Skip to main content

Finally decided to reach out to the professionals here after going crazy over this for a few days.

 

I have a new Hisense U8 with the latest firmware, a Sonos ARC with two One SLs and for some reason I can’t get Surround to work with PS5 games. I have my input set to Passthrough on the TV and have eARC on but any PS5 settings I tried didn’t work with different results.

LPCM: Setting the output to LPCM and 5.1 channels on the PS5 shows as PCM (Stereo) on the Sonos App when playing a game. It’s also incredibly quiet.

Dolby: Setting the output to Bitstream(Dolby) shows as Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Sonos App but nothing is played on the rear channels, for all intents and purposes it appears to be playing as Stereo….

 

As a reference I have my Xbox One X set to output as Dolby Atmos and every game I can throw at it work with 5.1 audio perfectly, I suspect their transcoding is really good.

On the PS5, be sure to have HDMI Device Type set to AV Amplifier, not Sound Bar.

Okay so that did not work but it got me thinking, I can’t get surround to work on the Nintendo Switch either. What do both of these have in common that the Xbox doesn’t? They both need LPCM which requires working eARC whilst Atmos can be passed through Dolby Digital through regular ARC. So I think even though my TV reports that I am in eARC mode, I suspect the eARC isn’t actually working.

I think my eARC doesn’t work but I have no idea how to fix it, I’m guessing this is going to be more on the TV side than on the Sonos side though...

That may explain why LPCM isn’t working. If you turn off earc (not sure that’s even an option) can you pass DD 5.1 from PS5 and get the rear channels?

Have you tried the other Digital Audio Out settings like Auto or Dolby Digital Plus?

You mean on the TV instead of Passthrough? Yeah I’ve tried all of them and they all give me stereo sound as well unfortunately. 

I’m going to try buying and changing all my HDMI cables to make sure it’s not a bandwidth issue, won’t be able to report back for a few days unfortunately :(

Hisense has been a TV brand that has frequently been complained about on these forums. Just as a precaution, you might want to check to ensure that you’ve got the latest firmware for the TV installed. 

Coming back here to report that changing all my HDMI cables to HDMI 2.1 certified cables did not help. My suspicion is that the TV doesn’t passthrough LPCM 5.1 unscathed and actually passes it to the SONOS ARC as PCM 2.0 (Stereo) .. I guess I have to start saving up for an HDFURY Arcana :(

 

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings