HW-K650 and Two R1 Wirelss Speakers in 5.1 With KS7000 TV

[podavies]

When using the K650 sound bar and two R1 Wireless speakers in surround sound mode over wifi with the latest firmware, The quailty of the sound K650 drops, sounds very muddy. As soon as you use the sound bar on it own, the sound bar improves. this is happening for a quite a few users.

can you help.

[NotSamsung]

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@leelazer wrote:
Hi all

You can definitely send standard DTS over optical, I did it for many years. I believe that if you are connecting to the soundbar via WiFi from the TV then it probably doesn't mater if you select DD or PCM as that setting seems only to be if you are passing the sound through the TV via Hdmi or optical. You definitely cant pass multi channel LCPM/PCM via hdmi or optical. The signal from your source would first have to go through a dedicated reviever and then to the TV.

Lee

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Are you now saying that my TV can output multichannel PCM if I connect the K650 (& 2xM3 rears) via wifi? Just not if it's optical on hdmi?

So, if I play a Netflix DD5.1 from my TV app,  then it is irrelevant if I select Audio output as PCM or DD?

I tried that,  and the PCM seems to yield pseduo 5.1.  The DD setting results in a lower sound level and rears almost non existent.  This is ironically the same result if I change the K650 to connect via optical or HDMI (and obviously keep the 2 rears on wifi connected to K650).

I'm lost now.  

How do I get DD5.1 with the K650 and 2 x M3's?  

[NotSamsung]

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@leelazer wrote:
Hi all

You can definitely send standard DTS over optical, I did it for many years. I believe that if you are connecting to the soundbar via WiFi from the TV then it probably doesn't mater if you select DD or PCM as that setting seems only to be if you are passing the sound through the TV via Hdmi or optical. You definitely cant pass multi channel LCPM/PCM via hdmi or optical. The signal from your source would first have to go through a dedicated reviever and then to the TV.

Lee

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Lee,

Are you using Wifi to connect the K650 and rears to your tv?

If so,  playing a Netflix DD5.1 on your TV,  do you get 5.1 regardless if you set TV Audio Output to PCM or DD?

[NotSamsung]

How do I do a factory reset on the K650?

[leelazer]

Hi

Yes a factory reset is worth a try. On the end of the soundbar hold the volume up and volume down buttons in at the same time for a few seconds. That should reset the soundbar. I will habe to do some testing with Netflix later to see how well mine is working. I seem to remember it being ok but I will test it again. 

Lee 

[Nick0]

I have tested my system, UE49KS8000 and HWK650W and 2 xR1's since updating all to the latest software.  It is true that the volume level playing PCM format  is significantly higher than when Audio is set to PCM.  However, having used the Fraunhofer EBU Tech 3304-4.1 BLITS test file, played from a USB input, PCM does not render distinct 5.1 over Wi-Fi.  With the TV's Audio Format set to Dolby Digital, on the other hand, fully separated, well-balanced channels are evident, comparable to the optical workaround.   

Having said that, the PCM rendition when playing content  from SKY or Netflix, seems to me more immersive and "in-your-face" than DD which  seems to lack volume and punch overall, unless the sound control is cranked way up.   If I remember correctly, that was the case with the optical work around too before the big fix.

So by updating the TV firmware, I don't think I have compromised the big fix! (Breaths a sigh of relief).

[simon_w]

I have also done the TV firmware update and can confirm the surround over WiFi still works fine - phew !!

Just to clear up some confusion from earlier posts:

LPCM vs PCM - In the context of our soundbars these are exactly the same thing.  Strictly LPCM stands for Linear Pulse Code Modulation which is the type of PCM used for WAV format audio. (Another type of encoding is Log PCM but that is not used for WAVs)

DTS vs DOLBY 5.1 - The HW-K650 can process Stereo WAV files and Dolby 5.1 Surround files.  It cannot process DTS surround, nor can it process Dolby ATMOS 7.1 or other higher channel count formats.  But some DVD and BluRay players can be set to recode a DTS output into Dolby for compatibility.  The DTS absence in the K650 is simply a cost saving as the DTS technology requires a licence fee payable by the manufacturer and ultimately the end user.

"But I hear surround when I set the TV to PCM" - Yes and No...

The K650 processes true discrete 5.1 channel surround when fed with a Dolby 5.1 bitstream.

When fed with a PCM stereo (2.0) source it synthesises a surround field from the stereo information and presents this on the rears - the same happens if you create a surround group in the multiroom app and play a stereo audio track through the group.  The front left and right on the soundbar will exactly reproduce the intended L&R Stereo, the centre channel will be created from the Mono component of the stereo source (mainly dialogue) and the sub channel will pick up the low frequencies from the stereo source.  Much of the time this sounds really good but it is not the surround mix as intended by the film producer.

Volume settings - It is likely that when playing Dolby 5.1 sources the volume level will need to be increased as compared with Stereo sources.  This reflects the fact that each channel is being fed discretely.  But also check that your offset in the TVs wireless speaker manager is not too extreme - if the soundbar is still set low it will exacerbate this.  Based on streaming the "Spooks" movie from Netfix last night I was getting excellent surround and clear dialogue with the Soundbar set in the middle position and the rears just two clicks higher.

[scott]

Not true that hw-k650 cannot play dts surround. If I create surround setup with my bluray players multiroom link settings DTS MA 5.1 speaker assignment sound check plays correctly with usb stick plugged into bluray player.

 If you look at audio specs for hw-k650 on samsungs website it says dts 2.0 but if you click on the question mark next to it it says dts 5.1 surround sound.

[simon_w]

Only two possibilities for that:

[1] Somehow the BluRay player is transcoding the DTS to Dolby or...

[2] The file you are playing on the USB stick is actually not encoded in DTS...  Most Video test clips on the web are encoded as MP4s which is almost always wrapping AAC compressed audio channels in a Dolby configuration in an MP4 multiplex

I can assure you that the HW-K650 cannot process a DTS bitstream - it is clear from the specs in the manual !!!

[scott]

I have half a dozen DTS blurays and they sound great when bluray player makes surround setup wirelessly. When bluray player creates surround setup, audio settings are greyed out on PCM. If I output audio hdmi bitstream I can select to output between PCM, bitstream reencode dolby digital, bitstream reencode dts or unprocessed bitstream. The dts 5.1 speaker assignment will not work with any of those settings--only creating surround setup with bluray players multiroom link settings plays DTS correctly.

[simon_w]

Hi Scott

Then in your configuration the BluRay player must be streaming decoded audio directly to the soundbar bypassing the codec limitations of the TV and soundbar - cunning and glad it works !

Out of interest which model of BluRay player are you using?