Zidoo Z9X and Sonos Arc

After doing some additional testing it seems as though it's my TV that's not passing the correct formats to my Sonos ARC soundbar via eARC.

I have another TV with a Sonos Beam Gen2 hooked up. The Sonos Beam Gen2 supports the exact same audio codecs as the Sonos Arc. The big difference with the Sonos Beam setup is I also have an eARC HDMI switch since my TV doesn't support eARC (https://feintech.eu/en/products/feintech-vax04101-hdmi-earc-pass-switch-4x1-for-soundbar).

On the Sonos Beam setup I can pass the "Raw" audio from the Zidoo to the Sonos. By default DTS-HD doesn't work, and the sonos app shows "Unsupported Audio." But once I enabled the "DTS Downmix" then I am able to see other DTS codecs (e.g. DTS Surround 4.0) being played property by the Sonos Beam.

Since I had that working I thought maybe I can just do the same on the Sonos ARC setup. The Sonos ARC is connected to a Samsung The Frame TV from 2023. The TV supports audio passthrough but with this exact same configuration (RAW audio output with DTS Downmix enabled) I'm not getting any sound, even with audio passthrough enabled. I have to change the Audio output to "Auto" to get any sound and then it comes through as Stereo PCM.

Because of this it seems as though it's my TV that's not passing through all the audio codecs.

Right now I'm leaning toward getting one of these Audio Extractors (https://feintech.eu/en/products/ax310-hdmi-2-1-audio-extractor-hdmi-earc) in order to get all the possible Sound codecs that the Sonos ARC supports.

This has all been very frustrating, I feel like TV manufacturers make this harder than it needs to be.

I should also note. The Sonos Beam Gen 2 is using a Zidoo Z9x Pro, and the Sonos Arc is using a Zidoo Z20 Pro, although I assume that shouldn't matter as the hardware is very similar.

 

Unfortunately soundbars are notorious a pain in the arse at the best of times and more so when they rely on ARC, eARC and other such arcane workarounds (ARC relies on CEC and CEC is the work of the devil and should never be used).

I can understand TVs not supporting all audio codecs (kind of) because they generally don't have surround capability anyway.

But there's no excuse for a soundbar not to support all codecs - especially not supporting DTS-HD in isolation - it's completely unacceptable these days - imagine buying a Denon/Yamaha/Pioneer (etc) receiver and finding it didn't support DTS-HD - there'd be uproar!

I've seen soundbars do horrific things to EDIDs too - truncating them because the devs can't be bothered to parse them properly so support for codecs that should work just don't. Bloody idiots.

 

I guess my frustrations with the TV are that it doesn't just pass through the audio in pass-through mode. It still seems to block it from going to the Sonos Arc.

And I agree with the sound bar sentiment. It's just all the space I have would allow for. And it's quite frustrating from Sonos which claims to be gods gift to audio doesn't support all codecs.

 

So hang on a minute - the Sonos ARC supports DTS but not DTS-HD? is that right?

If that's the case, if the TV doesn't support DTS (like Samsungs) then it obviously wouldn't advertise DTS in the EDID, hence no DTS. It has to do that.

So maybe if we add DTS back into the EDID that might trick it and allow passthrough of DTS... This will allow the Zidoo to send DTS from both a standard DTS track and a DTS-HD one as long as it has a DTS core. Just leave Audio on Auto - Worth a go.

So try the attached EDID - it's the one you posted, but with DTS (not DTS-HD/X) added.

 

Yep, that's my understanding from their specs:

Stereo PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos (Dolby Digital Plus), Dolby Atmos*, Dolby TrueHD*, Dolby Atmos (True HD)*, Multichannel PCM*, Dolby Multichannel PCM*, DTS Digital Surround**​

I'll give this a try!

 

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work. I do see DTS has been added in the Zidoo audio settings. And the TV does have the passthrough option. But the Sonos arc doesn't seem to be getting the audio. At least on the Beam I was able to see "unsupported audio" which told me it was getting a signal, but wasn't able to decode it.

 

But didn't the Beam show "unsupported audio" for DTS-HD only and not DTS?

DTS shouldn't say that if it supports it.

 

Correct, I wasn't clear. I was trying to reproduce sending DTS-HD to the Sonos Arc using RAW audio format to get "unsupported audio." But that wouldn't work if the EDID says it doesn't support DTS-HD would it?

 

I found an EDID editor (AW EDID Editor) and added DTS-HD just to see if I could get it to come through as unsupported audio but that also doesn't work. Seems like the TV is blocking these formats.

 

I've corrected that EDID a bit

Although you'd added DTS-HD in you didn't have the correct channels, Audio Format Code (0b011 or 3 in decimal) or all the sampling rates - I don't know if it'll make a difference, but certainly the Audio Format Code is important.

 

Thanks for checking, I obviously don't know what I'm doing with EDID files. But still no luck. What's interesting is if I send through the data as RAW with no downmixing of DTS-HD it shows up on my Sonos as Dolby Digital 5.1. The Blu-Ray I'm playing obviously isn't, it's DTS 5.1. And there's still no sound.

Thanks for your help, seems as though I'll need an eARC audio extractor to get all the possible formats supported by the Sonos Arc.

 

Just to prove my theory that the TV is doing something with the audio pass-through, I hooked up my eARC extractor to the TV with the Sonos Arc. With this setup it's intercepting the sound from the Zidoo and sending it straight to the TV. It sends the correct bitstream signal through and my Sonos Arc can play it without issues. Screenshot attached.

The eARC extractor is the HD Fury Arcana 2, it's extremely flaking when switching TV inputs and even between video files so I don't use it often. Looks like I'll have to try out the feintech earc extractor to see if that performs better.

 

This helped a lot, but I have found a few issues. The TV or the Sonos ARC Ultra does not seem to support PCM 88.2 or 176.4. Is it possible to edit the EDID and block those and only have 44.1 - 48 - 96 and 192 that is supported?

 

No problem - file attached

 

Thank you very much, now SACD ISO files is playing as expected also

 

Just to wrap up my issues for anyone who might be having the same. I ended up getting this eARC audio extractor from FeinTech.

It works great, MUCH better than the HD Fury at a fraction of the price. It basically gives you an HDMI input port on the Sonos Arc, something Sonos should have included in the first place. And it allows you to force the supported audio formats on the EDID.

With this hooked up, the Zidoo plugged into the eARC extractor, I’m getting all possible audio formats that the Sonos Arc supports, including DTS formats. It also fixes any audio delays I was having with Dolby Atmos as the TV is no longer attempting to process the audio signal.

I’m still unhappy with the Samsung TV because it seems to tamper with all audio formats it doesn’t support and doesn’t allow for pass-through for all formats. I’m unhappy that Sonos doesn’t support all DTS formats.

I wouldn’t buy a Sonos Arc again, I wouldn’t buy this Samsung TV again. But with this setup I’m able to at least work with my current setup.