Q90R TV and Q90R soundbar not working correctly with ARC

[m-oc]

I have the TV and soundbar of the same name - Q90R. Presumably they are designed to work together...

If if I connect my 2 HDMI sources to the soundbar and use the HDMI ARC to connect to the TV, everything works fine except that my TV remote will switch the TV and soundbar off. However, if I switch the TV on with the TV remote, the soundbar does not switch on. Why would it switch off but not on?  This is how you are advised to set it up in the manual. 

Everything is enabled on Anynet+ CEC and the universal remotes also set up. Volume controls also work from TV remote. Just not switching on both devices together.  I also sometimes have to switch the source off/on to have it recognised.  The only way to switch on the soundbar is with its own remote. 

Interestingly, if I move my 2 HDMI sources to connect to the TV and not the soundbar, the TV remote will switch both devices on AND off and works perfectly in this regard. However, then I get unreaolveable lip sync issues and don’t even get me started on that!

Any ideas (or fixes - Samsung) gratefully received. 

[m-oc]

I'm in the UK. Not sure if the same model is used across the whole of Europe or not. Hopefully the fix will be a global one as it seems to impact several markets. 

[userjYtfoTda0t]

To clarify what m-oc says: The excessive audio delay ("lipsync issue") affects Dolby Digital and DTS sound when connected to the OCB HDMI inputs. I have meassured around 160ms too much delay so anybody should be disturbed. It does not affect TV Apps and also not PCM audio via HDMI inputs.

[m-oc]

Yes, precisely. Thanks! 

[slomar]

I would say that's still questionable whether it affects TV apps.  I felt like Plex was a few milliseconds off using it on the TV app, versus a firestick connected directly to the soundbar.  Definitely nowhere near as bad as HDMI connected to the TV, but it still didn't seem spot on to me.  I probably wouldn't even have noticed it if I wasn't trying to resolve the HDMI issues and constantly going back and forth between the different methods of playback.  

[m-oc]

As you say, once you start looking at it with such scrutiny, it's diffucult to say if you can see an issue or not. I've questioned myself if I am going mad a few times over this and it's only others reporting it too which has confirmed my sanity 😂. Definitely much worse on HDMI. I would say other sources are probably acceptable. They were not when the TV first came out however. Also, there are other factors with the apps like network latency. 

[primalair]

I use  Plex on my Nvidia Shield, attached to my Soundbar, on a daily basis and I would say, I don't experience a massive lip sync issue. I will double check it later but I'm usually very fussy and sensitive to these kind of troubles so I'm sure I would have seen it. Same for my XBOX in Atmos mode but I don't use it very much at the moment so maybe there, I could have overlooked it.

On the Shield I have also a setting to check audio sync issues and this is perfectly fine on my side. If it's from any help I can provide a video about it.

[slomar]

The problem is not when things are attached to the soundbar. It's when they are plugged into the one-connect box. I don't have any lip sync with the fire stick plugged into the soundbar.

[primalair]

Okay. Understand. I don't have this kind of setup as I need true Atmos working form my shield and XBOX. My internal Netflix App provides me with atmos over DD+ to the Soundbar too so I don't need to hook up devices on my TV. Why do you do that?

[slomar]

I think the question should be, why does the one-connect box exist if you can't use it for anything without lip sync issues? It's a bit chunky in size and takes up space and basically serves no purpose with these existing issues (unless you use optical out which is quite limited to in terms of audio formats). Also, the soundbar inputs aren't in a great location and it's limited to two if you use the third for the ARC back to the TV. From a usability perspective, things plugged into the one-connect box register in the source menu on the TV and makes it easier to identity which input you are using and allows for a better one-remote configuration. 

[primalair]

I fully agree but as long as Samsung does not manage to provide eARC, for me is anyway no real usecase for the one-connect box. At least it's handy to troubleshoot all the things that don't work, do the power-resets, replug everything including power. Of course I'm kidding. Would be funny if it would not be that sad... I really can't understand why these products have so much troubles. When I had the Soundbar, in the beginning it lost regularly the connection to the rear speakers. The TV can't remember the soundbar and also not that I deleted some of the icons from the app launcher. Also I have regular "Network Cable connected" messages popping up while the connection is perfectly fine regarding to the logs from the connected switch. Really, it's very overpriced half tested stuff samsung sells to people like us.