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Sonos Arc: Should you still change audio format on Apple TV 4K to DD 5.1 if you have DD 5.1 plus?

  • July 20, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 1753 views
J
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Hi All,

I have the Apple TV (4K) and Sonos Arc. If I leave the “Change Format” to “Off” on the Apple TV (the default), it still seems to pass 5.1 through to the Sonos Arc. This is different behaviour to that of the Beam where you had to hardcode it by changing the format to DD 5.1, otherwise who knows what you were going to get.

My question is, what is the recommended setting to ensure Dolby Digital plus is passed through to Apple TV onto the Arc? My TV supports Dolby Digital Plus and I want to ensure I am not re-encoding do DD 5.1 if I don’t have to be, and that might be hardcoding it to DD 5.1 only ...and I miss out on DD 5.1 plus ...and therefore ATMOS.

Any help appreciated!

 

 

Best answer by Annazel S

Hi @JiminLondon.

Thanks for reaching out.

Most Dolby Atmos audio can be played through HDMI-ARC using the Dolby Digital Plus codec.

By default, Apple TV uses the best audio format available and automatically plays sound in the highest quality that’s supported by your home theater setup.

I recommend setting the audio format of the Apple TV to Dolby Atmos, since the TV supports the same format, it doesn’t have the need to re-encode the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

 

You may check this article that shows which physical connections are required for Dolby Atmos compared to other home theater audio formats.

 

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns, we are always here to help.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

4 replies

Annazel S
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  • Annazel S
  • Retired Sonos Staff
  • Answer
  • July 24, 2020

Hi @JiminLondon.

Thanks for reaching out.

Most Dolby Atmos audio can be played through HDMI-ARC using the Dolby Digital Plus codec.

By default, Apple TV uses the best audio format available and automatically plays sound in the highest quality that’s supported by your home theater setup.

I recommend setting the audio format of the Apple TV to Dolby Atmos, since the TV supports the same format, it doesn’t have the need to re-encode the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

 

You may check this article that shows which physical connections are required for Dolby Atmos compared to other home theater audio formats.

 

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns, we are always here to help.

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question
J
J
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  • JiminLondon
  • Author
  • Avid Contributor II
  • July 26, 2020

Many Thanks!

O
  • OKBAMA
  • Lyricist I
  • January 8, 2021

have a LG OLED with Earc that has Atmos but using Apple TV I get Atmos but 5.1 defaults to 2.0. Apple says I have to go into setting and manually select 5.1. When I take the apple out of the system the LG plays both formats automatically. Any one else having that problem

Annazel S
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  • Annazel S
  • Retired Sonos Staff
  • January 8, 2021

Hi @OKBAMA.

Thanks for reaching out, let me check it for you.

Kindly provide the TV’s model number?

What type of connection is in use from Sonos Arc to your TV, is it via HDMI-ARC or HDMI-eARC?

We need to know if the TV is passing a supported audio format on to Sonos?

Sonos speakers like Arc can only play what is handed to them.

 

To better understand what’s going on and to identify the audio codec/format the Arc is receiving, kindly replicate the issue, then submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app while the issue is occurring, and reply with the confirmation number. I'd start by reviewing your system and go from there, it will help in identifying what's possibly causing the issue.

 You can find more information on playing Atmos audio through Arc in our Dolby Atmos article.

 

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out.

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