Dolby Atmos through KDL-40NX713

[welfordyc]

Having trouble connecting Apple TV 4K and Bose Soundbar 900 through my Sony KDL-40NX713. I can get Dolby 5.1 to play but not Dolby Atmos (Dolby Digital Plus). Are there any setting on the TV I need to be aware of to allow the soundbar to receive to Atmos signal? Apple TV is sending out Dolby Atmos but the Bose Audio App is only receiving Dolby 5.1.

[daveyh64]

Its a very old TV and therefore isn't compatible with Dolby Atmos, see the Audio specifications in this link,

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/televisions-projectors-lcd-tvs/kdl-40nx713/specifications

The TV may be receiving Dolby Atmos from Apple TV but as it cannot process it it will knock down to 5.1.

Its a long shot but does this TV have a passthrough mode in the sound settings, probably not.

[daveyh64]

Are you connecting the Apple TV to your TV and then to the soundbar.

Try connecting Apple TV to the soundbar and then the soundbar to the TV, does the Bose soundbar allow this.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102310

[welfordyc]

Thanks for the reply. Cant see passthrough options in any of the manuals or onscreen menus..

[welfordyc]

Yeh got the Apple TV connect to the Sony TV via HDMI 2.1 Cable and then out of the HDMI ARC Port on the TV into the HDMI e/ARC Port on the Bose Soundbar. Unfortunately the Soundbar only has one HDMI port and one optical.

[daveyh64 · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately there's no way you will get Atmos with that configuration.

Surprised such an expensive soundbar only has one HDMI input/ output.

Can you get your money back for the soundbar and seek out one that will

allow you to connect the Apple TV to it and then connect to the TV so you can

get Atmos.

Or as Apple TV is a 4k device and you are connecting it to an HD (1080) TV

that can't handle Atmos, you could buy a new 4K UHD TV that can handle Atmos,

not all 4K TVs handle Atmos so you need to check the specifications closely.

[welfordyc]

Thanks the response I was expecting but not wanting.

Thanks for confirming.

[royabrown2]

@welfordyc 

Your TV came out a year before Dolby Atmos was first in a cinema, and five years before any TV supported it.

Your TV only has ARC - and that was thought so unimportant at the time that the spec referenced above doesn’t even mention it. But uncompressed Dolby Atmos can’t be passed over ARC - it needs eARC.

So, with over a thousand pounds’worth of investment in the Apple TV and the Bose soundbar, the TV sandwiched between them is a 12-year-old 40” HD set, with all the limitations described above.

Yes, you could have done better with the money spent on the soundbar, but it would do well enough as part of a final solution when you replace your old TV with a modern UHD one that can handle Dolby. But you’d have to wait for that.

So, unless you bought it more than 90 days ago, I would invoke Bose’s 90-day Risk-free trial guarantee, get a refund as it isn’t going to work fully in your setup (blame us if you like), and look for a comparable Atmos sound bar, but with a true HDMI In as well as the eARC HDMI, so you can plug the Apple TV directly into the soundbar, and get the Atmos audio, with the video going up through the ARC HDMI in, to be seen on the TV. Maybe Bose have one such, and will swap yours for it 😛

And this connection will work in the other direction when you are watching broadcast TV, to pass the audio to the soundbar. Limited to Dolby 5.1 at best, but broadcast audio is anyway. And all the good streaming stuff will be coming from the Apple TV, where the sky is the limit for audio out.

Something to really enjoy right now, while you save up for a 2023 or 2024 UHD TV 😛

[welfordyc]

Nice detailed response thanks. The Bose kit is already boxed up awaiting UPS collection. 🤣 Unfortunately they don’t offer a bar with multiple hdmi ports so I’ll get saving my pennies for a TV upgrade next year 😉

[royabrown2]

@welfordyc 

Can you run to the Sony HT-A7000? It’s a couple of hundred more than the Bose, but has everything you need, which none of the cheaper soundbars in this article do:-

https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/home-cinema/best-soundbars#section-best-entry-level-dolby-atmos-s...

Or for £100 less than the Bose, perhaps the Yamaha SR-X50A?

I had the YSP2500, and was going to recommend the YSP2700, but it seems to have been superseded, and bettered, by the above.

Worth a listen, at least.