Dolby Atmos on KD-65xe9005

[paul1simon]

I have a KD-65XE9005. I understand it can process Dolby Digital Plus but how do I know if it will pass through Dolby Atmos (using DD+) from a Dolby Atmos source like Apple 4K TV or Dolby Atmos content from Netflix UHD?

I want to be sure before I purchase a Dolby Atmos soundbar like the Sonos Arc.

Thanks

[merseyswine]

I asked myself this same question before I recently bought my Sony 55AG9 TV and Samsung Q90R soundbar system. It turns out that if you output sound from the TV using arc or eARC, you will be ok.

In theory, to send Dolby Atmos from your TV to your sound system, you need eARC but in fact the Atmos that Amazon and Netflix use is a reduced version which works fine over ordinary ARC.

When I watch Netflix Dolby Atmos content, the soundbar’s display merely says “eARC” but when I watch Dolby Atmos content on Blu-ray, the soundbar says “Dolby atmos”. So, my soundbar doesn’t recognise Netflix Dolby Atmos as proper Dolby Atmos but I have to say it still sounds pretty good, if not up to Blu-ray standards.

[paul1simon]

Thank you merseyswine

I too think it should be ok - I just won't get the "lossless" Dolby Atmos that is achieved when the signal is passed through using Dolby True HD (as my TV doesn't have this, and also doesn't have an eARC connection), but I'm hoping the following will work:

Netflix UHD or Apple 4k TV streaming a Dolby Atmos show, connected to my KD-XE9005 using an HDMI 2.0 or 2.1 cable. TV connected to Sonos Arc soundbar from the ARC HDMI on the TV, with TV output sound set to DD+. Fingers crossed!

Thanks

[merseyswine]

What device are you using to stream the UHD content?

[paul1simon]

Will most likely be Apple 4k TV (latest generation)

Thanks

[merseyswine]

if your Apple TV 4K box allows you to stream content that has proper lossless Dolby Atmos sound (encoded using Dolby TrueHD), then your TV would need eARC to pass that through to your soundbar. Of course, assuming your Blu-ray player is connected directly to the Sonos, you will be able to get the full sound from that and your Sonos will pass the picture through to the TV via the (e)ARC. That’s the way my setup is connected.

I opted for the Samsung Q90R sound system because it includes two wireless rear speakers that have upward-firing units built in. My grandson was well impressed when we watched The Rise of Skywalker and the sofa was shaking.

[paul1simon]

Sounds impressive!

I'm thinking of the Sonos Arc + 2 Sonos 1 SL's as extra rears, mainly because I want a whole-home wireless audio solution over the coming months, so adding additional Sonos speakers is my preferred option.

As the Sonos Arc only has 1 HDMI, all my content sources will need to plug into my TV (normal HDMI), then TV into my Sonos via HDMI Arc. So, my audio will be passed from the Apple 4K TV box (or BD Blu Ray player) into the TV then onto the Sonos using the Arc connection, which means lossless Atmos via DD+ (@ 5.1.2, rather than 7.1.2 I believe)?

[merseyswine]

I think the designers of that sound system (and the Bose equivalent) only give you one HDMI, as they assume your TV will have eARC, i.e. it can pass lossless audio to the Sonos. If the TV doesn’t have eARC, it’s not suitable for such a sound system, as far as I can see.

The Samsung Q90R has several HDMI ports, as well as an ARC, so I can plug the Blu-ray into the soundbar, which takes off the sound and passes the picture to the TV. I adjust the audio delay to suit.

My other devices plug into the TV’s HDMI

and the sound gets passed to the Q90R. The Q90R supposedly does not support eARC but when I’m watching Netflix with Dolby sound, the soundbar display says eARC. Strange...