I have had a Sonos Arc for around 2 weeks now & its not fully setup for surround sound (I'm still waiting for my One SL's to be shipped) I knew the issues with the Arc & its incompatibility with DTS, however I came across this article which states that if I turn DTS/DTS-HD to PCM on my Panasonic UB9000, my eARC TV will be able to convert DTS/DTS-HD audio to Dolby Digital 5.1. Am I reading this correctly & has anyone tried this?
DTS via PCM?
If you just have the Panasonic UHD player and no other external media devices, all you need is the Arcana and some good HDMI cables. HDFury recommends Cable Matters, KabelDirekt or Zeskit cables. I am using these KabelDirekt cables:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMF1VJZ/
If you have more than one external media device, you need an HDMI switch. I am using a 3-port ROOFULL HDMI switch. It is no longer available, but here’s a 5-port switch:
https://www.amazon.com/ROOFULL-Premium-Switch-Support-Auto-Switch/dp/B083NWKPXW
Yes, the UB9000 will work just fine with the Arcana.
Yes, all of my Blu-ray and UHD discs that are encoded with a DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X soundtrack play as multichannel PCM out of the Arc. Before the Arcana, all I could get was stereo PCM because my TV is only equipped with HDMI ARC.
Would I need anything else apart from the Arcana, with my current setup to make this all work well?
Yes, the UB9000 will work just fine with the Arcana.
Yes, all of my Blu-ray and UHD discs that are encoded with a DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X soundtrack play as multichannel PCM out of the Arc. Before the Arcana, all I could get was stereo PCM because my TV is only equipped with HDMI ARC.
Am I correct in saying that most other brands have this enabled on their TV’s?
Browsing forums, there seems to be a lot of angry Samsung customers, so I am surprised that Samsung still won’t acknowledge this issue….
The only other issue I have seen that is similar to yours is LG TVs with eARC cannot play multichannel LPCM audio from Panasonic UHD players.
One way to get around these issues is getting an HDFury Arcana. It will allow any external media device like a UHD player to bypass your TV’s limitations and send audio directly to the Arc. I have an Arcana and it works great with my old Panasonic plasma and Panasonic DP-UB820 UHD player. All of my DTS discs play as multichannel PCM out of the Arc.
I have heard of the Arcana before & that looks like it maybe the way forward for me, as Samsung just won’t admit there is an issue.
The Panasonic DP-UB820 is pretty much the same as the UB9000, so that should work for me?
So all you're DTS discs play in ,multi channel surround sound?
Am I correct in saying that most other brands have this enabled on their TV’s?
Browsing forums, there seems to be a lot of angry Samsung customers, so I am surprised that Samsung still won’t acknowledge this issue….
The only other issue I have seen that is similar to yours is LG TVs with eARC cannot play multichannel LPCM audio from Panasonic UHD players.
One way to get around these issues is getting an HDFury Arcana. It will allow any external media device like a UHD player to bypass your TV’s limitations and send audio directly to the Arc. I have an Arcana and it works great with my old Panasonic plasma and Panasonic DP-UB820 UHD player. All of my DTS discs play as multichannel PCM out of the Arc.
https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/
Am I correct in saying that most other brands have this enabled on their TV’s?
Browsing forums, there seems to be a lot of angry Samsung customers, so I am surprised that Samsung still won’t acknowledge this issue….
In the interim, make sure you have downmix set tosurround encoded. Might give you a little bit extra.
Will do buddy, thanks again….
In the interim, make sure you have downmix set tosurround encoded. Might give you a little bit extra.
Had a long chat with a Samsung rep last night & I didn’t really get anywhere…. Firstly he denied that my TV had LPCM, then realised that it did….
Then there was a back & fourth of what settings to try, which I told him I had already done all of these, thanks to your help.
In the end he filed a complaint for me & someone is due to be calling me back today….
From reading other forums it is a major issue with Samsung TV’s & what is more worrying is that Samsung don’t seem to want to admit that its an issue….
If you just have the Panasonic UHD player and no other external media devices, all you need is the Arcana and some good HDMI cables. HDFury recommends Cable Matters, KabelDirekt or Zeskit cables. I am using these KabelDirekt cables:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMF1VJZ/
If you have more than one external media device, you need an HDMI switch. I am using a 3-port ROOFULL HDMI switch. It is no longer available, but here’s a 5-port switch:
https://www.amazon.com/ROOFULL-Premium-Switch-Support-Auto-Switch/dp/B083NWKPXW
My setup is Sky Q in HDMI 1, the Panasonic UHD player in HDMI 2 & the Sonos Arc in HDMI 3 eARC. Would I still need a HDMI switch, or would the Arcana & cables be sufficient?
Keep Anynet+ enabled and HDMI eARC set to Auto.
Try setting Digital Output Audio Format to Auto or PCM.
Set MPEG Audio on the Panasonic to Bitstream.
What HDMI cable are you using to connect the Panasonic to your TV?
Done all those things & still stuck on Stereo PCM….
The HDMI cables I use are….
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082SBMLYX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_5C5E3S9G4JNMY2ZPC6N8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
After some further research, it looks like it may just be your TV.
Take a look at this thread on Samsung’s community forums:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Qled-and-Frame/Buyer-beware-2020-QLED-eARC-LPCM-issues/td-p/1598450
Keep Anynet+ enabled and HDMI eARC set to Auto.
Try setting Digital Output Audio Format to Auto or PCM.
Set MPEG Audio on the Panasonic to Bitstream.
What HDMI cable are you using to connect the Panasonic to your TV?
On the Panasonic, set BD-Video Secondary Audio to off.
Is Anynet+ enabled on your TV?
What other options do you have for the HDMI eARC and Digital Output Audio settings?
What specific disc/movie are you testing?
BD-Video Secondary was already off.
When I disable Anynet+ it loses the Sonos Arc & turns off the HDMI-eARC Mode?
HDMI eARC is either off or Auto.
Digital Output Audio Format is PCM, Auto or Passthrough.
I have tried this with standard Region A Blu-ray a of The Silence Of The Lambs & The Thing, which both have DTS tracks?
Tried all the settings, but I couldn’t get it to output correctly.
All I get is Stereo PCM?
Even though you don’t currently have your surround speakers set up, the Sonos app should still already be showing “Multichannel PCM 5.1” or Multichannel PCM 7.1” not “Stereo PCM” from DTS-encoded discs.
What are your TV’s audio settings set to?
Not 100% sure, as I am at work as I type….
I will check when I get home, but I could swear that whenever I have played a DTS Blu-ray the S2 app has displayed Stereo 2.0…. What should my TV settings be for this to work?
My Panasonic Blu-ray Player is still set to Bitstream at the moment, as I had no idea that changing it to PCM would make this change….
If your TV is equipped with HDMI eARC, the Sonos Arc should play multichannel PCM surround sound through all your speakers. On a 7.1 mix, only the side surround channels will play out of the rear surround speakers because of the downmixing issue, but a 5.1 mix will play all the channels correctly.
What TV are you using?
Thanks for confirming, much appreciated. At least I can achieve surround sound now with my many DTS blu-rays….
My TV is the Samsung Q80T QLED….
The Panasonic player will convert a DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X soundtrack to multichannel PCM not Dolby Digital 5.1. The Sonos Arc supports multichannel PCM audio although there is an issue where the Arc is not downmixing 7.1 PCM to 5.1 PCM properly. Sonos is working on fixing this issue.
So the Arc will still play the correct surround sound through all the speakers, just not in Dolby Digital?
At present I am only getting 2 channel Stereo from any DTS disc….
I have been on a chat with HD Fury in regards to the setup with the Arcana & they seemed to insinuate that I will need a HDMI switcher….
I’m not sure if you would know this & apologies if I word this incorrectly, but currently Sky Q is playing all Dolby content perfectly, so if I connect my gear as you have kindly shown me, (Panasonic HDMI VIDEO OUT to Arcana HDMI IN, Sonos Arc to Arcana eARC OUT, TV HDMI 3 eARC to Arcana HDMI OUT)
what sound would the Sky Q box output, when a Dolby Atmos soundtrack is playing on a movie/TV program?
I spoke with HD Fury again & they have said that a new update will sort out some of my issues.
They also told me to swap my HDMI cable that connects from the Arc to the Arcana, as my current cable is too high. They have advised me to use the Sonos supplied one.
I’m going to sort this out tonight & update the Arcana, hopefully most of the issues will be ironed out….
You can turn on Night Sound (moon icon) in the Sonos app. I keep it on with normal TV viewing and turn it off when watching movies or listening to music. This setting lowers the dynamic range on the Arc so everything plays at about the same volume, including loud commercials.
I’ll give that a try….
Ive emailed HDFury with my queries to see if they have any answers….
You can turn on Night Sound (moon icon) in the Sonos app. I keep it on with normal TV viewing and turn it off when watching movies or listening to music. This setting lowers the dynamic range on the Arc so everything plays at about the same volume, including loud commercials.
I’m glad the Arcana is working with your Panasonic player. Does the Sky Q still play Dolby Atmos audio?
Try unplugging the Sky Q, TV, Arc, and Arcana from power for about a minute to see if it fixes your issues. Are you using the new HDMI cables for all the connections?
I would also post the question on HDFury’s Discord page and see if they can help. There might be a setting on the Arcana that can be adjusted to fix the audio delay.
Sky Q is still playing Dolby Atmos fine, as you said it would….
I unplugged everything & it’s still a bit flaky. I am using all brand new cables, so it shouldn’t be that?
Ill send the guy a message to see if there are some tweaks I can make….
The other thing I have noticed is that during an Ad break, the volume goes very high, where as the broadcast/programme is the ideal sound level….
Received the Arcana & setup was quite simple….
It works a treat now with my Panasonic UHD player & multi channel sound is playing through the Arc when playing DTS disc….
One small issue is that previously I could turn on the Sky Q & the TV would turn on automatically, now I have to turn the TV on first, then the Sky Q box, plus there is a small delay of sound, but I assume that is everything syncing via the Arcana??
I haven’t really looked or messed around with the settings, but I assume that this can be sorted via the settings menu?.
When does your Arcana arrive?
I would keep the Sky Q connected to the TV and connect the Panasonic to the Arcana and test it. If the people on the HDFury boards are correct (I don’t think they are) and the Sky Q box doesn’t work, you can add an HDMI switch.
Hopefully it will be here tomorrow?
I hope it works as you discussed, as that would be ideal for me & my setup….
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