Roku Ultra + Sonos Arc: so far so good, getting Atmos (*) with no audio dropouts on Sony X950G

  • 13 August 2020
  • 4 replies
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  • 85D
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I was previously having issues with the following combination:

Sony X950G + Native streaming apps + HDMI/eARC + Sonos Arc

Issues included random audio dropouts (main problem) and lack of Atmos from Amazon Video and Disney+ (secondary problem). I did get Atmos from Netflix with this setup.

 

I switched to the following combination as a trial:

Sony X950G + Native streaming apps + optical adapter + Sonos Arc

The audio dropouts went away but the volume +/- response was unacceptably laggy, unresponsive, and unpredictable. Felt like trading one problem for another. And then of course no Atmos whatsoever.

 

Decided on a whim to try the Roku Ultra (2019) since I hadn’t read much about it in combination with the Sonos Arc. Seems most are using Apple TV 4K with mixed results. So:

Sony X950G + Roku Ultra + HDMI/eARC + Sonos Arc

So far no audio dropouts after a week of testing. Excellent Roku remote control responsiveness. And I am reliably getting Atmos on Disney+ (but not on Netflix or Amazon Video). I do get Atmos when switching back to the native Netflix app, as before. Our household spends most of its time in D+ anyway so I’m okay “settling” for this arrangement.

 

Will keep testing until the return period is over. Seems promising so far though -- just wanted to share this data point with the community. 

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4 replies

Mark P
Userlevel 5
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Hi @85D.

Welcome, thank you for reaching out to Sonos Community and sharing your ideas and set up.

Some customers might also have this kind of setup and it will help a lot of community members.

If you need help with any other information, please be sure to let us know.

 

 

 


 

 

 

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jzapf307
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Thank you for posting this.  I recently added an OTA antenna and HD Homerun to my setup, and I cant get audio on the OTA channels.  It seems the reason is that my older TV (Panasonic Plasma) cant decode the audio signal being passed through the Roku.  If I go with an Arc sound bar, which was already being considered, I may solve the issue.  I would have the Roku in connect to the TV HDMI input 1, then have the eArc (input 2) connect to the Arc. Is that how you have yours set up?  One of my question was remote usage, you stated above its good, are you still having good response there?  Thank you.

T

I have a similar setup as well. Only difference is a Sony X900H. Roku connected to HDMI 4 and Sonos Arc to HDMI 3 (ARC)  I’ve been trying to compare to the sound between the Roku Ultra and the native Netflix app to see if truly getting Dolby Atmos from the Roku.  It seems like Dolby Atmos shows as the audio input on everything with the Roku even when I know there is not Atmos. I’m ok with this as long as when there is Atmos, it’s actually Atmos. Does anyone has suggestions on a good Dolby Atmos scene on Netflix that I could compare the between the Roku app and the Sony (Android) native app? 

T
Userlevel 3
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You need the Roku 2020 to stream Dolby Atmos on Netflix. Amazon Prime will stream Atmos on the previous Roku. In case you don’t know, you check on your Sonos S2 phone app to see if it’s streaming Atmos or something else. S2app>System>About my System and scroll down to Sonos Arc SL:

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