Contributor I

Answered

LPCM ETA for Arc?

206 replies
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LG has released a firmware upgrade for the B9/C9/E9 supporting multichannel PCM passthrough. This is great except Arc doesn’t support it yet.

Because of this new update, my Apple TV decides it should use LPCM instead of Dolby Digital 5.1 with Atmos enabled resulting in only 2.0 audio for non Atmos content. The current only workaround is to disable Atmos and enable it when you want to watch an Atmos file. Very frustrating as the previous firmware had no issue.

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DitteAnswer

Hi all,

We hear you. With a software update today, Arc now supports multi-channel LPCM, bringing new immersive sound experiences for gaming, Blu-ray discs, and more. To get support for multi-channel LPCM on Arc, download the latest Sonos S2 update from the app store and then update your system in the Sonos S2 app. After updating the app, go to Settings > System > System Updates > Check for Updates.

All the best,

Ditte

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ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

In the same boat here, just got Arc and I'm very disappointed with the whole Apple TV debacle… would really appreciate the LPCM support soon, otherwise I’m gonna have to return the soundbar, it’s simply not worth the hoops

You should return it then. Sonos isn’t going to give an update on LPCM before they have the software. And LG probably isn’t going to fix their firmware (but maybe!). Honestly the easiest fix is one from LG, so I’d start posting over there to get them to do something.

B

Bilal

Trending Lyricist I

In the same boat here, just got Arc and I'm very disappointed with the whole Apple TV debacle… would really appreciate the LPCM support soon, otherwise I’m gonna have to return the soundbar, it’s simply not worth the hoops

You should return it then. Sonos isn’t going to give an update on LPCM before they have the software. And LG probably isn’t going to fix their firmware (but maybe!). Honestly the easiest fix is one from LG, so I’d start posting over there to get them to do something.

How come LG is on fault here they just start supporting passthrough of LPCM over earc. Its sonos arc which doesn’t support LPCM.

D

Danindub

Trending Lyricist III

In the same boat here, just got Arc and I'm very disappointed with the whole Apple TV debacle… would really appreciate the LPCM support soon, otherwise I’m gonna have to return the soundbar, it’s simply not worth the hoops

You should return it then. Sonos isn’t going to give an update on LPCM before they have the software. And LG probably isn’t going to fix their firmware (but maybe!). Honestly the easiest fix is one from LG, so I’d start posting over there to get them to do something.

How come LG is on fault here they just start supporting passthrough of LPCM over earc. Its sonos arc which doesn’t support LPCM.

I guess argument could be made that LG should enable users to turn the support for new feature on/off, if it can affect other devices down the chain? But yeah, that’s not gonna happen, and Sonos Arc launched with promise of support LPCM down the line, so...

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ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

In the same boat here, just got Arc and I'm very disappointed with the whole Apple TV debacle… would really appreciate the LPCM support soon, otherwise I’m gonna have to return the soundbar, it’s simply not worth the hoops

You should return it then. Sonos isn’t going to give an update on LPCM before they have the software. And LG probably isn’t going to fix their firmware (but maybe!). Honestly the easiest fix is one from LG, so I’d start posting over there to get them to do something.

How come LG is on fault here they just start supporting passthrough of LPCM over earc. Its sonos arc which doesn’t support LPCM.

When you use eARC to transmit an audio signal, you are really relying on the TV for processing (or the device manufacturer you are streaming from - here Apple). When you selected “Auto” previously, the LG was processing the signal from LPCM to bitstream tor the Arc. Now it is not doing that anymore, which puts the onus on either Apple to process down to bitstream (which it won’t) or Sonos to support LPCM.

What you’d really want is for LG to fix this, because it would be a fix for any product - even if you switch out of Sonos to something else. Whether other products are impacted right now, I don’t know (I haven’t used other soundbars), but you’d prefer to have the TV doing the processing as needed. That’s what an “Auto“ mode should be accomplishing. Right now, it’s really just passing through a signal the Sonos cannot support. Because it didn’t do that before, it suggests LG broke the capability with its last firmware update. It’s also why this isn’t an issue with other TV manufacturers - their TVs are doing this processing.

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Danindub

Trending Lyricist III

I’m not sure if that’s the case: from what I understand the LG TV’s weren’t supporting multichannel PCM before, so they were always provided signal that was compatible in different way, like DD5.1 etc.

now they support it, so Apple TV and the like send it through, and TV can play it just fine on speaker or feed through to eARC… assuming that the device on there can understand it… and Sonos Arc can’t.

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ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

I’m not sure if that’s the case: from what I understand the LG TV’s weren’t supporting multichannel PCM before, so they were always provided signal that was compatible in different way, like DD5.1 etc.

now they support it, so Apple TV and the like send it through, and TV can play it just fine on speaker or feed through to eARC… assuming that the device on there can understand it… and Sonos Arc can’t.

It is the case. They weren’t supporting it - they were processing it to bitstream. You can see posts about folks with LG TVs who did not upgrade their firmware and don’t have the issue.

D

Danindub

Trending Lyricist III

I’m not sure if that’s the case: from what I understand the LG TV’s weren’t supporting multichannel PCM before, so they were always provided signal that was compatible in different way, like DD5.1 etc.

now they support it, so Apple TV and the like send it through, and TV can play it just fine on speaker or feed through to eARC… assuming that the device on there can understand it… and Sonos Arc can’t.

It is the case. They weren’t supporting it - they were processing it to bitstream. You can see posts about folks with LG TVs who did not upgrade their firmware and don’t have the issue.

Wouldn’t that suggest that there’s a bug in LG firmware? That should pass on bitstream if connected to Arc instead of sending LPCM? I’ve done some googling since I got the Arc, and that doesn’t seem to be the conclusion. So I don’t know.

either way: as mentioned in couple of Arc reviews as well and this forum, Sonos did promise to bring LPCM to Arc. So I just hope it’s gonna happen sooner lather than later. 🤞

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ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

I’m not sure if that’s the case: from what I understand the LG TV’s weren’t supporting multichannel PCM before, so they were always provided signal that was compatible in different way, like DD5.1 etc.

now they support it, so Apple TV and the like send it through, and TV can play it just fine on speaker or feed through to eARC… assuming that the device on there can understand it… and Sonos Arc can’t.

It is the case. They weren’t supporting it - they were processing it to bitstream. You can see posts about folks with LG TVs who did not upgrade their firmware and don’t have the issue.

Wouldn’t that suggest that there’s a bug in LG firmware? That should pass on bitstream if connected to Arc instead of sending LPCM? I’ve done some googling since I got the Arc, and that doesn’t seem to be the conclusion. So I don’t know.

either way: as mentioned in couple of Arc reviews as well and this forum, Sonos did promise to bring LPCM to Arc. So I just hope it’s gonna happen sooner lather than later. 🤞

That’s exactly what I’m saying. There is a bug/feature removal in LG’s latest firmware.

L

ledzep1

Headliner II

Hi, again ewolkoff. Thanks again for your tremendous help.

That worked - in that by changing the setting Sound > Additional Settings > HDMI Input Audio Format > Bitstream, I was then able to set the Apple TV to Atmos.

Can you explain how that is possible? That changing settings on one device impacts the options on another (ie, changes to a device downstream affects the primary device (4KATV, LGTV, ARC)?

However, despite Atmos being available from the Apple TV, as soon as I play any Atmos content from it (either via the iTunes Store or Disney, etc) there is no sound coming through the soundbar.

Back to square one. :(

TV is still set to Auto and not Pass Through? Also are you sure it’s Atmos content? I have noticed that with this setup DD 5.1 plays sometimes with no sound or no voices until I switch to Pass Through again. That’s why the system is manual — you have to change the settings to play DD 5.1 vs. Atmos.

The issue before was that you told your TV to only accept a stereo PCM signal. Apple TV saw that and stopped allowing you to send high bandwidth Atmos signals.

Hi there, CX owner here,

I have looked at you settings on previous pages, so is it a case of I can get atmos but if a movie or show on the apple tv 4k box is in 5.1 I need to manually change a setting on the apple box.

On my LG I have everything set to passthrough, eARC on e.g.

What setting is it on the apple tv that I would manually need to change to get atmos and then 5.1 until sonos release the LPCM update.

Thanks

S

svomak

Enthusiast II

Any update on this or if we can beta test this?

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