A bit of disappointment…

[u/dielinfinite]

I’m not sure if there is a solution that wouldn’t require purchasing another piece of hardware so this post is probably more me stamping my feet in frustration

I wanted to upgrade the audio on my old Samsung 4k screen which had been connected to a just as old Bose Cinemate which finally gave out.

I ended up choosing a Sony Bravia Theater System 6 which ai got a nice deal on. My tv doesn’t support eARC but it at least had an ARC input which still has good Dolby and DTS support.

I get the system set up with my Xbox Series X connected to the tv via HDMI only to find the xbox is only outputting uncompressed stereo and the tv only giving me the option for PCM and DTS Neo 2:5.

The only way I’m getting Dolby Digital is watching over the air tv but I didn’t really want to upgrade the audio just to watch PBS.

The Bravia system only has one HDMi connection and the xbox doesn’t have an optical out so I can’t connect the xbox directly to the theater system.

I have tried connecting the theater system to the tv with the optical but haven’t played with the settings on either the tv or the audio system to see if I get anything better but it kind of feels like this sound system wasn’t the best choice for this tv/xbox or maybe the tv is just too old and needs an upgrade

/rant

[u/AdmiralArchArch]

Can you not connect the Xbox directly to the soundbar?

[u/dielinfinite → u/AdmiralArchArch]

Unfortunately no since the soundbar’s only connection goes straight into the subwoofer which handles all the connections for the theater system. It only has one HDMI connection, an Optical In, and a USB for updating the firmware (which the app tells me is up to date)

So

[u/NaiveMathematician10]

Set your xbox to passthrough to let the bar do the decoding…

[u/dielinfinite → u/NaiveMathematician10]

I’ll give it another shot when I’m home. I did try that yesterday and had no other audio options available on either the xbox or the tv but maybe I’ll find something when I’m not battling so much frustration

[u/NaiveMathematician10 → u/dielinfinite]

From your screenshot its the TV doing the lifting even over standard Arc you should be seeing the 5.1 options green ticked setting to passthrough should do it mate…

[u/-Beezlebub-]

If your soundbar can actually output dtshd, you’ll need something like a nvidia shield to play the file and an app with a dtshd or dd+ file to be played on.

[u/Fuso90]

Your TV is too old (2014) and does not support audio input other than PCM 2.0 over HDMI. It can only output 5.1 from the tv tuner or media files played from usb, dlna... Maybe some apps have 5.1 audio as well. In your case you'll need a soundbar with HDMI In port so that you can connect the Xbox directly and you'll get full uncompressed audio. Either return the current system and buy another one with HDMI input, buy a new TV. Also with this TV you will not take advantage of this sound system because it can't output Dolby Atmos.

[u/dielinfinite → u/Fuso90]

That’s pretty much what I was thinking. I was just hoping someone would prove me wrong.

Thank you, I appreciate the insight. I’ll just have to decide whether to keep the sound system in case of a future tv upgrade or return/replace it

[u/xKINGxRCCx]

You need HDMI 2.1

[u/Quirky_Bullfrog9375]

Whoops, you're missing out on a lot, Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1. You should've done more research