Connect soundbars with ARC and eARC: This is how you can enjoy Dolby Atmos sound on the TV

High-quality soundbars such as the Sonos ARC now enable atmospheric and flawless sound thanks to Dolby Atmos when you connect them to your TV. When connecting, however, you have to pay attention to a few things if you really want to use the audio format.

Dolby Atmos: You need this

First of all, both your television and the soundbar to be connected must have Dolby Atmos. Soundbars like those from Sonos are connected to your TV via an ARC connection, newer TVs even have an eARC connection.

Difference between ARC and eARC

Both ARC standards are HDMI connectors with Audio Return Channel (ARC), where the e in eARC stands for “enhanced”. The difference is that eARC also supports TrueHD audio formats. Dolby Atmos can be played via both ARC and eARC.

When using an ARC connection, Dolby Atmos may not be output correctly with some more complex connections, for example Netflix does not always correctly route the audio format from the Smart TV to a home theater receiver.

Instead, the signal is converted to Dolby Digital, for example. So you can only be guaranteed to exploit all the possibilities for Dolby Atmos via an eRAC connection.

The soundbar’s optical adapter does not offer Dolby Atmos

An optical adapter is included with the Sonos ARC so that the soundbar can also be connected to televisions without an ARC connection. However, the disillusionment comes quickly: Dolby Atmos cannot be played back in this way. With this type of connection, a maximum of Dolby Surround playback is possible.

Set up the soundbar and TV for Dolby Atmos

In order to enjoy Dolby Atmos, your soundbar must be connected via ARC or eARC. You can find out whether the respective devices have Dolby Atmos and ARC connections either from the product description on the packaging or from the instructions.

For the correct connection, connect your soundbar and TV via an HDMI cable. You have to plug this into an HDMI-ARC or HDMI-eARC connection on the television so that Dolby Atmos is played back.

If everything is connected correctly, almost nothing stands in the way of the Dolby Atmos sound. With most televisions, you have to make an adjustment in the audio settings beforehand. Select the external speaker (HDMI) as the audio output here.

Necessary settings for Dolby Atmos

In order for the signal to be forwarded correctly, you now have to change the audio format to “Dolby Digital Plus” (“Bitstream”), “Dolby Atmos” or “TrueHD”, depending on whether the soundbar is connected via ARC or eARC. On Apple TV, the audio format is called “Dolby MAT”.

You can use the free Sonos app to find out whether your TV actually outputs Dolby Atmos sound. Go to the system settings and the About my system submenu. All Sonos speakers in your WLAN are listed here. With the Sonos ARC you can read the currently used audio format.

But what do you do if your TV has neither an ARC nor an eARC-compatible connection? Can’t you use Dolby Atmos with the Sonos ARC then? Yes, but only to a limited extent and you need a special adapter for this.

An adapter provides a remedy in the event of a lack of compatibility

Corresponding adapters are still relatively new, cost between 50 and 250 euros and were developed to transmit the audio signal from a TV with eARC to older AV receivers and sound systems without causing any loss of sound. The devices can also be used as HDMI audio splitters.

Two adapters in particular are in the spotlight on the market: the FeinTech (VAX01202) HDMI eARC Audio Extractor and Hdfury Arcana. The adapters are primarily used to eliminate compatibility problems between image and sound output devices.

Use Dolby Atmos on TVs without an ARC/eARC connector

But you can also use a trick like Hdfury Arcana to connect a TV without an ARC/eRAC connection to a Sonos Arc soundbar and still enjoy Dolby Atmos sound.

The adapter box receives the incoming HDMI signal, which it passes on to the television via the HDMI output. The sound, on the other hand, is routed directly to the Sonos ARC soundbar via the adapter’s eARC output. So you bypass the TV when forwarding the audio signal.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll find that the incoming HDMI signal has to come from an external source (e.g. a receiver, Blu-ray player or games console). With this method, Dolby Atmos can only be switched on for content from external sources.

With the appropriate setup, you cannot watch films and series streamed via the Smart TV app with Dolby Atmos sound, for example, since there is no external HDMI source in this case.

When buying a TV, pay attention to the ARC/eARC connection

Luckily, you no longer need to worry about these connection issues with newer TVs. Current Smart TVs are usually equipped with at least one HDMI ARC connection, and increasingly even with an eARC connection.

TV Over the Internet: Watch Live TV Online with TV Streaming Apps

In the case of other connection problems, however, other adapters for televisions can also help, for example to convert an optical signal or to convert a Scart to HDMI. A handy all-in-one solution is a multi-converter.

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