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My current configuration is a brand new Samsung QN65QN85AAFXZA with a Sonos Arc, 3rd Gen Sub and 2 Sonos Ones. All streaming services are through the latest Apple TV. The Arc is connected directly to the HDMI 3(eARC). Every streaming service experiences the same issue. A selected show/ movie or channel on Hulu live will begin and will produce no sound. Once I flip around and try to start/ stop another program (which also may have no sound) I can return to the original program we want to watch and half the time it will have the sound. If not, I can flip around again, return and hope to have sounds. This happens over 50% of the time we are trying to watch a program. Can anyone tell me why this sound issue is happening and what I can do to resolve this?

Samsung TVs with eARC are known to have problems with the Sonos Arc. If you search these forums, you will see many Samsung owners with similar issues.

This isn’t ideal, but if you set Change Format to On under the Apple TV’s audio settings and set the New Format to Dolby Digital 5.1, do you still experience the same problem?


I've read all the posts. No one seems to have a definitive solution.

If I set the Change Format to On and Dolby 5.1, the problem does seem to go away. But part of the reason for this set up was to take advantage of the Dolby Atmos. Are you suggesting the Apple TV is to blame and a Roku would allow the sound features I'm looking for?


I think it is less of an Apple TV problem and more of a Samsung eARC problem. But I do know the Apple TV 4K uses a Dolby MAT encoder. This could be part of the problem, but I am not certain.

A Roku Ultra doesn’t use Dolby MAT. You could always try the Roku Ultra and see if it works. If it does, then great. If it doesn’t, you can return it and know that the root of the problem is probably your Samsung TV.


Appreciate the information and advice. Thank you.