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julien.verdier
Contributor I
June 8, 2018
Answered

Airplay 2 from ATV to SONOS surround set up

Hello to everyone,
In order to take advantage of Airplay 2 in my set up I am thinking of using an Apple TV to send sound via Airplay 2 to a Beam Bar with surrounds and sub.
I am using a beamer, that would avoid having a HDMI cable from back to front.
My question is: does using Airplay 2 for movies enables 5.1 with surrounds sound balance when sent to a Beam or Playbase?
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Smilja
SmiljaAnswer
July 15, 2018
Ryan, any updates on this now that the Beam and Airplay2 is released? I just set up my Beam in a surround set up. Just curious if Airplay2 to the surround set up will give me true 5.1 surround with movies as it seems my TV only outputs stereo from HDMI-ARC.

AirPlay 2 audio is sending stereo, not 5.1 audio. Your Playbase will treat the audio the same way it plays music, so if you have the rears set to "Full" you'll hear the stereo channels played in the front and back at the same time, if it's set to "Ambient" you'll hear an upmixed sort of surround, but it's not the same way we handle normal stereo TV audio. The Playbase doesn't have a way to know what the source of your AirPlay content is, Netflix vs YouTube vs Spotify, so it treats it all as music.

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/airplay2-with-5-1-setup-6809350/index1.html#post16247681
»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
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7 replies

Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
June 8, 2018
Hi Julien, we haven't quite shared all the details on Airplay 2 just yet, so stay tuned for more in the future as Airplay 2 on Sonos becomes available.

Generally speaking, HDMI-ARC is going to give you the best experience because you'll be able to use voice control on the Beam using CEC to do things like turning the TV on and off.
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jonca
Contributor III
July 3, 2018
But it would be nice to know if you can play surround with airplay 2. without cable
dqtech
Lyricist I
July 15, 2018
Ryan, any updates on this now that the Beam and Airplay2 is released? I just set up my Beam in a surround set up. Just curious if Airplay2 to the surround set up will give me true 5.1 surround with movies as it seems my TV only outputs stereo from HDMI-ARC.
    Smilja
    SmiljaAnswer
    July 15, 2018
    Ryan, any updates on this now that the Beam and Airplay2 is released? I just set up my Beam in a surround set up. Just curious if Airplay2 to the surround set up will give me true 5.1 surround with movies as it seems my TV only outputs stereo from HDMI-ARC.

    AirPlay 2 audio is sending stereo, not 5.1 audio. Your Playbase will treat the audio the same way it plays music, so if you have the rears set to "Full" you'll hear the stereo channels played in the front and back at the same time, if it's set to "Ambient" you'll hear an upmixed sort of surround, but it's not the same way we handle normal stereo TV audio. The Playbase doesn't have a way to know what the source of your AirPlay content is, Netflix vs YouTube vs Spotify, so it treats it all as music.

    https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/airplay2-with-5-1-setup-6809350/index1.html#post16247681
    »And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
      dqtech
      Lyricist I
      July 15, 2018
      Thanks for posting this Smilja.
      jonca
      Contributor III
      July 19, 2018
      So its a protocol limitation on Airplay 2? So we won't see it before Apple support 5.1 in Airplay?
      Driver28
      Lyricist III
      January 6, 2019
      As stated, AirPlay 2 does not support 5.1. Only stereo and that’s on Apple to fix. If your tv has it, change HDMI out to DD 5.1 and it will send DD 5.1 to your Beam instead of PCM. Of course that depends on your tv make and model.
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