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Question

Will new Sonos ARC provide full featured Dolby Atmos quality sound when connected to: 1) ARC-enabled Samsung TV (Q9; late 2018 edition); and 2) latest Atmos-enabled 4K Apple TV?

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We really enjoy our current Sonos home theater set up (Playbar, Sub, two 1’s) connected to a 75” Samsung Q9 TV (which has ARC but not eARC capability). I have pre-ordered the new Sonos ARC sound bar to replace the Playbar of course.

 

That said, I am getting different answers and information from the Sonos community site and also when chatting and then escalating to speak with the Sonos techs. Still no clarity and consistent information.

 

So can anyone give me a definitive answer as to what I can expect by way of full or limited or no Dolby Atmos sound if I go through with it and install the new ARC with my:

  1. Samsung Q9 (late 2018) TV with ARC but not eARC 
  2. Apple 4K TV?
  3. Are there any work arounds if the answer is limited / no to get full Dolby Atmos with my set up?

Thank you in advance.

 

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32 replies

H
Userlevel 6
Badge +7

Hi all. I got my Arcana eARC box delivered today and have connected it to my Apple TV 4K and from there to my Samsung Q9F and Sonos Arc. I can confirm I am now getting Dolby Atmos.

Awesome! Welcome to the club!

Arc + Sub 3 + One SLs = Awesome and Loving It!
J

Hi all. I got my Arcana eARC box delivered today and have connected it to my Apple TV 4K and from there to my Samsung Q9F and Sonos Arc. I can confirm I am now getting Dolby Atmos.

H
Userlevel 6
Badge +7

So can anyone give me a definitive answer as to what I can expect by way of full or limited or no Dolby Atmos sound if I go through with it and install the new ARC with my:

  1. Samsung Q9 (late 2018) TV with ARC but not eARC 
  2. Apple 4K TV?
  3. Are there any work arounds if the answer is limited / no to get full Dolby Atmos with my set up?

Thank you in advance.

 

I think you’ve gotten some good answers here and I’ll echo @jam9’s recommendation of the HD Fury Arcana (https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/) for the following reasons (based off your original post and some of your other comments): 

  • While some people have gotten lucky getting Atmos from Apple TV over regular HDMI-ARC, because of the way that Apple sends Atmos (basically LPCM in a Dolby MAT container - don’t ask) whether it will work for you or not is highly dependent on your TV model’s audio capabilities. Arcana takes your TV and its audio capabilities / limits out of the mix and sends whatever the Apple TV is capable of directly to the Sonos Arc. 
     
  • There’s a lot of discussion about “full” vs. “limited” Atmos, but Atmos is Atmos regardless of how it’s being transmitted. Yes Atmos can be sent over “lossy” Dolby Digital Plus or over “lossless” Dolby TrueHD, but, as another poster very correctly said, it’s highly doubtful you’d hear a meaningful difference on the Sonos Arc. 
     
  • And, since you don’t use Blu-ray Discs and only watch via streaming apps, then you’d only ever be getting Atmos over lossy Dolby Digital Plus anyway, so it’s a moot point. 
     

So, in a nutshell, the HD Fury Arcana is, so far, the only sure bet that will give you the full sonic capabilities of your Apple TV when paired with the Sonos Arc (short of buying a new TV, and even then we’re still seeing plenty of issues with eARC-compatible TVs). I’ve got an Arcana on pre-order myself for my Apple TV 4K / Arc / Vizio E70-F3 setup and I’m looking forward to receiving it. 

Arc + Sub 3 + One SLs = Awesome and Loving It!
J

Just to follow up on this post, I’ve pre-ordered one of these: https://www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/. It’s currently in development but is supposed to allow you to split output from an HMDI source to your TV and to the Sonos Arc via eARC. I don’t like having to spend so much when I think Sonos simply could have done a better implementation of connectivity to the sound bar, but if this works, I’ll be happy. In the meantime, I am enjoying getting Dolby DD and the sound is generally very good.

K
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Mine arrived two days ago and I have a qe49q70r (2019).  It doesn’t appear that I'm get ATMOS through the built in Netflix app (I can’t see the ATMOS logo in the Sonos now playing screen.)

Where do you look to see if you’re getting DD or DD+?

 

thanks.

B
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

@jam9 id be curious if the splitter works. Everything I’ve read would suggest not but… worth a shot a suppose! I’m curious. 

Beam. 2x Play:1 - 2x Play One (gen 2) - Sub - 2x Play 5 - Move
R

I’ve a Samsung Q80R as well. I can get nothing but 5.1 out of the Arc and it says on the Sonos app system setting that the Arc input is stereo 2.0 from the UHD Blu Ray. I tried resetting the TV to factory settings and briefly it showed that I could access Dolby Digital plus in the settings rather than PCM. But as soon as I set up Netflix again I noticed no Atmos note on movies I knew had it, went back to settings and it had reset to PCM with the Dolby options greyed out again.


I bought the Arc knowing I didn’t have E-ARC HDMI on the telly but had read that Dolby Atmos was available through just HDMI ARC so I thought `you beaut! I’ll have that then’. 
But telly says nooooo.

T

I also have a Samsung 75” Q9FN, with Sky Q.

My ARC arrived this morning to replace my Playbar. I already have the Sub and Surrounds. 

I already knew the Q9 does not support eARC. The Sonos ARC is connected via HDMI/Arc

 

Neither the Samsung apps nor Sky Q will output ATMOS in my setup - only DD 5.1

It is disappointing the TV does not support eARC considering I paid a significant sum of money for it, but there ya go - my mistake. I didnt realise I was gonna want eARC further down the road.

A
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

In case it helps anyone I’m getting ATMOS through the netflix app on an LG b7 oled, not bad for a 2017 tv!, prime only seems to be did, switching out the hdmi cable with the supplied one did the trick, oh and it sounds absolutely incredible

J

I hope you’re right, but I believe that a splitter will not work because the Arc needs to receive an HDMI ARC input.  I’m not familiar enough with LPCM, would that change this requirement?  I’m not even sure that the Q9F would pass LPCM, at least from extrernal sources.  But, would love for someone to test this once this capability is enabled!

My understanding of HDMI ARC is that it’s just a two-way link and there is no difference in the cabling. Anyhow, I ordered a splitter and will try it out, but I’m guessing that we’ll need Sonos to update the Arc for LPCM first so that it can decode the Atmos signal that the Apple TV 4K actually sends. In the meantime, 5.1 seems to work fine.

J

@jam9 I have a similar setup to you and been struggling to get anything other than 5.1. Can I ask what film/program you used on Netflix to get DD+?

 

Many thanks 

I took a look again just now on both Netflix and Amazon, both through the Samsung apps and via Apple TV. I can only see content available in up to 5.1. However, I can confirm that the HDMI ARC connection is at least passing this through in all cases. I could swear I was able to find DD+ yesterday but I just don’t see it now, even after having gone through a bunch recent uploads on the two services.

E

Hi - i have a Samsung Q90R , Sonos ARC and heres my experience with the setup:

Connection is: Arc>TV>Various Devices

 

Internal Apps: Atmos for Netflix, Amazon Prime. Not detected for Disney+ or Apple TV

Amazon Firestick 4K: Atmos for Amazon Prime, Disney+ (symbol but limited due to Europe restrictions. Not detected for Netflix

BT Youview:  No Atmos for internal apps

PS4 Pro: No Atmos passthrough for any internal apps

No lip sync issues encountered.

 

D
Userlevel 1
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I tried the built-in Netflix app this evening and was able to get DD+ on the Arc. Whether the sound options are greyed out in the TV sound setup or not does seem to depend on what the current stream is presenting. Since my Q9F supports ARC but not eARC, I don’t think I’m getting Atmos even via the TV’s built-in app, just DD or DD+. Once the ARC supports LPCM, I think using a splitter from the Apple TV 4K to the Arc and TV ought to do the trick.

 

I hope you’re right, but I believe that a splitter will not work because the Arc needs to receive an HDMI ARC input.  I’m not familiar enough with LPCM, would that change this requirement?  I’m not even sure that the Q9F would pass LPCM, at least from extrernal sources.  But, would love for someone to test this once this capability is enabled!

D

@jam9 I have a similar setup to you and been struggling to get anything other than 5.1. Can I ask what film/program you used on Netflix to get DD+?

 

Many thanks 

J

I tried the built-in Netflix app this evening and was able to get DD+ on the Arc. Whether the sound options are greyed out in the TV sound setup or not does seem to depend on what the current stream is presenting. Since my Q9F supports ARC but not eARC, I don’t think I’m getting Atmos even via the TV’s built-in app, just DD or DD+. Once the ARC supports LPCM, I think using a splitter from the Apple TV 4K to the Arc and TV ought to do the trick.

S
Userlevel 1

I installed my new Arc, sub and a pair of one's yesterday. Connected the Arc to my 2019 Samsung Q90r TV with the provided HDMI cable. Have an Apple TV 4k connected to the TV as well with this HDMI cable. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NXPS94Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I can confirm that I'm not getting any Arc content from Netflix or iTunes Movies via the Apple TV 4k. On the embedded apps on the TV, I am getting Atmos from Netflix. I'm not able to get it from the iTunes Movie app on the TV I think because Atmos isn't supported in the app. Haven't tried Amazon Prime yet.

I've seen the talk of a firmware update potentially bringing eArc to this TV - definitely hoping that occurs. Also talk of a new Apple TV coming soon - perhaps it will handle Atmos differently and that will fix the problem. 

D
Userlevel 1
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I have the same setup as you.  Sadly, I’m not confident that we will ever be able to have ATMOS, or even DD+, from external devices (such as the ATV 4K) as it seems passthrough will not work.  I’ve seen some reports that Netflix on the internal app may pass ATMOS.  But my family is very comfortable with the ATV interface and that is what we primarily use for content, so don’t think it’s worth it for me to switch to another streaming solution just to get ATMOS on one service.

I’ve held off on pulling the trigger for the Arc until I saw some test cases with my setup, and looks like I made the right call for now.  I’m sure it’s a solid step up from my current Playbase/Sub combo, but for now think I will stay put.  But fingers crossed for a software update that will magically enable passthrough!

And kicking myself for not getting the LG as I was on the fence...

J

Hopefully Sonos will prioritize the LPCM update.

M
Userlevel 4
Badge +6

The AppleTV uses LPMC to pass high definition audio. At a guess Your TV would probably down mix it to PCM Stereo worst case. There are similar reported issues on other TVs. LG have released new firmware that enables LPCM pass through on the C9 via eARC. Once the Sonos Arc gets updated for LPMC in the future than at least on those TVs the problem will resolved  

Potentially your TV might be able to pass DD + from the internal Apps. You would probably be best to contact Samsung directly to understand the pass through capability of your TV. 
 

Splitting the hdmi audio and video and trying to feed the audio into the Arc will not work. The Arc is expecting an ARC/eARC input and this uses different audio pins compared to the standard HDMI audio. 

J

I have a 2018 Samsung Q9F, an Apple TV 4K, and an Arc. I get same issues as noted above, that the Samsung will output only PCM to the Arc and the option to select Dolby 5.1 or Plus is greyed out. Changing the audio output settings on the Apple TV 4K seem to have no effect on this. I did read  that Samsung seems to be updating the software on some older TVs so that the HDMI ARC port works like eARC where the underlying hardware is capable of supporting that. I don’t know whether this will happen for the 2018 models or not. In the meantime, I’m considering trying something like this (https://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Splitter-1x2-4K-60Hz/dp/B07VP37KMB/ref=pd_sbs_23_5/130-9843274-2515207) to split the signal coming out of the Apple TV 4K so that the Arc gets ATMOS and the TV gets Dolby Vision. I should add that I haven’t tried the optical to HMDI out from the Samsung TV to the Arc.

Airgetlam

I’ve not seen any rumors. And since it would require new electronics, it’s hard to believe it could be a software update. 

Bruce
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Yes the lack of robust interoperability with the ATV might be a deal breaker for me too. Not sure the ROI will be there unless something changes. Of course a new ATV is rumored to be released in 2020 so who knows what that will offer. 
 

finally anyone know anything about a rumored Samsung firmware update enabling eARC on recent ARC TVs? Probably asking too much but I’ve got a lot invested in this fairly new tv model.

D
Userlevel 1
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I basically have the same setup as you (2018 Q9F, Apple TV 4K). From everything that I’ve read, I will not be able to pass an ATMOS signal to the Arc. As you note, the Samsung does not have eARC, so “full” ATMOS was never going to happen - I don’t even have a Blu Ray player so this wasn’t a realistic option for me as I understand streaming services do not carry this. 
 

For “partial” ATMOS, my understanding is that the Apple TV will not pass the signal via DD+ like some of their competitors (Roku, for one). I read it is actually a higher quality version than the lesser implementations within other streamers, but is too big to carry over ARC. So, it is likely that this setup will not give “partial” ATMOS either (Apple recommends connecting directly to soundbar, which obviously the Sonos ARC is not capable of). This is of course all speculation until someone can actually test it. 

I will be interested to see confirmation of the above, and similarly if getting the benefit of Dolby Digital+ alone is worth upgrading from my Playbase. Also curious to hear feedback in music / separation. I’m happy with the Playbase in my condo, but could always be happier. 
 

 

F

I’d like to by a Sonos Arc for my Apple TV 4K.  Apple makes it clear on their site that ATV does not play Atmos via Arc.  So it looks like I won’t be buying a Sonos Arc.  Unless after the Arc is released it magically works with my ATV and plays Dolby Atmos.  Pretty sure that won’t happen.

Airgetlam

Yes, except for maybe Apple TV. That remains to be seen. I’m anxious to get my own Arc, and see how the Vizio handles the MAT signal from the Apple TV to the HDMI ARC port.

Bruce
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