Sonos Beam and Dolby Digital woes!
Discussion
Recently bought a Sonos Beam as it was on offer. The sound quality is briliant and perfect for our needs as it works well with the Sonos One we already had in the Kitchen.
The problem, well it's not really a problem because we don't have surround speakers, but it annoys me more than anything, is that sometimes it's only getting a Stereo signal from the TV and not Dolby Digital 5.1. Even without the surround speakers it clearly doesn't sound as good in stereo.
The Sonos Beam is connected by HDMI ARC to our Samsung TV H6400 (2014). The TV outputs Dolby Digital from Freeview Channels and from some inbuilt apps (can't get Netflix to work or update for some reason) but doesn't pass the Dolby Digital signal from the HDMI connected Firestick through to the Sonos Beam.
I have spent many hours on the Google trying to work out a fix without having to buy another TV. An option seems to be to use an Audio splitter and plug the firestick into that but then how do I get the normal Freeview TV sound to also go through to the Beam.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know. It has to be cheap and easy to use day to day or Mrs Woodgnome won't be very happy as she already thinks I've wasted my money and can't tell the difference from our old Samsung Sound Bar!
The problem, well it's not really a problem because we don't have surround speakers, but it annoys me more than anything, is that sometimes it's only getting a Stereo signal from the TV and not Dolby Digital 5.1. Even without the surround speakers it clearly doesn't sound as good in stereo.
The Sonos Beam is connected by HDMI ARC to our Samsung TV H6400 (2014). The TV outputs Dolby Digital from Freeview Channels and from some inbuilt apps (can't get Netflix to work or update for some reason) but doesn't pass the Dolby Digital signal from the HDMI connected Firestick through to the Sonos Beam.
I have spent many hours on the Google trying to work out a fix without having to buy another TV. An option seems to be to use an Audio splitter and plug the firestick into that but then how do I get the normal Freeview TV sound to also go through to the Beam.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know. It has to be cheap and easy to use day to day or Mrs Woodgnome won't be very happy as she already thinks I've wasted my money and can't tell the difference from our old Samsung Sound Bar!
You are looking for 'passthrough' support and it wouldn't suprise me at all if a TV from 2014 didn't have passthrough on ARC.
So your TV is receving the sound from the HDMI input, downmixing it to 2.0 for the TV and then sending that signal out via ARC. What you want it to do is to receive the 5.1 DD in, downmix it for the TV to 2.0 (if needed) and then output the original 5.1 signal. So look for a passthrough setting somewhere....
So your TV is receving the sound from the HDMI input, downmixing it to 2.0 for the TV and then sending that signal out via ARC. What you want it to do is to receive the 5.1 DD in, downmix it for the TV to 2.0 (if needed) and then output the original 5.1 signal. So look for a passthrough setting somewhere....
Thanks for your suggestions. I tried the optical and it’s the same. Outputs DD from TV tuner but not from the Firestick.
Annoyingly if I set the firestick to DD only, the TV also shows the option enabled for DD so it must recognise it but no sound comes out. Almost as if it’s been purposefully stopped rather than the TV not being able to do it.
Looks like a newer TV is needed then :-(
Annoyingly if I set the firestick to DD only, the TV also shows the option enabled for DD so it must recognise it but no sound comes out. Almost as if it’s been purposefully stopped rather than the TV not being able to do it.
Looks like a newer TV is needed then :-(
I had a similar issue , I’ve got a 2015 Samsung ,
Have you checked the setting in the tv.
You should be using the ARC output
In the tv settings under sound I have
HDMI Audio format = Bit Stream
Audio Format = Dolby digital
HD Audio = On
On the firestick under Audio
Surround sound = Always Dolby digital
I then get Dolby 5.1 surround on Netflix as long as the program is in 5.1 and most is on Netflix
I assume you know where to check in the Sonos App to see what the beam is reviving !
Have you checked the setting in the tv.
You should be using the ARC output
In the tv settings under sound I have
HDMI Audio format = Bit Stream
Audio Format = Dolby digital
HD Audio = On
On the firestick under Audio
Surround sound = Always Dolby digital
I then get Dolby 5.1 surround on Netflix as long as the program is in 5.1 and most is on Netflix
I assume you know where to check in the Sonos App to see what the beam is reviving !
Unfortunately the only setting I have on my TV is the Audio Format = Dolby Digital. My TV doesn't have the HDMI Audio Format or HD Audio option.
When I select Surround Sound = Always Dolby Digital on the Firestick, the TV then allows me to change the Audio Format = Dolby Digital (normally it is greyed out). However nothing comes out of the ARC or Optical and checking the Sonos App where it should say what input is being recieved it just says Silence.
On the plus side I have managed to get the TV's inbuilt apps (Netflix/Prime) to work again and they output Dolby Digital so it might just be a case of not using the Firestick any more which is a shame as it's so much quicker. Luckily my setup is quite simple and I don't have anything else plugged in as I'm not into gaming or Kodi etc etc.
When I select Surround Sound = Always Dolby Digital on the Firestick, the TV then allows me to change the Audio Format = Dolby Digital (normally it is greyed out). However nothing comes out of the ARC or Optical and checking the Sonos App where it should say what input is being recieved it just says Silence.
On the plus side I have managed to get the TV's inbuilt apps (Netflix/Prime) to work again and they output Dolby Digital so it might just be a case of not using the Firestick any more which is a shame as it's so much quicker. Luckily my setup is quite simple and I don't have anything else plugged in as I'm not into gaming or Kodi etc etc.
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