that capability, or it will be the exception rather than the rule.  My gut feeling is that many users will find that the best their equipment can send to the Arc having started from DTS on Blu-ray is PCM2.0.  My gut feeling may well be totally wrong.

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I’ve been trying to get this to work for 2 days same set up LG C9 with passthrough and earc on. Nintendo Switch and PS4 both show LPCM 5.1/7.1 in the sonos app while playing games so that works. Atmos works fine as well. Panasonic 820 UHD player and PS4 both set to PCM. No idea how to get surround for DTS blurays on either the Panasonic or PS4 both show PCM 2.0 Stereo. I’ve run out of ideas anyone got it to work?

Try bitstream.

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Sonos still doesn’t support DTS.  How were you hoping that adding multichannel LPCM would help with DTS?

Sonos still doesn’t support DTS.  How were you hoping that adding multichannel LPCM would help with DTS?

 

The thought is the Panasonic Bluray player decodes the DTS data and sends it as LPCM. I'm hoping people get it working myself as I have a Panasonic 420.

 

I can confirm that using an Arcana i have been able to play DTS only discs through a Sony bluray player using LPCM 5.1. Prior to the update i would either get no sound or PCM 2.0. 

 

I can now get multichannel 5.1/7.1 from DTS discs via my oppo203 which is set to bitstream, before update I would just get stereo 2.0

I have not needed to change any settings to accomplish this, @John B, yes sonos doesn't support DTS still, but this update has made things much better, so much so that I’m not worried at all about lack of DTS support now.

I have:

LG CX - audio settings all set to hdmi bitstream/passthrough and eARC on

Oppo 203 - audio bitstream (there is a setting for LPCM as well but no need)

 

 

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I can confirm that using an Arcana i have been able to play DTS only discs through a Sony bluray player using LPCM 5.1. Prior to the update i would either get no sound or PCM 2.0. 

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The following link outlines turning on earc. Might be worth double checking. The link included has a long technical discussion about eArc on the C9. Part of it makes me suspicious passthrough might be an issue.

 

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/lg-oled-c9-series-earc-support-6843136

I’ve been trying to get this to work for 2 days same set up LG C9 with passthrough and earc on. Nintendo Switch and PS4 both show LPCM 5.1/7.1 in the sonos app while playing games so that works. Atmos works fine as well. Panasonic 820 UHD player and PS4 both set to PCM. No idea how to get surround for DTS blurays on either the Panasonic or PS4 both show PCM 2.0 Stereo. I’ve run out of ideas anyone got it to work?

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Someone commented they got it working using the hdfury in one of the LPCM  threads. Does your tv have eArc?

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/lpcm-eta-for-arc-6842558?postid=16487352#post16487352

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Sonos still doesn’t support DTS.  How were you hoping that adding multichannel LPCM would help with DTS?

 

The thought is the Panasonic Bluray player decodes the DTS data and sends it as LPCM. I'm hoping people get it working myself as I have a Panasonic 420.

 

Would it not allow a DTS soundtrack to play as 5.1? Currently if I change settings on the TV to PCM it will play Stereo 2.0. I was under the impression that multi-channel would make that 5.1. Am I incorrect?

Sonos still doesn’t support DTS.  How were you hoping that adding multichannel LPCM would help with DTS?