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Era 300 inside speakers not firing with Dolby Atmos

S
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I have an Arc, sub and Era 300s for rears. Arc is connected via eArc to an LG G3 TV.

I’m using the Dolby Labs Functional Testing album on Apple Music on an Apple TV 4K. When I play the 7.1 track, everything sounds great. Surround and rear surround channels are very distinct, and the rear surround channels are as loud as the surround channels. Surrounds play from the outside speakers, and rear surrounds from the inside speakers. Great! However, when I play the Atmos tracks, it’s a different story. Surrounds and rear surrounds sound identical, and both come from the outside speakers. It seems as though all I can hear the the inside speaker is probably some reverberation. Is this a bug, by design, or something wrong with my system? The Sonos app correctly shows 7.1 pcm or Dolby Atmos, as appropriate.

As an aside, the Arc was originally connected via Arc to an older Sony TV (so no Atmos support). When I got the LG and connected the Arc to it, I got no height channel playback at all when playing the functional test tracks, even though the app was showing Atmos. I removed the 300s as surrounds and re-added them, and the height channels showed up. I wonder how many people might be blissfully unaware their 300s aren’t working as they should!

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 16 May 2023, 04:31

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G
Userlevel 7

The Dolby Labs Functional Testing album is no different than any other Atmos album on Apple Music. So if the test album plays correctly, then the other Atmos tracks should play correctly too.

Another way to test is by playing these Dolby test tone files via AirPlay from an iOS device to the Apple TV 4K:

https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-test-tones_7_1_4.mp4

https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-test-tones_5_1_2.mp4

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
S
Userlevel 2
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The Dolby Labs Functional Testing album is no different than any other Atmos album on Apple Music. So if the test album plays correctly, then the other Atmos tracks should play correctly too.

Another way to test is by playing these Dolby test tone files via AirPlay from an iOS device to the Apple TV 4K:

https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-test-tones_7_1_4.mp4

https://download.dolby.com/us/en/test-tones/dolby-test-tones_5_1_2.mp4

My point is that, to my mind, the functional testing tracks don’t seem to play correctly. A 7.1 track does - surrounds come from the outside speakers, rear surrounds come from the inside speakers. But with the atmos tracks both surrounds and rear surrounds come from the outside speakers. There is muffled sound from the inside speakers at this time, but I feel it’s more vibrations from the outside speakers playing. I also can’t hear anything much from the inside speakers playing atmos music tracks or movies. I’d be grateful if you (or anyone) could play those functional testing tracks and tell me whether you can distinctly hear the rear surrounds voice coming from the inside speakers. 

Oh, and does atmos actually work across AirPlay? I didn’t think it did. 

Thanks for the help. 

S
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Please ignore that fact that I marked the previous post as an answer. That was a mistake, and I can’t see how to undo it. I also can’t see a way to edit a post, so have added this new information here. 
 

I have now tried the Dolby tracks linked to above via AirPlay. They do play in Atmos, which is great. But I’m getting the same result. Surrounds and rear surrounds play from the outside 300 speakers. Can you please play these tracks with your ear against the outside speaker. Do rear surrounds play from there too, with maybe just some muffled audio from the inside speaker?

I’ve also noticed that front height and rear height play from both the Arc and the 300’s height speaker. Is this normal?

G
Userlevel 7

I just tested the 7.1.4 Atmos track on the Dolby Functional Testing album. All of the channels play out of the correct drivers on the Era 300s including the inside drivers. The inside drivers aren’t as loud as the outside and upward-firing drivers, but they are playing the correct audio. This is my main complaint with the Era 300s as surrounds. Hopefully Sonos will allow us to adjust the side and rear surround levels independently with a future update.

In general, you cannot AirPlay Dolby Atmos audio. But in this specific instance, you can. I’ve done it many times. Try it for yourself.

EDIT: I also just tested the 7.1.4 test tones video via AirPlay. Only the side surround tone plays out of the outside drivers. The inside drivers play the rear surround tone.

It is NOT normal to hear the front and rear height tones to play from both the Arc and Era 300s. It should be one or the other.

There is another bug that Sonos is aware of. The TV Level slider for the surround audio only adjusts the side surround channel and not the rear surround channel.

What is the Digital Sound Output setting on the TV currently set to?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
S
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Ok, thanks very much for testing things out. So when the rear surrounds play, you hear nothing from the outside speakers? As I said, I did try the Airplay method and it worked well, but got the same results as the Dolby tracks via Apple Music.

It would appear something is wrong here then, especially since I don’t get distinct front and rear heights either. Any suggestions as to where to go from here? Ive already removed the 300s as rears and re-added them. Is there a way to get Sonos’ attention on this board?

G
Userlevel 7

Yes, when the rear surround tone plays, nothing is heard from the outside drivers. See the edits I made to my last post.

What is the Digital Sound Output setting on the TV currently set to? If it is set to Auto, change it to Pass Through and test again.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
S
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Yes, when the rear surround tone plays, nothing is heard from the outside drivers. See the edits I made to my last post.

What is the Digital Sound Output setting on the TV currently set to? If it is set to Auto, change it to Pass Through and test again.

Just came back from more testing, and happened to try Pass Through before I saw your post. All the difference in the world! I can find no explanation of what Auto means, but now all the channels are nicely discrete using the Apple Music tracks. Playing the other tracks through Airplay, it does seem to me as though the rear surrounds result in some tweeter action from the top speakers. If you put your ear to the top of the speaker, can you hear the top tweeter when playing the rear surround test tone?

I’m also surprised at how much of the subwoofer test tone comes from the Arc itself. Do you find that too? And lastly, playing the 5.1.2 track, the subwoofer output is much, much lower than the 7.1.4 video. Not sure if that’s a function of the video or what.

Thank you so much for all your invaluable help. It’s made me get to the bottom of an annoying problem. But it’s also made me wonder how many people don’t realise their system isn’t performing as it should, with so many variables!

D

If the Era 300 inside speakers are not firing when using Dolby Atmos, there could be several potential causes and troubleshooting steps to consider:

  1. Check Dolby Atmos compatibility: Ensure that your audio source, such as a Blu-ray player, streaming device, or gaming console, supports Dolby Atmos and is properly configured to output audio in the Dolby Atmos format. Additionally, confirm that the content you are playing is encoded with Dolby Atmos audio.

  2. Verify speaker setup: Double-check the speaker setup and configuration in your audio system settings. Make sure that the Era 300 inside speakers are correctly identified and assigned as the appropriate channels for Dolby Atmos playback. Consult the user manual or documentation for your specific audio system or receiver to ensure the correct setup.

  3. Adjust speaker placement: Position the Era 300 inside speakers correctly for optimal Dolby Atmos performance. These speakers are designed to be installed in the ceiling or elevated positions to create a three-dimensional sound experience. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines for speaker placement, which typically involve specific angles and distances from the listening area.

  4. Check audio receiver settings: If you are using an audio receiver or amplifier in your setup, review the receiver's settings to ensure that it is properly configured for Dolby Atmos playback. Ensure that the receiver's audio output settings are set to Dolby Atmos and that the Era 300 inside speakers are assigned as height channels.

  5. Test with other content: Try playing different Dolby Atmos content to see if the issue persists. It's possible that the specific content you are using may have compatibility or encoding issues. Test with various movies, TV shows, or games known to have Dolby Atmos support to determine if the problem is consistent across all content or specific to certain sources.

S
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@GuitarSuperstar I’m wondering whether you can bear with me a little longer on the other 2 issues I raised above. I’ve been testing more, and I can say that rear channels (firing the inside 300 speakers) definitely fire the upward facing tweeters (and quite possibly not the inside facing tweeters at all). This is using any test I’ve tried - 7.1, Atmos, via Apple Music and via the Airplay route you mentioned above. I did find that you said in a Reddit post regarding which drivers are used for the 7.1 format “The 300s INSIDE side-firing drivers will play the rear surround channels along with the upward firing drivers”. Is what I’m finding what you meant by that? And as I said, I’m finding the same thing for Atmos.

The other issue is the amount of bass energy that the Arc itself tries to output seems pretty high when using a sub. Do you know what crossover is used? It produces a lot of reverberation playing some music at fairly high volumes, and I would have thought more of the load could go to the sub.

As always, thanks for the help and knowledge you provide.

PS What’s with the above post from davidoliver? It seems like some sort of boilerplate, and is clearly not right for the 300s. Like “These speakers are designed to be installed in the ceiling or elevated positions to create a three-dimensional sound experience. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines for speaker placement, which typically involve specific angles and distances from the listening area.”.

D

Hi SDD and GUITARSUPERSTAR,

 

I have the same tv 83Oled G3. and thinking of buying: sub gen 3 maybe 2 of them, arc, era 300 ( 2 of them). I’d to buy it specifically to experience dolby ATMOS/true HD (netflix,disney,blueray,tv, music)

  • Was your problem resolved?
  • What were the solutions?
  • What problems/complaints are still remaining ?

Thanks

 

Kind regards

 

G
Userlevel 7

Hi SDD and GUITARSUPERSTAR,

 

I have the same tv 83Oled G3. and thinking of buying: sub gen 3 maybe 2 of them, arc, era 300 ( 2 of them). I’d to buy it specifically to experience dolby ATMOS/true HD (netflix,disney,blueray,tv, music)

  • Was your problem resolved?
  • What were the solutions?
  • What problems/complaints are still remaining ?

The Arc, Sub (Gen 3), and Era 300s setup is great for Dolby Atmos/TrueHD audio from films or music from both streaming or Blu-ray discs. This is the setup I have and I love it. The only big problem that remains is when adjusting the Surround Audio level in the Sonos app, the volume on the rear surround (inside) drivers on the Era 300s don’t change. This issue has been brought up to Sonos, but they don’t seem to be able to recreate the problem or fully understand it. But the problem does still exist. Is this a deal breaker? No. But if they address this problem it would make the Era 300s that much better as surround speakers.

The only other “problem/complaint” is the front facing driver on the Era 300s are disabled when they are used as surrounds. But this is by design.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
S
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

Hi SDD and GUITARSUPERSTAR,

 

I have the same tv 83Oled G3. and thinking of buying: sub gen 3 maybe 2 of them, arc, era 300 ( 2 of them). I’d to buy it specifically to experience dolby ATMOS/true HD (netflix,disney,blueray,tv, music)

  • Was your problem resolved?
  • What were the solutions?
  • What problems/complaints are still remaining ?

Thanks

 

Kind regards

 

Like @GuitarSuperstar I am happy with my Arc/300s/subs system. The main thing I’ve noticed is that, when playing Atmos test tones, the surround rear channels play at a fairly low volume from the inside speakers (which is where they are supposed to come from), but also from the top speakers. I have been unable to cajole anyone into verifying this finding. But it’s not that much of an issue. In a traditional surround system, the rear surrounds are behind you, and are usually pretty diffuse anyway The normal surround channels are placed to the sides and carry a lot of the action. With the 300s, the outside speakers are used for these “side” surrounds, so sound bounces from the walls to create the “side” effect.

D
  • would 2 gen 3 subs be better than 1? if yes wherre to place them optimally ?
  • would 4 era 300 (2 back, 2 side or front) be better than 2 era 300 alone (back) ?
Airgetlam
  1. by definition, yes. Placement would need to be decided by your physical room setup. There are lots of threads where optimal sub placement is discussed. @buzz has generally excellent advice there. 
     
  2. No, the maximum number of speakers in a Home Theater Sonos setup is one soundbar, up to two subs, and two surrounds. Additional speakers can not be added to that ‘room’. 
Bruce
buzz

dasus,

A general rule is that SUB’s should be placed vaguely in the same plain as the front speakers. This will yield the best overall blend of sound. Bass is not very directional. If you were blindfolded, then seated in the listening position and asked to point to the subwoofer, your accuracy would be poor. If the subwoofer is placed in a corner behind your position, your pointing accuracy would improve. Overall, you should go for the blend. In my opinion, if you can immediately and accurately point to the subwoofer, it’s in the wrong location.

Subwoofer placement is very room dependent. A poorly placed subwoofer(s) will not be very effective. Corner placement is most efficient. Mid wall placement efficiency varies almost inch by inch.

If you are a bass freak, two properly placed subwoofers is the way to go.

Only you will know what is “best” (for you).

D
  • I have a very high ceiling, is it better to use wall mount for sonos era, or floorstand ? how much space should there be upwards? or it doesnt matter and you should just place it at the level of our earrs when seated in the living room sofa ?
  • What (high end) HDMI cables should I use to transmit optima signal from blueray/PS/.. (earc) to an oled tv LG G3 tv ?

again thank you for your replies ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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