WARNING: Beam does not support Dolby Digital Plus, That is a BIG deal

2496wireless,

For multi-channel audio to work well using the Dolby Atmos or DTS-X codecs, it looks like we’re all going to need new TV's with HDMI eARC, that’s from reading your post above and also looking at this brief comparison chart...

Not true as you've worded it. You don't need to use eARC to enjoy those codecs. For example, you can have a Dolby Atmos, DD+, or DTS X source direct into any component that has a decoder for it via an straight HDMI connection and it's fine You just can't do it using ARC .eARC is only necessary if you plan on using your TV as the source to feed the audio stream to your home theater and that audio stream is a higher bandwidth format than legacy ARC supports ( the most common version in use today). This means multi-channel PCM, True HD, Atmos, DTS X, DD+, etc.

Regardless, no Sonos products have decoders for any of those audio formats, nor do they support eARC and that's not changeable, it's a hardware limitation. So if you own a Sonos product, currently you get Dolby Digital at 640Kbps or Stereo PCM and thats all you'll ever get. DTS in any flavor isn't an option as we know.

Sonos must support eARC to stay relevant going forward. This means you're all re-buying new Sonos products to get it and the support for the good stuff in audio formats, or you're buying something else that supports everything including DTS if they continue to shun that format entirely.

2496wireless,

So, like me, do you expect the next generation PlayBar to support eARC, given too its backward compatibility? Only most of the streaming video services certainly seem to be heading towards Dolby Atmos, including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple Movies etc; some of which have their Apps built into, or connected to, many popular brands of TV these days, which do all the necessary processing/decoding before it is passed to the Receiver.

I understand that HDMI eARC ports will be appearing on new TV's later this year, here in the UK ...and one thing noticeable in the comparison chart above is that lip-sync correction is considered as being 'mandatory', rather than 'optional' with that type of hardware and is something that some sections of the industry really need to address.

If they don't, they can expect customer migration to other products. It's not just a passing fad, it's how ARC will be implemented going forward across the board.

eARC is about more than just increased bandwidth for higher bitrate audio streams.

It's a slippery slope, however. Everyone thinks they want Atmos, yet the amount of Atmos enabled home theaters that have the correct speaker deployment to utilize the benefits of Atmos is still quite small. I do think Sonos is actively adding more focus to their home theater category specifically as for them , and everyone, it's starting to heat up. It's a byproduct if the widespread availability of 1000s and 1000s of choices in multi channel ready content now at your fingertips inside your tv or a small box plugged into it. I would expect to see a less expensive set of rears from them so you aren't using play ones (just absurdity from the get go). Possibly some upfiring Atmos fronts if they dive in with both feet.

Sonos is not a home theater product, it was an afterthought. It's trying to be everything to everyone, and when you do that, product suffers. Be in the whole house music game or be in the single room multi channel home theater game..they are two different beasts, two different things. Cinema audio is quite different than music based stereo audio in countless ways.

For Atmos, You have two choices for height. Upfiring or ceiling mount. You have a high or vaulted ceiling, upfiring is useless and ceiling mount is expensive. Somewhat similarly to 7.1 for the general consumer, it's not practical.

This is where DTS X shines big time. That object based format can be used in any speaker configuration while Atmos is essentially height based. He heght speakers and Atmis isn't much to look at..or better said, listen to. Virtual Atmos is there, but it lacks comparatively (my opinion and my direct eval).

Sync adjust is present in more and more TV's outside of eARC. ARC is widely known to have sync issues and that addresses it. The reason is, more and more TV's are doing crazy processing shit to video signals which creates the issue as the audio gets decided and heard faster than the tv can take that wonderful 24fps Spielberg classic and make it a nice , wet looking and dynamically different 60 fps .

Word of warning for anyone looking at the Beam to start a 5.1 surround sound system, it will NOT work ideally for any streaming box except the Apple TV. I would suggest really doing your research and/or staying away from the Beam if you want a home theater solution.

The Beam does not support Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) and only supports PCM (poor quality) or Dolby Digital. Why does that matter? DD+ is the current standard. Dolby (the only thing Sonos support) sounds good but is hardly used anymore by anything halfway modern. PCM is the audio equivilent to standard definition TV.

DD+ is the de facto standard for streaming boxes and services. Hulu, Netflix, HBO and I want to say Plex support this standard and only this standard. Those services do not use Dolby Digital. To get Dolby Digital, that means the stream must be downconverted (transcoded) on the fly by either your streaming device or your TV before reaching the Beam. If you do not convert, you are forced to use the poor quality PCM.

Now here's the rub. Few TVs downconvert. If you have one that does? Great! You should have few problems. Thing is though today, few streaming boxes do as well. In fact, the only one that does that I can tell is the Apple TV 4K. The nVidia Shield does not, nor does any modern Roku device. The 2016 Ruku Ultra does, but the 2017 and 2018 models do NOT. Looking at Roku forums, a software update from Roku may have removed that option thus meaning no Roku converts DD+ to D.

I can not believe Sonos is selling a device, geared for home theater, that does not support what is a very common standard. Every single streaming device support DD+ along with all the major players including Netflix and Hulu. It is THE standard, yet Sonos does not support it.

Keep this in mind as you're researching. I find it very disappointing, and will be returning my Sonos products.

I don't know if you ever got your problem fixed but I had a 2017 Samsung TV which did not communicate well with my Xfinity box. It would only pass the stereo signal back to my Playbar (Playbar is optical only so HDMI not involved here). But both TV and cable box were supposed to be Dolby 5.1 compatible. What I ended up having to do was to buy a EDID emulator and then finally the TV and cable box would communicate properly. The emulator I bought was this one:

https://amzn.to/2tP4NtH

Maybe this will help someone else be able to use Dolby 5.1 at least.

I don't know if you ever got your problem fixed but I had a 2017 Samsung TV which did not communicate well with my Xfinity box. It would only pass the stereo signal back to my Playbar (Playbar is optical only so HDMI not involved here). But both TV and cable box were supposed to be Dolby 5.1 compatible. What I ended up having to do was to buy a EDID emulator and then finally the TV and cable box would communicate properly. The emulator I bought was this one:

https://amzn.to/2tP4NtH

Maybe this will help someone else be able to use Dolby 5.1 at least.

Did you have to change anything in the EDID emulator, or was it just plug and play? I see that there is a switch with multiple settings on it. I am hoping that could fix my problem. I have a Samsung TV and when I pass the audio through the TV, the Beam only sees stereo. If I use an optical cable directly from the cable box to the Beam it sees Dolby Digital. I have an Apple TV also connected to the TV, and that passes Dolby Digital to the Beam through the TV. So I think that box could be the answer.

Did you put the EDID emulator between the Xinity box and the TV?

I don't know if you ever got your problem fixed but I had a 2017 Samsung TV which did not communicate well with my Xfinity box. It would only pass the stereo signal back to my Playbar (Playbar is optical only so HDMI not involved here). But both TV and cable box were supposed to be Dolby 5.1 compatible. What I ended up having to do was to buy a EDID emulator and then finally the TV and cable box would communicate properly. The emulator I bought was this one:

https://amzn.to/2tP4NtH

Maybe this will help someone else be able to use Dolby 5.1 at least.

Did you have to change anything in the EDID emulator, or was it just plug and play? I see that there is a switch with multiple settings on it. I am hoping that could fix my problem. I have a Samsung TV and when I pass the audio through the TV, the Beam only sees stereo. If I use an optical cable directly from the cable box to the Beam it sees Dolby Digital. I have an Apple TV also connected to the TV, and that passes Dolby Digital to the Beam through the TV. So I think that box could be the answer.

Did you put the EDID emulator between the Xinity box and the TV?

Yes. The EDID emulator has some switches on it so you can tell it what it is supposed to be outputting video wise. I believe just having it between the two devices allowed it talk “talk” to one another audio wise.

On the second question, yes you need to place it between the TV and the Xfinity box.

Good luck!

Yes , I was disappointed with this fact as well ☹️. I bought 100€ Audio extractor to connect Chromecast Ultra. And I’m getting only stereo with Beam connected by optical SPDIF.
I have tried 5.1 edid than Netflix doesn’t offer any titles with more than two channels audio to cast.
When switched to 7.1 edid I was able to select audio with more than two channels on Netflix, but Sonos application gives messages that Beam doesn’t support DD+.
I don’t have ARC on my TV that is why I bought this extractor for audio.

Now I’m stuck wit this useless setup.

Netflix offers pretty much everything in DD 5.1. If you aren't getting it then you need to fix your source device, or reconfigure it. I use a TiVo BOLT, an Apple TV and an Xbox, all connected via HDMI to my Samsung TV. From my TV I run optical to my Playbar. I have two TV setups like this (the other is an LG TV and a TiVo mini, setup is the same).

I used to have to use an EDID faker on my older Samsung TV, and I had to mess with the service menus on the LG to get them to emit DD 5.1 over optical. In neither case was the problem anything to do with Sonos, it was getting the TVs to behave.

DD+ can’t be transported over optical. You are forcing your TV to transcode DD+ to DD.

I too have had problems with my Sonos Beam and surround. No idea if this was related to DD+ or not, but I had to solve it in different ways for my PS4 an my Mede8er.

I wrote about it here: https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/solving-lack-of-dd-support-in-soundbar-6820758?postid=16313027