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External source (linux desktop) 5.1 pass-through to Arc Ultra (via ARC) from Hisense 65Q9G not working

  • November 26, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 37 views
G

As the title says, I tried hooking up my Hisense 65Q9G to the Arc Ultra via ARC and have not been able to get 5.1 to come through properly. If I set the audio channel to in mpv (video player) to stereo or 2.1 the sound seems to come through fine, but when 5.1 is sent to the TV centre (or front in general) channel audio is missing, so dialog are notably absent. This is when the source is my desktop, which was sending 5.1 DD successfully to my old Denon AVR. Playing a video from the TVs Prime app seems to work (5.1 surround), so it seems the issue may just be a failure to pass-through, rather than not being able to provide the data to the Sonos via ARC at all. Does anyone have any experience with this or similar “old” TVs with ARC? It is starting to look like my only option if I want to stick with the Sonos setup is to upgrade to a TV with eARC (with confirmation that the particular model actually handles external pass-through properly).

PS: ARC is indeed selected in the Audio menu of the TV, and all Audio Out settings (e.g. auto, pass-through, PCM, dolby, dolby+) do not do not solve it.

Best answer by Airgetlam

Unfortunately, it is possible you’d get more help from Hisense, rather than from Sonos users, if it indeed an issue with the TV passing through a Sonos readable format. 

But I’d double check what type of signal is coming from the Linux box. It’s possible that the reason the Sonos isn’t reading it is because it’s in a format that either the Hisense can’t pass, or the Sonos can’t read. 

As a side comment, I’ve seen a significant number of issues with Hisense. It’s not a company I trust with their ARC implementation much…although I have zero personal experience. 

4 replies

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • November 26, 2025

Oh dear “As the title says” being new here you probably haven’t noticed that the forum software often fails to show folks viewing posts the title by default. Sucks and a fix has been long requested, until then copy/paste the title to start off the post if it contains important info.

 

I can’t help solve the problem but you might try submitting diagnostics. Submit one for each configuration and note the diagnostic number/configuration. Once all are submitted call Sonos support and ask them to look at the different diagnostics and see if their view of the system internals (we users can’t see) gives you any help.

Don’t post diagnostic numbers here, the forum doesn’t allow personal information to be shared.

G
  • geoffder
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • November 26, 2025

The post itself elaborates over the short version in the title, but here it is for reference since I don’t see an option to edit the original: External source (linux desktop) 5.1 pass-through to Arc Ultra (via ARC) from Hisense 65Q9G not working

Airgetlam
  • Airgetlam
  • Answer
  • November 26, 2025

Unfortunately, it is possible you’d get more help from Hisense, rather than from Sonos users, if it indeed an issue with the TV passing through a Sonos readable format. 

But I’d double check what type of signal is coming from the Linux box. It’s possible that the reason the Sonos isn’t reading it is because it’s in a format that either the Hisense can’t pass, or the Sonos can’t read. 

As a side comment, I’ve seen a significant number of issues with Hisense. It’s not a company I trust with their ARC implementation much…although I have zero personal experience. 

Bruce
G
  • geoffder
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • November 27, 2025

There are still some things left to try on my end yes, like seeing if sending raw bitstream output (avoiding pulse in favour of alsa perhaps) to the TV instead of pre-processed multi-channel PCM streams is something that the TV handles better. I had some inkling that it could be core to the problem given the symptoms of missing channels when sending 5.1 to the TV. I’ll report back if I have any success with that, but would be grateful to hear from anyone who has trudged down this (or a similar) path before.

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