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Question

Can't get Dolby Atmos to work with PC and Beam Gen 2 over eARC

  • April 27, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 48 views
Z

Hi, 

 

I am struggling to get Dolby Atmos to work correctly with my PC. I have a:

 

Nvidia RTX 5080 (PC HDMI audio source)

BenQ Mobiuz EX321UX Monitor (using eARC)

SONOS Beam Gen 2

  • Sub Gen 3

  • 2x One SL rears

 

What happens is that when the PC audio is set to "Dolby Atmos for Home Theater"

  • Audio doesn't work at all

  • Audio is choppy

  • Audio works for a bit, then cuts out for a moment or a few minutes, then works again. It's as if the audio "crashes" and restarts.

 

I recently swapped out the Sonos system for a Samsung HW-Q990F soundbar/sub/rears Atmos system, and it works as expected. Note - I used the same cables for both these setups, and only Sonos experienced the issue.

 

This is especially frustrating for me as I have 6 rooms filled with Sonos speakers, and would love to continue to be a customer!

 

Do you know what's going on here? Thanks!

4 replies

Corry P
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  • Corry P
  • Sonos Staff
  • April 28, 2026

Hi ​@ztaccardi 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I am sorry to hear of this issue you are having with playing audio from your PC to your Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

To be clear, you should not be having this issue - I have a Sonos soundbar connected to my Hisense TV and can play Atmos content from my PC without issue.

Given that you have tested with another soundbar which works, it certainly seems like the fault lies with your Beam, however.

I’d first try rebooting the BenQ monitor by unplugging it from power for a minute, just in case that does help with the device handshake.

Failing that, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports. Please recreate the issue and submit a diagnostic before calling (I recommend a phone call in the first instance for this issue, rather than a chat session online).

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
    Z
    • ztaccardi
    • Author
    • Contributor I
    • April 28, 2026

    Thanks, I will try that! ​@Corry P - could you share a bit more about how your PC to TV eARC connection is set up?

    Is your HDMI cable outputting through your GPU or motherboard? And is your GPU Nvidia or AMD?

    Airgetlam
    • Airgetlam
    • April 28, 2026

    The HDMI connection between the PC and TV doesn’t need to go to an eARC port. Any other HDMI port works. The CEC computer in the TV reflects the audio signal back out via the eARC port, but accepts any audio coming in via HDMI. So your Sonos remains connected to the TV’s eARC port, any device you want to ’hear’ Is connected to any other HDMI port on the TV.

    Bruce
      Corry P
      Forum|alt.badge.img+19
      • Corry P
      • Sonos Staff
      • April 29, 2026

      Hi ​@ztaccardi 

      Sure! I have a 4070 nVidia discrete GPU connected to my TV through HDMI and is on Windows 11. My Arc Ultra is connected to eARC on the TV.

      An important step is to install the free Dolby Atmos app from the Microsoft Store - without this, you won’t get Atmos output! You then also need to click on the volume control in the system tray on the taskbar, click the settings button next to the slider (“Select a sound output” is the tooltip text), and enable Spatial Audio.

      I hope this helps.

      "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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