Q950T soundbar won't hold D.IN input when eARC HDMI is connected to 2020 43" The Frame TV

[pahill]

I have a new Q950T soundbar (HW-Q950T/XU). This is connected via HDMI eARC to a new 2020 43" The Frame TV (QE43LS03TAUXXU) just for the sound inbound from the TV - there's no video passthrough on the soundbar. I also have an old Denon Hi-Fi sound system connected via Optical cable into the D.IN port.

I have found that whenever the TV is switched on it is not possible to change to the D.IN source input to hear the sound system. The display very quickly flicks to D.IN then immediately changes back to eARC. If the TV is turned off D.IN can be selected to hear the sound system, but within 10 minutes eARC is somehow reasserting itself and changing the audio feed back to eARC - even though the TV is off - and so cutting off the audio as there's no audio coming in on eARC. So the D.IN input source just will not hold to be on as the source when HDMI eARC is plugged in.

At first I thought maybe the optical cable was damaged and losing sync so I replaced it with a new one, with no improvement. Only when the HDMI eARC port cable is removed from the soundbar will D.IN stay connected and outputting the Hi-Fi's sound. There is nothing plugged into input ports HDMI1 or HDMI2 when this happens. Also, I am talking about eARC synchronisation - not regular ARC.

I have just updated the soundbar's firmware from 1016.0 to the latest 1017.5 with no improvement. The TV's firmware is also on its latest version which is 1402.6.

Is this a known issue that will get fixed in a future firmware update? Maybe it's the TV's firmware that's at fault by keep waking up the soundbar when it should be off and outputting nothing. Thankfully the TV's sound is more important to me right now so I am able to wait without being to use the Hi-Fi.

I am unable to get through to anyone on the Chat support. It just keeps saying ...really busy...nobody available... try the support forums.

Edit - PS: As a test, It makes no difference if I plug the HDMI source in through HDMI1 of the soundbar to pass through the video; eARC is still grabbing control with the TV switched off (in standby). With a hard power off of the TV then D.IN holds as that's the same as unplugging the eARC HDMI cable.

[ChrisVice]

Seems like eARC has a higher priority than D.IN. The only solution would be, which every other companies Soundbar offers,  to let us choose our own god ***** preferred input/output source Samsung.

[paalwille]

I have the exact same setup, except from the TV brand. Please post a reply if you find a solution to this. Thanks.

[steph61]

Hi, if anyone is still interested, i have the same problem with my Rotel DVD player connected optically.

My work around is in SOUND OUT to turn off eARC and then  to select internal TV speakers+Optical  mode (tv speakers on zero volume)

Quick n easy to change and works well for me.

Fantastic sound bar, Love it.

[HansRoelofs]

@steph61
Hi, thanks for sharing your work-around.

I found out that for me the only easy work-around is disconnecting the TV from the power grid when i want to use the soundbar with another source. For this I use a switch with a remote.

Apart from this little annoyance I also am happy with the Q950T.

[al3xsm]

Same issue with the q950a soundbar connected to samsung q70r TV with HDMI ARC.

If the TV its on I can't switch to optical input on the soundbar it goes back to TV ARC.

The only way I can use the optical input is to turn off the TV.

[Harald5]

I got the same problem on q90r how has this passer quality control? Samsung tv , samsung soundbar. Trying to listen to turntable and hdmi-handshake switches back from d.in to earc every 10-15 minutes. 

What is the quality department doing?

[australiana]

I wasted hours trying to get the optical link from my minidisc player to my q950a to work. It would come on randomly for half a second and then be overridden by the TV connection. The optical input also doesn't show up in Smart Things.

I found that disconnecting the TV cable from the soundbar was the only way to get the minidisc to play.

This all seems pretty basic usability functionality and it's a mystery why they think it was ok to release this significant fault and then just leave it unfixed.

Get it fixed Samsung!

[AlgoRipper]

Affected by exactly the same issue. Have my raumfeld connector (straming device) connected by optical cable / D.IN

TV is off. Every 10 mins input channel is switched automatically.

Has anybody made a big ticket/raised a support incident over that yet?

Not sure just reporting here will lead anywhere...

[australiana]

My Q950a soundbar is currently with the Samsung repair agent because of brief sound dropouts. Fair to say I'm pretty dissatisfied overall.

[froggles]

I’ve got the same issue with a 55” 2020 frame and a JBL Bar 9.1. For so long I thought it was the soundbar but it’s the TV waking up the bar and triggering it to go back into TV-source non-stop.