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Purchased Arc - lost Dolby Atmos

  • 1 January 2023
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Bought a new Arc to upgrade from my Playbar in main TV room. Have used my Xbox with the Playbar setup and LG C8 OLED TV for a while now. With the Playbar, each time I’d play a game or stream a program supporting Atmos, I’d get visual confirmation on the TV that both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision were active. Since setting up the new Arc, I have two issues. BTW, the Arc is connected to the TV’s HDMI ARC port. Sound is great.

Now, though, when I start up a favorite Xbox game (2K21 Golf) I no longer get confirmation that Dolby Atmos is active. Same is true for streaming. Not really a big deal for a game like this one, just found it unusual that the Arc made Atmos go away. I still see the confirmation that Dolby Vision is active, which has nothing to do with the Arc, of course. So, first question is, does anyone have an idea why this would be the new normal for the Arc? Sonos say that Atmos is supported on ARC.

The second issue may or may not be an Arc issue other than the fact that the Arc (really) wants to be connected to the TV via the ARC port. The problem has to do with my previous (with the Playbar) use of an active digital splitter to route sound to a set of RF headphones which I did frequently when streaming movies or other content that would be too loud for others nearby. All I had to do was turn on the headphones, mute the Playbar and voila. No more waking up the grandbabies. This has proven to be impossible with the new Arc. I have eliminated the digital splitter since the digital port can now be connected directly to the RF headphone transmitter. Unfortunately, it appears that audio is not output to the digital port simultaneously with the TV’s ARC port, so an output source must be selected (via the TV remote) from the audio menu.

Quite interestingly, when I manually change audio output from the ARC port to the digital port, everything works fine - for about three seconds. Then the TV, for reasons unknown, switches audio back to the ARC port all by its little self. 😣 As a matter of interest, the same thing happens with Bluetooth; I can listen on my Airpods, but again, for only about three seconds before audio is routed back to the ARC port and all other sources become disabled. Second question: anyone know anything about whether this could be an Arc problem or is it the TV itself? I’d really prefer not to have to replace my perfectly wonderful LG TV with some newer model just to get these issues solved.

TIA for any advice.

 

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Best answer by Mr. T 1 January 2023, 23:25

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Mr. T
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Sorry to disappoint, but you were not getting Atmos with the Playbar since the Playbar does not support that format.

In the C8 Sound settings change the HDMI ARC output to Auto to see if that allows Atmos on Sonos Arc.

To check the audio being received on the soundbar, check the Now Playing TV screen or the Audio In field within About My System in the Sonos app.

Re 2nd question, it’s a feature of the television. You could disable CEC on the TV when you don’t want to utilise the Sonos Arc

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Thanks, Mr. T, for the quick reply.

I guess it’s obvious I’m no audiophile. Just made the assumption that if the TV said Atmos was there, then it was there. Curious though about why that would happen with the Xbox game and streaming services with the Playbar. Lots I don’t understand still. My ears wouldn’t have known otherwise anyway.

I’ll check the Audio In item when I’m streaming something next time. I did get Bluetooth to work with CEC turned off. Didn’t test, but assume the RF headphones will also work when the audio source is set to Digital. I found a post on Reddit that stated CEC will have to be disabled every time the Arc gets used for TV audio before any other source can be selected. Small price to pay to get back private listening when needed.

Thanks again. Much appreciated.

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