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probem with audio format with Sonos Beam gen 2 and apple tv

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Hi I’ve just bought a Sonos beam gen 2 and I have some compatibility issue with audio format.

My setup is a Samsung h7000 (2014), an Apple TV 4K and a Sonos beam gen 2. The beam is connected with the HDMI Arc port on the tv.

The problem is that when playing movies from the Apple TV I only get PCM and DTS neo 2:5 as option in the Samsung audio menu. If is use internal tv app I also get Dolby 5.1. The Sonos app report the format correctly as selected in the TV)

Things change if I use the audio encode option on the Apple TV. If I choose to encode audio to Dolby 5.1 I get the option Dolby 5.1 also on the TV, but I get no audio, just silence.

What’s happening here? Could change something if I connect the beam with the optical audio on the TV? I’m not trying to get Dolby Atmos, just Dolby 5.1

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G

GuitarSuperstarAnswer

Lead Maestro

Because you have an older TV from 2014, more than likely it is not capable of passing through 5.1 audio from external media devices connected to the TV. I have a Panasonic plasma from 2013 that has the same limitation.

You should consider getting the HDFury Arcana eARC adapter that will allow your Apple TV to bypass your TV’s limitations and send audio directly to the Beam which will result in Dolby Atmos, Multichannel PCM, or Dolby Digital audio playing out of the Beam. I use it with my old TV and Sonos Arc and it works great.

https://hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

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Airgetlam

Then everyone would be asking why the Beam didn’t have two inputs, and three, and four….and so on. With the additional need for changing the software for including a method by which people would choose which input. Why go through all that when there is already an industry standard for this kind of thing that they could adhere to?

Keep us posted on the Feintech, I’m interested.

Bruce

E

EriksatieAuthor

Avid Contributor I

So I’ve received and did an initial test of the FeinTech VAX04101. here’s some comments for who is interested @Airgetlam

The FeinTech is a well built unit that feels premium and do what is supposed to do: it streams audio directly from the Apple TV to the soundbar via an eArc port, and sends a full signal to the TV. I got Atmos audio and Dolby 5.1 from Apple TV+ and Disney+. I’ve not been able to get Atmos from Netflix but I will look into that another time. Dolby 5.1 was reported as PCM 5.1, so it should be uncompressed and best quality. you need to select the 7.1 mode with the EDID switch to make it works, Auto will not work (at least with the Apple TV).

Audio quality is night and day compared to connecting the Beam directly to the TV. Audio is not compressed (and this is a huge part), voices are clearer and reverbs are much more detailed, giving a much better sense of the space. also seems like the the Beam perform very well decoding Atmos, even if you are not getting that sense of sound coming from above.

Please note that my TV is only SDR Full HD, so I cannot test the video part for HDR, Dolby Vision, 4K etc… my video output was ok.

As a plus, I’m also able to listen to Dolby Atmos tracks from Apple Music. not a big fan but it works.

The FeinTech is also able to take audio from the TV (broadcast channels or apps) via the second ARC port dedicated to TV. I haven’t tested TV apps because I don’t use it, but broadcast channels worked as expected with Stereo PCM or Dolby 2.0 audio.

Now two negative notes: 1) you have to manually switch the audio from Apple TV to internal TV audio, with a button on the unit or with the remote. this is not a huge deal for me but for the rest of the family it could because you have to switch both video (with the tv remote) and audio (with the FeinTech remote) 2) HDMI-CEC works for volume control, both with TV remote and Apple TV remote, but the visual feedback on the screen not so much. with the tv remote the visual feedback is there, but shows the wrong numbers. with Apple TV remote you don’t get any visual feedback.

I would be nice to have the auto switch from external source to internal audio TV. Maybe the Arcana is capable of this? I’m still not sure I’m willing to pay 100€ more for this alone as I see the FeinTech as a temporary solution before upgrading the TV in the next year.

Airgetlam

Thanks for this.

Visual feedback on volume changes is the responsibility of your TV set, and not any of the devices connected to it.

With only one input, there’s no ‘auto switch’ on the HD Fury Arcana, but you would be able to put an ‘auto switching’ device in front of it, certainly.

Bruce

Ken_Griffiths

@Eriksatie,

I have the FeinTech VAX04101 audio extractor/switch too and really pleased with it and as Bruce mentions the TV volume display is down to the TV - I just get a +/- display when adjusting volume and no numbers displayed at all on-screen - I don’t believe you would see a difference if you were using the Arcana.

The handy thing with the VAX04101 extractor, is that it is a combined HDMI-switch too and it’s cheaper, but more difficult to perhaps get hold of, depending on which country you live.

I agree the VAX04101 is a really well-built product, but thought it’s remote could have perhaps been a little more sturdy, but still okay and it does it’s job. I actually do not use its IR remote, as I use a Harmony Hub in the same room and that allows me to change inputs/TV channels using Alexa instead, which saves reaching for its remote.

Anyhow I think the VAX04101 does a very good job and it saves the added expense of buying another TV, just to get Atmos Audio - I currently use it with the Nvidia Shield (recommended) and FireTV 4K.

By the way, to get Atmos on Netflix you need a premium HD account and to play the movie using its original audio format, so maybe check you have both those things in place. Hope that assists.

E

EriksatieAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Thanks for this.

Visual feedback on volume changes is the responsibility of your TV set, and not any of the devices connected to it

Sure, but when connecting the Beam directly to the tv I had visual feedback. So there should be something about the routing of HDMI-CEC that works differently with the FeinTech. But this is a minor thing.

more useful would be auto switching, not between different hdmi input, but between the active input and the audio from the tv, just like a tv Arc port is acting (at least this is the behaviour of my tv connected directly to the beam)

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