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paybackprahl
Contributor I
June 28, 2018
Answered

Sonos Beam for 5.1 with PS4 Games

Thanks for your time. I know this is somewhat speculative as we don't have the Sonos Beam in-hand, but I'm planning to set up a 5.1 system with the Sonos Beam, Sub, and 2 Sonos Ones. My TV is a Samsung KS8000.

By your best estimation, will the following setup work for passing 5.1 sound from video games?

1. PS4 -> HDMI -> TV
(PS4 Audio Format set to: "Linear PCM"
2. TV -> HDMI ARC -> Sonos Beam + Sub + Ones
(TV Audio Format set to: "PCM")

I've done some cursory research, and I believe with the PS4's Audio Format set to "Linear PCM" and the Samsung TV's Audio Format set to "PCM", then 5.1 will properly pass-through to the Sonos system. But my vocabulary might be off and I might be misunderstanding what PCM does.

If I set my PS4 to output "Bitstream - Dolby Digital" instead of PCM, the TV automatically changes from "PCM" to "Dolby Digital". Would these settings, versus the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph, make any difference in achieving 5.1 with Sonos? I saw mention elsewhere that this is technically a downgrade or lesser version of what PCM does.

I'm just wanting to make sure I'm good-to-go before purchasing the Beam, the Sub, and a second One.
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jgatie
jgatieAnswer
June 28, 2018
PCM in this instance would be stereo. The Beam will not play Multi-Channel PCM. You would want to set the PS4 to 'Bitstream Dolby Digital' to get 5.1.
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5 replies

jgatie
jgatieAnswer
June 28, 2018
PCM in this instance would be stereo. The Beam will not play Multi-Channel PCM. You would want to set the PS4 to 'Bitstream Dolby Digital' to get 5.1.
    paybackprahlAuthor
    Contributor I
    June 28, 2018
    PCM in this instance would be stereo. The Beam will not play Multi-Channel PCM. You would want to set the PS4 to 'Bitstream Dolby Digital' to get 5.1.

    Thank you, that is helpful. So even though HDMI can, in theory, carry 5.1 uncompressed PCM because it's higher-bandwidth than Optical, the Beam itself doesn't support 5.1 PCM--only 5.1 in compressed formats (like DD or DTS). Thus, PS4 Audio Out should be "Bitstream Dolby" and the TV Audio Out should also be "Bitstream Dolby".

    Is the above statement technologically and functionally correct?
    jgatie
    jgatie
    June 28, 2018
    The Beam only supports DD 5.1 at this time. So yes, your output should be set to 'Bitstream Dolby'.
      Zonasound
      Lyricist I
      August 3, 2018
      Hey Payback, any update on how the beam sounds with your KS8000? What settings did you finally settle with on your PS4 and TV for sound? I have the same setup and want to buy beam soon.
      WilliamKerrigan
      Lyricist I
      March 27, 2019
      Yes, even I would like to hear the updates!
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