Sonos Arc value or lack of

  • 30 January 2023
  • 65 replies
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65 replies

J

@ProUSAConstitution .  sorry to shout bur THIS IS NOT A SONOS ISSUE.  You just don’t seem to get this.  You seem to be playing sources that are not offering Atmos through a TV that can’t process or output Atmos even if you input it, then expressing surprise that the Arc isn’t playing Atmos.

I have tried to help.  If you want Atmos, subscribe to Disney+ or Netflix Premium and either get a new TV or bypass your Vizio TV for audio using one of the extractors already mentioned.

That is the solution.  I now wish you well and hope you get a solution that works for you.

Ken_Griffiths

I searched for Atmos content and I found Jack Ryan on Amazon prime that had a little marker that said it was Atmos. so I tried playing that and adjusting the settings. still no Atmos from the Sonos Arc Soundbar.

I would give Vizio Support a call or email them and ask if your TV is capable of passing through Atmos audio (DD+ compressed only of course) - at least you will know one way, or the other. The chepest answer here though is still to add one of the audio extractors mentioned. I use the Feintech extractor switch and that works well, as does the Arcana apparently. I’ve seen mixed reviews on the OREI device, so perhaps that one needs researching some more, but cheaper than a new TV and that then perhaps leaves room to consider then adding the two surrounds to the setup too.

J

I searched for Atmos content and I found Jack Ryan on Amazon prime that had a little marker that said it was Atmos. so I tried playing that and adjusting the settings. still no Atmos from the Sonos Arc Soundbar.

No.  Still no Atmos TO the Sonos Arc Soundbar.

And I don’t think there is a little marker that says it is Atmos.

P
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I searched for Atmos content and I found Jack Ryan on Amazon prime that had a little marker that said it was Atmos. so I tried playing that and adjusting the settings. still no Atmos from the Sonos Arc Soundbar.

P
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Just as a note, both of my two Vizios (and I don’t remember the designations of them offhand) do Dolby Digital Plus…..but only from the internal apps. They can not pass through an external HMDI Dolby Digital Plus signal. I’d confirmed that with Vizio several (3? Maybe?) years ago. My trust in Vizio to deal effectively with outside sources of audio are slim (and none). They’re great, inexpensive monitors, but I don’t choose to use their internal apps, as I’d prefer not to have Vizio tracking my viewing habits.

Yes, I also carry a tin foil hat. 

My Vizio stuff is not great. The p65-e1 tv was their best model(was supposed to be almost as good as Samsung/Sony/LG) at the time is just meh/passable and the sound bar same. The soundbar was newer than the tv and it sparked a few times and gave up. Glad it did not catch fire and burn our home down with us in it!

Not a Vizio fan.

Next tv I am thinking Samsung/Sony maybe LG.

P
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nor the Apple TV (when set to its default LPCM multichannel codec) as that codec requires HDMI-eARC - you need to set the audio format to ‘off’ and select (DD+) Atmos audio.

@ProUSAConstitution, just one last thing before adding a new box to the set, have you tried the above settings in your Apple TV?

I checked on my Apple TV 4K older model. I did not see a way to change "audio format to ‘off’ and select (DD+) Atmos audio."

Airgetlam

Just as a note, both of my two Vizios (and I don’t remember the designations of them offhand) do Dolby Digital Plus…..but only from the internal apps. They can not pass through an external HMDI Dolby Digital Plus signal. I’d confirmed that with Vizio several (3? Maybe?) years ago. My trust in Vizio to deal effectively with outside sources of audio are slim (and none). They’re great, inexpensive monitors, but I don’t choose to use their internal apps, as I’d prefer not to have Vizio tracking my viewing habits.

Yes, I also carry a tin foil hat. 

Bruce
J

I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

How is your Apple TV connected to the TV? What streaming service are you using? How do you check if you are getting Atmos or not?

Tablo(over the air with a antenna), Hulu, Amazon, Paramount, YouTube and Peacock for Supercross or the politically correct name supermotocross, what ever they want to call it.

Do you have the necessary subscriptions to get Atmos, e.g. Paramount Premium?  I am not sure any video on YouTube plays in Atmos, or even surround.  Likewise most OTA.  No Atmos on Hulu as far as I am aware, and there isn’t much Atmos content on Amazon.

F
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nor the Apple TV (when set to its default LPCM multichannel codec) as that codec requires HDMI-eARC - you need to set the audio format to ‘off’ and select (DD+) Atmos audio.

@ProUSAConstitution, just one last thing before adding a new box to the set, have you tried the above settings in your Apple TV?

P
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I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

Maybe just double-check there are no further firmware updates for your TV on the Vizio site too, just in case. 

And if you cannot get this to work, then just to reiterate, you will need one of the HDMI-ARC audio extractors mentioned.   (I use the Arcana.  It is pricey, but a fraction of what it would have cost to replace a top-of-the-range LG OLED.  It also cured the lip sync issues for which the LG TV was responsible.

Edit - but you need to be sure you have followed @furacaopr’s suggestions precisely before you give up on that.

I will look into the boxes to add into the chain. 

P
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I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

How is your Apple TV connected to the TV? What streaming service are you using? How do you check if you are getting Atmos or not?

Tablo(over the air with a antenna), Hulu, Amazon, Paramount, YouTube and Peacock for Supercross or the politically correct name supermotocross, what ever they want to call it.

Ken_Griffiths

I’m personally still not entirely convinced that the Vizio TV will support Atmos audio pass-through, but no harm in pursuing these things to check - it’s true an HDMI-ARC port can support DD+, but I’ve not yet come across a TV this old that supports pass-through of Atmos metadata. That’s slightly compounded by the review I read earlier, that made no mention of DD+ and stated that the Vizio TV supported DD5.1/DTS pass-through.

Anyhow, if it doesn’t work, then there’s always the fallback of using an audio extractor (recommended) and that’s likely to provide perhaps better lip-syncing anyway with the video on screen, despite the pass-through option over the TV ports. 

P
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@furacaopr .  You may well be correct that this offers a solution to the OP, and it is definitely worth checking out before buying any form of audio extractor.  But DD+ over Arc is a necessary condition for getting Atmos, but not sufficient. My 2016 LG TV will output DD+ but cannot process Atmos, and doesn’t have a pass-through option

Yes, you need DD+ passthrough. That's what this TV's bitstream setting does.

Tried bitstream yesterday and it did not change vs auto/Dolby/pcm.

P
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I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

Maybe just double-check there are no further firmware updates for your TV on the Vizio site too, just in case. 

I updated everything yesterday.

P
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To be fair. Positives about the Sonos Arc is that it is far better in clarity and sound quality than the TV speakers.

When I watch Supercross the announcers are easy to hear and not mushed together along with the engine sounds etc. The whole broadcast is much more enjoyable.

Usually tv shows, etc. we constantly had to change the volume and the sound coming from the TV was irritating on our ears and our nerves. Not so with the Arc soundbar.

neg.: There is no separation with Arc as far as right and left channels or surround sound. Sound all comes from the bar directly as one.

This is my experience.

Yours could be different.

side note: any of you had experience with the TV models that use the screen as a speaker?

Thoughts and experience?

Is it just like a sweet sounding electrostatic speaker that has GREAT highs and mids in the sweet spot but falls off sharply outside the sweet spot? Electrostatic speakers also need something like at least a sub for the low end.

Does the screen get worn out by it acting as a speaker?

Thank you again folks.

Ken_Griffiths

@ProUSAConstitution,

Also note the Apps built into the TV are not the ones to use for your testing - nor the Apple TV (when set to its default LPCM multichannel codec) as that codec requires HDMI-eARC - you need to set the audio format to ‘off’ and select (DD+) Atmos audio.

Maybe try an episode of Jack Ryan (series 3) on Amazon Prime as a test and see what displays on the ’Now Playing Screen’ for the Arc in the Sonos App.

1 Attachment
J

I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

Maybe just double-check there are no further firmware updates for your TV on the Vizio site too, just in case. 

And if you cannot get this to work, then just to reiterate, you will need one of the HDMI-ARC audio extractors mentioned.   (I use the Arcana.  It is pricey, but a fraction of what it would have cost to replace a top-of-the-range LG OLED.  It also cured the lip sync issues for which the LG TV was responsible.

Edit - but you need to be sure you have followed @furacaopr’s suggestions precisely before you give up on that.

F
Userlevel 5
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I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

How is your Apple TV connected to the TV? What streaming service are you using? How do you check if you are getting Atmos or not?

Ken_Griffiths

I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

Maybe just double-check there are no further firmware updates for your TV on the Vizio site too, just in case. 

F
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

@furacaopr .  You may well be correct that this offers a solution to the OP, and it is definitely worth checking out before buying any form of audio extractor.  But DD+ over Arc is a necessary condition for getting Atmos, but not sufficient. My 2016 LG TV will output DD+ but cannot process Atmos, and doesn’t have a pass-through option

Yes, you need DD+ passthrough. That's what this TV's bitstream setting does.

Ken_Griffiths

@furacaopr, 

Dolby Digital Plus? I don’t see that codec mentioned in its spec. See my earlier post and attachment showing the codec pass-through from rtings.com. 

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/dolby-digital-plus-dd-atmos-over-hdmi-arc.2378442/post-42675274

Odd that it’s not mentioned at the rtings site, but maybe there has been a firmware update since that review or the review just thought it was not that relevant back in 2017. I hope it is the case and it works for the OP. At least they now know what they need to do one way, or the other. 👍

P
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TV doesn't need to be Atmos compatible for you to play Atmos from streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, etc. as long as it can passthrough Dolby Digital Plus. Your TV is not too old as it even has an ARC HDMI port.

Connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI 1 (ARC) port of your TV.

 

Press the MENU button on your TV remote and go to AUDIO. Turn the built-in speakers OFF and set Digital Audio Out to BITSTREAM.

Back to MENU, go to SYSTEM and confirm CEC is enabled for HDMI ARC. Then, your TV remote should control the volume of your ARC and be able to mute/unmute.

Let us know if it worked.

I did all of this yesterday. None of it got me atmos.

I do thank you for your attempt to help me and the community!

F
Userlevel 5
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Just to add my two cents….

  1. The TV must have an eARC labeled input as opposed to just an ARC labeled input. If not you must use an audio extractor between the TV and the Arc Soundbar such as the HDFury mentioned by @Ken_Griffiths.

Not really for streaming, as it's compressed Atmos encapsulated in DD+. You do need eARC to play uncompressed Atmos, e.g., from a Blu-ray player, though.

J

Just to add my two cents….

  1. The TV must have an eARC labeled input as opposed to just an ARC labeled input. If not you must use an audio extractor between the TV and the Arc Soundbar such as the HDFury mentioned by @Ken_Griffiths

Not correct I am afraid.  eArc is only required for lossless TrueHD.  HDMI-ARC can carry Atmos over DD+

J

@furacaopr .  You may well be correct that this offers a solution to the OP, and it is definitely worth checking out before buying any form of audio extractor.  But DD+ over Arc is a necessary condition for getting Atmos, but not sufficient. My 2016 LG TV will output DD+ but cannot process Atmos, and doesn’t have a pass-through option

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