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.

[Kilo]

Simon_w,

So should you always put the settings on Bitstream and DD? Even if you are watching things from an app or digital tv signal where the sound is not in 5.1? Or is it in these cases better with other settings?

[simon_w]

Hi Kilo

That depends on whether you like the "faux-surround" - personally (as a film maker) I would always prefer to hear the sound as intended so keep it on the Dolby bitstream setting.

[scott]

BDU-K8500 UHD bluray player. 

[simon_w]

Top of the range player - has codecs for Dolby / DTS and DivX - transcodes from one format to another on the fly (p54 in the manual)

Interesting that this unit also received an over-the-air firmware update on June 7th...

[Nick0]

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@simon_w wrote:

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.

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Thanks for this clear explanation of PCM v DD.  This reflects my experience exactly.

[Peejay84]

Great post Simon, it really summarizes everything about soundbar setup!

scott, your ultrahd player can transcode DTS to dolby on the fly, maybe when you wirelessly connect it to samsung soundbar it knows it and automatically transcodes. 

As for lose less formats like DTS HD MA or Dolby THD, the soundbar will play them, because those formats have regular DTS/Dolby tracks hidden inside the stream. 

[scott]

I doubt that the DTS HD-MA audio speaker assignment sound check has a DD audio file hidden inside it. 

When I click on information while it is playing it shows it as MVK and DTS.

 "As for lose less formats like DTS HD MA or Dolby THD, the soundbar will play them, because those formats have regular DTS/Dolby tracks hidden inside the stream." 

 I am aware of backwards compatibility built into DD and DTS sound tracks. When I play a DD true hd bluray I am fairly certain that DD plus is what I am hearing. Same thing with DTS HD MA playing as to DTS 5.1. 

[Peejay84]

No what I mean is that DTS HD has regular DTS track inside of it, pretty sure it's the same for dolby.

[scott]

If I download DD true HD trailers and play them from a usb stick and click on information, it always shows DD plus. If I download a Dolby true hd audio codec only from dolby website it shows, "audio codec not supported". My bluray player is supposed to be able to play Dolby true hd so the bluray player must be recognizing the capabilities of the soundbar.

[abob36]

Just checking to say that my setup has been great with this latest firmware update. Wanted to thank Robbie for doing all the leg work and keeping up the fight. 

I see that Samsung finally released the DTS 5.1 firmware for the 850 and 950. I really doubt we will get it, but who knows?