Apple TV 4K, Sonos Arc and Dolby Atmos

I have the same issue:

Apple TV 4K connected to TV (brand new amazon basic HDMI)

TV is a 2019 Samsung QE65Q90R

Sonos Arc connected to Samsung TV via Arc HDMI port (there is only 1).

when using Netflix app on the Samsung tv itself I have Atmos support. When instead using the Apple TV app, no Atmos option (and not in the settings either). Someone at Apple recommended using an HDMI splitter, so as to connect the Apple TV directly to the Sonos. Has anyone tested this?

Quick clarifying question -

Are you connecting your apple tv 4k into your TV using an HDMI ARC port or regular HDMI. I'm unable to get atmos, too. I thought it might be due to the fact that I only have 1 HDMI arc port (and that is what I am connecting my Sonos Arc to). My apple TV 4k is not connected to an HDMI ARC

Yeah I have it connected the same way. There’s only one ARC port on the LG C8. So the Sonos is connected to that, and then my ATV is connected to one of the other HDMI ports. There are various settings to check of course, to make sure everything is set up properly for Atmos to work, but there’s also using the right HDMI cable etc. (I’m using the one that came with the Sonos Arc to connect it, and the Belkin Ultra-high speed cable that Apple sells to connect the ATV).

What TV do you have btw?

Bilac,

Thanks for the update.

Funny you mention the HDMI cables - I actually ordered an ultra HD HDMI cord that gets delivered on Monday. I'm using older HDMIs and thought they might not be UHD. After researching the topic, it seems there wasn't a standard speed that you need to pass-through atmos, so I purchased a cord with 21Gbps. Any idea what your speed is? Perhaps that will fix it, but I'm not that optimistic.

I'm using a 2016 Sony (UN65JU7100) TV. The TV has DTS digital output and Dolby Digital Plus output so I thought I'd be able to get the "lossy" atmos versus Dolby TrueHD (which I'm fine with).

Any suggestions would be great. Pretty frustrating not getting atmos after the purchase.

Again - I'm plugging the Sonos arc into the HDMI ARC input and my apple 4kTV into the HDMI 1 input. Maybe my settings are incorrect? IDK.

Thank you.

But it's exactly what's the case here. LG tvs can't handle the signal from Atv. If sonos Would Update the ARC with LPCM it would be fixed. This is an LG only problem. And that's why I'm returning mine. There are a lot of talk about this everywhere on different forums.

Then explain why I’m getting Atmos on my LG C8 from my ATV? And it’s not only me, check out various other threads on the Sonos forums or Reddit of users reporting the same. Example: https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/lg-c9-and-sonos-arc-6842322

I believe you are confusing the LPCM issue with Atmos. The current LPCM problem for the LG C9 isn’t that Atmos isn’t working (several users have reported that Atmos in fact works on C9 with ATV). The problem is that NON-Atmos content plays as 2.1 instead of 5.1 because the Sonos Arc doesn’t support LPCM (which they will fix in the future).

I have a one week old 2020 LG tv and I can't get atmos on sonos from atv. When I stream from Netflix App in TV. Atmos is working WO any issues. If I set Atmos sound on in Atv. There's no sound at all. I have to change to 5.1 surround to get sound.

Brand new lg 75Nano90UNO and mine is also the same I get atmos when using the lg app from amazon prime and Netflix but no sound from aTv when using it or any apps on it. There might be a difference in the software between nano9 models and oled models that makes some sort of difference in passthru

I would rather sign something to get either Apple TV or Sonos or lg for that matter to make it work with a software update rather than pay out more money for a system that should have worked seamlessly In the first place

Yup just tested it and I have atmos. Yah finally. I just wish I could do it from aTv rather than the app on lg but hey beggars can’t be choosers right now I’m sure it will all be updated by either Apple or Sonos eventually. Thank you Lg for being ahead of the pack

Hi all, an update from me which has resolved the issue of getting Dolby Atmos from Apple TV through the TV and to the Sonos Arc.

I wrote previously that I had a Samsung Q90R tv. Long story short I have now changed TV to an LG OLED C9 model, and... it works! I now get Dolby Atmos, from Apple TV through to the Sonos Arc. I even get Dolby vision to the TV with no issues. My connections are identical to those I had on the Samsung: Apple TV connected to the TV (brand new, fast HDMI cable from amazon basics), which is then connected to the Sonos via the Arc HDMI out.

This to me proves that the Samsung was not able to pass through the Atmos signal from Apple TV and was the only issue. Bad news for some I suppose. LG: highly recommended!

Good luck though!

Hi Terry,

I'm looking into buying the Sonos ARC and set it up with an Apple TV and a video projector. Different setting from yours but the solution I envision might be helpful for you: I intend to leverage an audio extractor, a small device that split the HDMI signal in a video and audio signal. basically the Apple TV HDMI out would be connected to this device and I would get an HDMI out video signal going to the projector and an audio optical signal going to the Sonos ARC (the Sonos ARC only has HDMI in but I believe it comes with an optical to HDMI converter).

There are several audio extractor available on the market, I'm looking at this one from Kanexpro that seems to support Dolby Atmos: https://www.kanexpro.com/item/?id=HAECOAX3

I'll post a follow up message once I setup and test this solution.

Cheers,

Phil

Your tv probably doesn’t support atmos. The way you connect your devices as follows.

Apple TV, cable box, game system, etc. connect straight to the TV via hdmi.

your Sonos Arc connects to the hdmi arc (audio return channel) port of your tv via hdmi. The Sonos arc doesn’t not allow other devices to connect to it. It only uses the audio return channel to receiver audio from the tv.

your issue relies on the technology of your tv. To get atmos through you Apple TV your tv needs to have a eARC port not just regular ARC. You can look at the hdmi ports on your tv and see if you have one but it’s a relatively new feature on high end TVs 2019 or newer. You can get atmos through some apps directly through your smart tv platform but it will be a lossy audio format. You will not see the atmos option on the Apple TV because your tv not then likely does not support eARC

Hi,

One point of clarification to the comments from the man from wooster.

It is not necessary to have a TV with an eARC HDMI port for atmos functionality on the SONOS arc. Newer TV's with an HDMI ARC port are able to pass through Dolby Digital Plus to the Sonos ARC for atmos functionality. The caveat here is that Dolby Digital Plus is a "lossy" version of atmos. For "lossless" atmos, you will need a TV with an eARC port which will enable the pass through of Dolby Digital True HD.

I'm not an audiophile, so I'm not sure how perceptible the difference between "lossy" and "non-lossy" atmos quality is.

I recently went down the rabbit hole, because I have an older Samsung (2016) with an HDMI ARC Port that is unable to pass through any atmos support. As insane as it sounds, I think I'm going to purchase a new LG GX series to unlock the SONOS ARCs full potential.

The entire process is quite confusing because of all the links in the chain that need atmos compatibility (source content, TV, and the SONOS ARC). Additionally, it's beyond frustrating that for true "lossless" atmos quality sound, you do need an eARC connection which you will only find on brand new TVs.

I hope the above is helpful.

Exact same situation here. Been waiting fro Homepods to support Atmos but that seems like a long way off and the Sonos Arc came on the scene, so i decided to bite. I recently bought the LG65NANO86TNA specifically to cater for the Apple 4K tv's Atmos capabilities so i was super excited to get it all setup.

But, as you point out, non-Atmos stuff plays fine but as soon as I play an Atmos movie there is no sound.

I disconnected everything and the second time round the Sonos S2 app seemed to offer some further options to connect to the tv (not just adding the device or setting up the surround sound) and seemed to recognise and configure to the LG tv and I thought, "Aha, this was the missing step!"

But no, same 'no sound' issue.

Whilst I can say for a fact that the sound from the Sonos Arc is incredible and detailed I have not been able to get ANY Atmos audio from either the ATV or the ATV app within the LG tv or any of the streaming apps.