Sonos Arc and Samsung - eARC compatibility issues



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I have received an e-mail from Samsung to advise Sonos and Samsung are working on this issue and should have an update mid September. 

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I have read this thread on the Samsung TV and I am in the same situation. The Sonos Tech after several jours of trouble shooting said and I quote” upon checking both diags, the TV logs are still showing something that is not normal in the TV processor, here is the message: Input Format change Dolby MAT (2.0.0) --> Dolby MAT
(5.1.0) so basically the TV processor is constantly changing the audio format and it can cause some issues with the audio.”

 

I purchased it at  Best Buy and I am replacing the  TV with an LG OLED.   I have no reason to not believe the Sonos Rep

 

 

Hi All

I wanted to make you aware of an experience I am having with both Sonos and Samsung. I am on my second Samsung tv (replacement q95t) and the following letter to CEO’s of both companies should explain. Be interesting to know if any members of this community are aware or have experienced these issues.

Dear Patrick/Sang Ho Jo gwi-ha

 

Apologies for the direct approach, however I must make you aware of a situation with regards to two of your companies top consumer products.   I have been a loyal purchaser of both Samsung and Sonos products for a number of years now, and most recently have purchased your Sonos Arc Soundbar and Samsung Q95T television products.   On receipt of these products, I have noticed a compatibility issue between the two aforementioned products around the eARC connectivity. Simply put, once eARC is enabled on the Samsung device, no sound is transmitted via the Sonos Arc. Once Disabled however, sound is apparent.   From a samsung perspective, I have been issued a second device which has had the same issue, and no further known resolution to fix has been offered with technical advising its not a Samsung issue. From a Sonos Perspective, the response from technical has been to "confirm that the issue you are experiencing has been raised with the right teams who are looking into it, regarding e-ARC needing to be off to get audio from this TV. We don't have a timescale on a resolution at this time".   From a loyal user, this is far from perfect with no eta to fix, or even a guarantee that it will be fixed and no clear view on where the issue resides, with Samsung or Sonos?   On looking at the Samsung forums, this appears to be an issue not just for myself but for many other users now. The following is one example of feedback from Sonos on the Samsung Forums:  

"It does look like there may be some issues arising when the eARC function on the TV is enabled. DD+ is capable of carrying a compressed ATMOS signal, so you should still be able to experience ATMOS from your Arc. In the mean time however there's no fix for this.

 

I'm not able to give you a solid answer right now unfortunately, however the Arc is known to work with other TVs so my inclination would be that this is a Samsung issue. We are certainly aware of this however and we are reaching out to Samsung in order to get this resolved.

 

I would expect this to be fixable via a Firmware update, however I can't guarantee this unfortunately.

 

We are reaching out to Samsung in order to get this issue resolved. Due to the huge number of TV models and manufacturers, issues such as this do sometimes arise - in any case we are looking in to getting it resolved and we are happy to assist any customers which are affected by this issue.

 

So basically SONOS are blaming Samsung because the ARC works with other TV's. No firm promise of a fix, not very impressed with SONOS at this point as Samsung could be classed as a major supplier of global premium TV's, you would have thought that they would have ensured their premium soundbar would work with the new Samsung Flagship range, but apparently not."   So my ask is simple - please can your organisations work together to resolve this issue as opposed to the blame culture that has been our experience - Many users have purchased both devices on the strength of this eARC capability, and this is clearly advertised as a function of your devices.  My retailer in the UK is on standby to take these products back if we can't get to a resolution which would be a major disappointment so I hope you can find a solution to this issue for me.   Kind Regards   Mike

 

I have had a samsung technician attend my home to look at the same issue. When i choose AUTO the Sonos ARC mutes.. no sound! Also, when i turn my 2020 75” Samsung frame on the Sonos ARC sound cuts in and out. I have to unplug and reset it, once i have done that is it OK. 

 

I also took my Sonos ARC and tested it on a 2020 SONY And LG  TV and had no problems at all. 

 

Samsung tested a new samsung Soundbar with ATMOS and it worked fine.

 

Samsung and  SONOS are blaming each other. Doesn’t really help the consumer. 

I have had a samsung technician attend my home to look at the same issue. When i choose AUTO the Sonos ARC mutes.. no sound! Also, when i turn my 2020 75” Samsung frame on the Sonos ARC sound cuts in and out. I have to unplug and reset it, once i have done that is it OK. 

 

I also took my Sonos ARC and tested it on a 2020 SONY And LG  TV and had no problems at all. 

 

Samsung tested a new samsung Soundbar with ATMOS and it worked fine.

 

Samsung and  SONOS are blaming each other. Doesn’t really help the consumer. 

Also having this same problem with Sonos Arc and the Samsung Frame 55. eArc will not work, no sound when enabled.

 

Leaving this comment here to add my voice and follow up on a solution.

I spent a few hours this morning with Samsung and Sonos and I now have eARC auto enabled on my Sonos ARC (only speaker I have connected) working. Sonos was able to check on their end that it was connected and working as expected. It involved a lot of resetting, unplugging, plugging back in, rebooting. It is my belief that other inputs where interfering with its initial setup.

 

Try this: unplug everything from the Samsung One Connect box but the Sonos ARC. Select Reset on the Samsung TV (sucks you lose all saved settings). Boot up everything, enable eARC Auto, once enabled unplug the TV for 30 seconds and then plug it back in. This worked for me. I was then able to plug in all my other input devices, at this point the Sonos ARC stopped working (happened when I plugged in a Nintendo Switch) when that happened I unplugged the TV again for 30 seconds, plugged it back in and all is well with the world, beautiful Dolby Atmos (uncompressed) sound.

 

Let me know if this helps anyone else out.

Ya, the auto eARC setting didn’t ‘hold’ audio eventually just cut off, had to turn auto eARC off … waiting for a proper fix...

I will follow up an a few more phone calls and have found out the following:

Sonos has been diligently working on a fix for nearly 4 months. The issue from what I have gathered is the Q Symphony technology which is new and is not working properly with Samsung TV’s. IT is the only known brand to have issues facing the Sonos compatibility. Sonos said that it would be idiotic to not fix this problem because Samsung is #1 selling brand in the world and we need to sell our products. 

I spoke to tech from Best Buy, to figure out what to do with my brand new 2 days old 75” Q80T. An expert said that if your not planning on upgrading to Sonos in the next 6 months you should be fine however the Q80T is best quality versus Sony X950 or X900. I am taking a leap of faith that Sonos and Samsung find a fix quickly, I am hesitant to keep this unit and unsure what to do before my return window closes. Why have an expensive TV if you can not enjoy its features? 

I spent a few hours this morning with Samsung and Sonos and I now have eARC auto enabled on my Sonos ARC (only speaker I have connected) working. Sonos was able to check on their end that it was connected and working as expected. It involved a lot of resetting, unplugging, plugging back in, rebooting. It is my belief that other inputs where interfering with its initial setup.

 

Try this: unplug everything from the Samsung One Connect box but the Sonos ARC. Select Reset on the Samsung TV (sucks you lose all saved settings). Boot up everything, enable eARC Auto, once enabled unplug the TV for 30 seconds and then plug it back in. This worked for me. I was then able to plug in all my other input devices, at this point the Sonos ARC stopped working (happened when I plugged in a Nintendo Switch) when that happened I unplugged the TV again for 30 seconds, plugged it back in and all is well with the world, beautiful Dolby Atmos (uncompressed) sound.

 

Let me know if this helps anyone else out.

Having looked through the comments, let me contribute a little bit.

 

Set Up

  • 2020 55" Q95T (QE55Q95TATXXU)
  • Sonos Arc + Sub (gen 3) + 2 ones

Issue

I confirm that I face exactly the same issue as the one observed by Mike. 

In particular, once you enable the eARC you get no sound, while once you turn it off, you get sound output but up to 5.1 surround level and not the desired Atmos.

I am not sure that it will get resolved, but I guess I can hope for a solution by both Samsung and Sonos.

 

I have spoken to Samsung, Sonos and Best Buy this morning! Samsung said they have no current complaints on this issue. Sonos has said there is a known issue and their engineering teams are working on a fix but eta on update is unknown. They also said Samsung is the only brand which has a known issue to the HDMI ARC compatibility. Who knows if this will take another few months or weeks but I have a difficult decision to make either to return this Q80T and go with Sony Or take a leap of faith! 
 

any advice? 

Has this issue been fixed? I just purchased Q80T THIS PAST WEEKEND! I am concerned that upgrading my SONOS playbar to ARC will resort in the same issue you are all facing. Is this a world wide issue or isolated to UK? Are customer in USA finding same issue with Q80T and Sonos Arc compatibly? 
 

Any help appreciated? I spoke to Samsung tech and they say they have no complaints so far on this issue? They are not aware of an issue. They also said the most recent firmware on Q80T is 1301 August 4, 2020! I am tempted to return the TV if I can not use Sonos ARC with the Q80T
 

thank you.. 

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Interesting. For me, though I got my Arc early (so not from the latest manufacturing location), what I see is almost like clock work, every 25 to 30 minutes the sound cuts out for a split second. It use to be less predictable but much much more frequent, but after various firmware updates (on the TV, a Q90T, and the Arc) as well as a reboot of the Arc and the TV I’m now in this clockwork like state.

It is exceptionally odd. Most of my watching, however, is from an Xbox One (and I have tried and Xbox One S and Xbox One X, both have this clockwork like behaviour).

Hi Everyone. After reading through the various posts I still don’t see there being a resolution to the problem. We recently bought a Samsung Q80T bundled with the Sonos Arc and Sub (Gen3). Everything worked great till just recently: We are suddenly experiencing sound cutting in and out. I stress that everything was fine for weeks and the problem suddenly started for no apparent reason? Nothing has been changed in terms of system settings, connections, etc.

When the problem occurs disconnecting the Arc from the TV fixes the problem for a short time. Alternatively powering down the Arc and starting it back up fixes the problem for a short time. 

Otherwise sound from the TV speakers works fine and there is no sound outage. It is sound from the Arc that seems to be the problem.

My concern relates to the fact things were fine to begin with and the problem suddenly started for no apparent reason? If we were to change TV we may be in the same situation where the Arc works well in the beginning but then suddenly is plagued by gremlins. In the meantime there are reports of problems with other Arc+TV combinations. Hence the one common denominator seems to be the Arc.

 

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I am set to Auto and I don’t notice any dropouts at all. I added a SONOS AMP to “fold in” my existing in ceiling speakers as Surrounds. All sounds good to me.

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@BBH , question for you … so are you seeing any dropout of sound at all? And if not, are you set to auto eARC?

And of course I ended up rebooting everything this morning and can now play atmos streaming from the Apple 4K.  Not going to bother with the native apps for now.  Sounds awesome!

My q8dt with arc isn’t getting atmos according to the app.  Any ideas?  I have all the same settings as mentioned in this thread.  Tried with 4K Apple TV on input 1 and also through the native apps and not getting it.  Shows Dolby multi channel pcm 5.1.  Arc is in input 3.  Did everyone use the hdmi cable that came with the arc?  

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Hi Everyone, hope you get the Samsung fix, I swapped out the Q95T for an LG GX and its better in every way and eARC works with the ARC. Movies on Apple TV are now streaming in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and TRU Hd Blu Ray is uncompressed.

This sounds like an issue with one connect, and again hope this is rectified.

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I just received my SONOS ARC and set it up with my SAMSUNG Q8DT. No issues with the set up. The TV recognized the ARC and turned on all the appropriate settings, e.g., ATMOS to AUTO, etc. When playing ATMOS content, the S2 app shows Dolby ATMOS. My AppleTV 4K also recognized the ARC and   configured itself for ATMOS content.

One minor complaint, hugely reported, is that the ARC does not have Volume Level numbers, only a + at the top and a - at the bottom of the field when you raise or lower volume. Most think it is a pure lazy, minimal effort, setup by the SONOS people.

I do still have a minimal lip-sync issue. I have Comcast Cable and someone on that forum, I believe, posted this advice:

 

The lip sync issue is there...just enough to notice it. I stumbled across a post somewhere, possibly the Comcast Xfinity forum, where a poster had traced his sync issue to the Dolby implementation. He suggested that setting the Xfinity Cable box to “Stereo” (which I believe is PCM) instead of DD 5.1 fixes the sync on cable programming. Viola ! It does. Since most of my watching is cable fare, this is a decent solution for me until someone engineers a Dolby fix.

Also have the q8dt and arc with install slotted for Monday.  Subscribing to this thread and will share my experiences/settings/connections with everyone.  Sonos has a good track record of fixing things so I guess we will see.  Frustrating to spend this amount of money and have these type of issues!

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I have the Q8DT (Costco (big box store) version of the Q80T) and confirm it does NOT use the One Connect box. I am waiting for my back ordered Sonos Arc. I will report my experience back to the Community when I receive it.

 

Sonos, fix this quick please.  I am starting to assume that the ARC is currently back ordered due to this defect and the company trying to buy time to resolve it.  If that’s the case, that’s fine, but I expect all current ARC owners to be shipped a new unit to replace this recallable product.  
 

Sorry for the redundancy…. but we are all in this crappy situation, just like the COVID!  We need a vaccine for our speaker now!

I was notified last night that my backordered ARC has been shipped. I sure hope your assumption is correct and they have done something to the new batch of ARCs. I’ll post my adventures.


Great!  Please update ASAP.  I was told by a Best Buy employee that Sonos changed manufacturing locations recently, and that caused the back order delays.  Piecing info together, maybe there was an issue with earlier models.  I am tempted to return my soundbar and buy the “back ordered” model.  Sucks to have to wait, but may be worth it.

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I have the Q8DT (Costco (big box store) version of the Q80T) and confirm it does NOT use the One Connect box. I am waiting for my back ordered Sonos Arc. I will report my experience back to the Community when I receive it.

 

Sonos, fix this quick please.  I am starting to assume that the ARC is currently back ordered due to this defect and the company trying to buy time to resolve it.  If that’s the case, that’s fine, but I expect all current ARC owners to be shipped a new unit to replace this recallable product.  
 

Sorry for the redundancy…. but we are all in this crappy situation, just like the COVID!  We need a vaccine for our speaker now!

I was notified last night that my backordered ARC has been shipped. I sure hope your assumption is correct and they have done something to the new batch of ARCs. I’ll post my adventures.

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To my understanding, the Q80T model does not have an one connect box. Please confirm. If so, the above would indicate that the problem lies with the one connect box. TVs without the box works with eArc, TV with the box does not. This has also been suggested by other users.

I have the Frame (which has an one connect box) and cannot pass sound through eArc.

  

I have the Q8DT (Costco (big box store) version of the Q80T) and confirm it does NOT use the One Connect box. I am waiting for my back ordered Sonos Arc. I will report my experience back to the Community when I receive it.

Hello,

I too have the same TV just purchased a few days ago.  I watched several movies over the weekend and noticed sound occasionally cutting it (maybe just once or twice) during each film.  Today, however, the sound cut out after a few seconds, and remained off for several more before kicking back on.  I looked on this forum and proceeded advice on doing a power cycle, unplugging and replugging HDMI cords, and so far that has temporarily fixed the issue.  
 

I chose this TV because of its high ratings, and the performance so far is great.  I chose the Sonos ARC and Gen 3 Sub because of its design, up and coming reputation, and great sound (when working properly).  It was a pain wall mounting the TV (not really but I wouldn’t want to do it over again), so I do not want to be forced to return either products.  I really hope Sonos can find a solution soon.  I am seeing LG and Sony TVs having the same issue too, so I don’t think it is a Samsung problem.

 

that being said, however, I’ve read somewhere that Samsung’s eARC isn’t fully capable of delivering loseless sound data...Maybe that’s the issue?  Yet, people who have high end LGs are reporting Same lose of sound, so this pushes back onto Sonos.  
 

Sonos, fix this quick please.  I am starting to assume that the ARC is currently back ordered due to this defect and the company trying to buy time to resolve it.  If that’s the case, that’s fine, but I expect all current ARC owners to be shipped a new unit to replace this recallable product.  
 

Sorry for the redundancy…. but we are all in this crappy situation, just like the COVID!  We need a vaccine for our speaker now!

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I have a 55” Samsung QLED and arc set up and downloaded the Dolby Amaze trailer in Lossless form but it says ‘unsupported’ when I try to play it through the USB. Picture but no sound. Any help?

( I have Disney Plus also but can’t get the Atmos logo to show up) 

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To my understanding, the Q80T model does not have an one connect box. Please confirm. If so, the above would indicate that the problem lies with the one connect box. TVs without the box works with eArc, TV with the box does not. This has also been suggested by other users.

I have the Frame (which has an one connect box) and cannot pass sound through eArc.

  

I have the Q8DT (Costco (big box store) version of the Q80T) and confirm it does NOT use the One Connect box. I am waiting for my back ordered Sonos Arc. I will report my experience back to the Community when I receive it.

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