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playbar works but surround play 3 speakers don't

  • 29 September 2013
  • 223 replies
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my sonos play bar and surround sound play 3's work perfectly when i play music or apple tv but when on tv nothing comes out of surround sound speakers. all my components are connected into the tv and then the playbar has optical out. so it clearly works as music and apple tv work but normal tv channels only play through the bar. please help
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Best answer by Ryan S 23 December 2013, 20:53

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223 replies

Same Problem. Diagnostic number 5289696.
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Standard TV programming may not be encoded with Surround Sound. This would explain why you don't hear anything from the Surrounds when watching TV. For example, the News will only play in Stereo. Then, if you watch a film which you are sure has been encoded with surround sound, the issue would no longer be present. Subsequently, if you want to have everything playing together when listening to normal TV that is, you would be required to remove the surround speakers and simply group everything in together. This is then, of course, not surround sound by definition.
I'm also having the same problem...playbar and 2 play 1 speakers work great with music playing, but the play 1 speakers won't work with tv surround sound. Here's my diagnotics number: 5325552
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I'm also having the same problem...playbar and 2 play 1 speakers work great with music playing, but the play 1 speakers won't work with tv surround sound. Here's my diagnotics number: 5325552
When watching TV not all channels stream 5.1 audio. Most TV shows are in stereo. The PLAYBAR will do it's best to simulate DD5.1 but it's not also possible.
We are experiencing the same issue. Can you try to push us the update to raise the volume of our surrounds. Diagnostic: 5445168
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ElsienJv, can you clarify that you are hearing nothing from the surrounds when watching TV? If so, this is because when in a surround sound configuration, the speakers will not do anything when the PLAYBAR is fed a stereo signal. The update you speak of is 2 and a half years old and already included in the current software.
Same issue- 5507005

Thanks
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Same issue- 5507005

Hi Danwareuk,

At the time of the diagnostic, your PLAYBAR was receiving a stereo signal, not Dolby Digital 5.1. When it gets a stereo signal, the PLAYBAR does some conversion to bring audio to the surround speakers, but this sometimes won't be noticeable depending on what you're listening to. The simulated surround will being soundtracks and loud sequences to the rear most often, dialogue and most of the normal audio range will come from the center and front channels.

You can check the audio format you're getting by going into Settings > About my Sonos. From there you can the format under the name of your PLAYBAR.

See here for more details on making sure you're getting surround from your PLAYBAR.
Hi,

I'm experiencing the same issue. My setup is a playbar with 2 PLAY 1's. I get perfect surround sound playing netflix, youtube etcetera, but when I'm watching tv (from a setup box, connected to the tv via HDMI), the rear speakers do not provide any sound. Seems like there's just no upmixing. Some sources providing "stereo" input to the playbar are upmixed, so we get sound from the rearspeakers, just with the tv, we're not getting anything.
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Hi,

I'm experiencing the same issue. My setup is a playbar with 2 PLAY 1's. I get perfect surround sound playing netflix, youtube etcetera, but when I'm watching tv (from a setup box, connected to the tv via HDMI), the rear speakers do not provide any sound. Seems like there's just no upmixing. Some sources providing "stereo" input to the playbar are upmixed, so we get sound from the rearspeakers, just with the tv, we're not getting anything.


Hi Lambik,

This largely will depend on what broadcast is on the TV. News programs, or just able anything with largely dialogue is going to be coming from the center and front channels in almost all cases. Surround upmixing doesn't send dialogue that should be in the front anywhere else. You should hear soundtracks, action or loud sequences, and at times some other audio as well.

It sounds like everything's set up properly there, though just out of curiosity do you have any other HDMI sources connected? If the set-top box passes Dolby Digital content, and you don't get it on the TV, it's possible that TV doesn't send Dolby Digital content from HDMI sources to the optical connection. Some TVs will only pass over-the-air Dolby Digital content which would be the apps the TV has built in. What is the model of your TV?
Ryan,

Thank you for your reply. I have a dvd player connected to the tv via HDMI as well. Using that, the sound is upmixed or played as it should do (e.g. 2.0 or stereo input does give sound in the rear speakers). The tv is a sony bravia 43w756c.
I can select "stereo sound" or "dolby digital" as an option on the tv set-top box, but it doesn't make any difference. When playing tv from the set-top box, no sound is coming from the rear speakers, not even when I'm playing a movie, a show with applause or a music channel...
Hi,

I'm experiencing the same issue. My setup is a playbar with 2 PLAY 1's. I get perfect surround sound playing netflix, youtube etcetera, but when I'm watching tv (from a setup box, connected to the tv via HDMI), the rear speakers do not provide any sound. Seems like there's just no upmixing. Some sources providing "stereo" input to the playbar are upmixed, so we get sound from the rearspeakers, just with the tv, we're not getting anything.


Hi Lambik,

This largely will depend on what broadcast is on the TV. News programs, or just able anything with largely dialogue is going to be coming from the center and front channels in almost all cases. Surround upmixing doesn't send dialogue that should be in the front anywhere else. You should hear soundtracks, action or loud sequences, and at times some other audio as well.

It sounds like everything's set up properly there, though just out of curiosity do you have any other HDMI sources connected? If the set-top box passes Dolby Digital content, and you don't get it on the TV, it's possible that TV doesn't send Dolby Digital content from HDMI sources to the optical connection. Some TVs will only pass over-the-air Dolby Digital content which would be the apps the TV has built in. What is the model of your TV?
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Ryan,

Thank you for your reply. I have a dvd player connected to the tv via HDMI as well. Using that, the sound is upmixed or played as it should do (e.g. 2.0 or stereo input does give sound in the rear speakers). The tv is a sony bravia 43w756c.
I can select "stereo sound" or "dolby digital" as an option on the tv set-top box, but it doesn't make any difference. When playing tv from the set-top box, no sound is coming from the rear speakers, not even when I'm playing a movie, a show with applause or a music channel...


Thanks. A lot of stereo content will come from the front, so again, it does still sound like everything's set up properly. However, it may be worth giving us a call on our support line and having a technician take a look with you just in case.
I have same issue with no sound coming from play 1s when TV is playing anything from dish receiver or Apple TV. Another issue I am experiencing is the occasional drop off in sound. I have my Sonos system connected to a boost that is on dedicated 2.4ghz line for my router. My diagnostic number is 5551511. Thanks
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I have same issue with no sound coming from play 1s when TV is playing anything from dish receiver or Apple TV. Another issue I am experiencing is the occasional drop off in sound. I have my Sonos system connected to a boost that is on dedicated 2.4ghz line for my router. My diagnostic number is 5551511. Thanks

The diagnostic is showing some trouble with the Dolby signal the PLAYBAR was receiving, along with a few other things. I'd recommend give us a call on our support line to get this fully worked over. They'll be able to assist getting it sorted much quicker than we could here.

Thanks
Diagnostic report 6000887
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Diagnostic report 6000887

Hi Sonosuser123456789, I have reviewed your diagnostic and found a very high level of interference. This is most likely the issue at hand.
The best would be to with the other two Sonos wireless channels for about 10mins each and let us know how it goes. Add a diagnostic of each channel tested.

Here's an article explaining how to change Sonos WiFi channel.
Hi there,
I'm having the same issue, surround works perfectly for music but play 3 are on mute when watching TV. my diagnostic # is 6238579.
Many thanks
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Hi there,
I'm having the same issue, surround works perfectly for music but play 3 are on mute when watching TV. my diagnostic # is 6238579.
Many thanks


What do you get as Input when you go to "About my Sonos" in your app or controller?

I suspect you are feeding the Playbar Stereo in which case you won't hear much through the surrounds
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Hi there,
I'm having the same issue, surround works perfectly for music but play 3 are on mute when watching TV. my diagnostic # is 6238579.
Many thanks


What do you get as Input when you go to "About my Sonos" in your app or controller?

I suspect you are feeding the Playbar Stereo in which case you won't hear much through the surrounds


At the time of the diagnostic the PLAYBAR was getting a Dolby Digital 2.0 signal. We'll perform processing on that signal to bring it up to 5.1 and play it that way, but sometimes it's not as noticeable as when you're getting dedicated 5.1 channels. Generally, the surround speakers play soundtracks, background noises from explosions and loud scenes, and similar audio. If you're watching TV which is mostly dialogue, such as sports channels, you're not going to hear the announcers echoed from the rear. Most dialogue will come from the center and front channels by design.
Hi Ryan,

ok, man thanks,

Best, Lukas
I have this problem. No TV sound in surround speakers. Boosting surround didn't work.

My confirmation number is: 6287609.

Please send patch if applicable.
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I have this problem. No TV sound in surround speakers. Boosting surround didn't work.

My confirmation number is: 6287609.

Please send patch if applicable.


Hi, there isn't any patch currently as currently any known issues with the surrounds have been long resolved. In your case, from your diagnostic the CONNECT:AMP that you have running the surround speakers isn't wired to the network. CONNECT:AMPs need to be wired in in order to function as surround speakers for your PLAYBAR. It either needs to be wired to the PLAYBAR directly, or wired into the same router or switch that your PLAYBAR is.
This has always been the issue with surround sound speaker systems, "I can't hear the rear speakers!!" the customer always says. The Sonos playbar is direct audio so whatever the TV program you are watching is recorded or broadcasted in(usually stereo 2-channel sound) that's what you will hear. If you play the latest action movie on Bluray, you will hear all speakers as it is recorded in 5.1 surround sound or similar, So when a helicopter flies over the camera in the movie, you'll hear it in the rear speakers flying away for example. Sonos really should have given us options to add "virtual Surround" like Dolby, Pro-Logic etc like you can on most receivers/amplifiers. Hopefully they can offer that through the software in the future, but I'm assuming it will need to be a new playbar model.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
This has always been the issue with surround sound speaker systems, "I can't hear the rear speakers!!" the customer always says. The Sonos playbar is direct audio so whatever the TV program you are watching is recorded or broadcasted in(usually stereo 2-channel sound) that's what you will hear. If you play the latest action movie on Bluray, you will hear all speakers as it is recorded in 5.1 surround sound or similar, So when a helicopter flies over the camera in the movie, you'll hear it in the rear speakers flying away for example. Sonos really should have given us options to add "virtual Surround" like Dolby, Pro-Logic etc like you can on most receivers/amplifiers. Hopefully they can offer that through the software in the future, but I'm assuming it will need to be a new playbar model.

Hi Rintintin, the PLAYBAR will automatically do this already. In fact, even if you just have the PLAYBAR, it'll never throw away any audio and will bounce audio against the walls to create the best 5.1 simulation it can.
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Same problem, no sound from Play 3s during tv

Diagnostic: 6448191