What is going on with eARC update for the soundbar HW-Q90R?

[zhspence]

Hi everyone,

I need some clarification, as to be honest the Samsung support staff are hopeless with knowing anything about their own products. 

I was on chat with support enquiring about the eARC firmware update for this soundbar, he replies to me saying it doesn't have eARC?! 

the whole reason I purchased it was because of this update, I have the LG C9 which is eARC!

if they don't provide this firmware update to allow it, then this soundbar is going back for a refund. 

[kylios88]

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@Viktorn wrote:

Aw, this is complicated. 

Well, isn't it just a matter of connecting the source to the soundbar itself for the sound and using the ARC as a 4K passthrough?

And there is still hope for the eARC update right?

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We tried both ways. No difference in audio quality between connected directly to the soundbar of via LG C9 ARC. 

 

[Viktorn]

okok, the plot thickens.. ??

So, the HDMI's on the bar are capable of delivering Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD master audio (Since v1.3) and the info on the bar clearly states that it supports these but the ARC surpresses the sound to 5.1 surround. 

Yet kylos88 and SuissoNaBisso tested the bar through ARC and got all of the good sound quality. 

Have any of you that say it surpresses it to 5.1 actually tested it? 

We have a lot of different things flying around here:p 

[JFarol]

Any other options out there that support eARC, 7.1.4 atmos? 

im trying to justify exchanging this for a more future proof system but the hard part is I can't find anything equivalent with the same features and eARC included. 

[Portuguese2]

Samsung promised to update Soundbar q90r to earc and after all these months nothing happened. It's unacceptable. I bought this one because all features but specially  because was earc compatible in a future firmware update. It's an expensive Soundbar trying to be a top atmos system and Samsung should not joke with their customers with no clear answers. For sure was my last Samsung purchase! 

[Clapton94]

I have never seen that Samsung said that, it is just rumors nothing was written from Samsung. 

[Portuguese2]

The silence is king! I love rumours and being behind the curtain as long as I profit millions around the world and don't clarify the questions of my customers...

[Viktorn]

Well. I was just reading the menu. 

what it sais there is that you have to connect the external device to the soundbar itself and "this product supports dolby atmos only in HDMI mode" and ofc the content must be in dolby atmos format. 

I really don't see the difference of connecting the external device  to the soundbar or to the TV as most of what I watch goes through there. 

Now I don't know if there will be an update to make the ARC an eARC (I'd like that though) and it seems that some have all ready tested the ARC and found it to work well (even for atmos content). 

In my case I was chosing beetween this one and the bose soundbar 700 and that one has eARC but no ATMOS or DTS:X support. I chose this one and I don't regret it:) 

[Nayin]

I have your same TV and bar, if I configure it with multichannel(bypass) there is no sound. How did you get sound with the bypass option? Thx a lot

[Viktorn]

Hey. 

I just connected the source (in this case apple tv 4k) to the soundbar (HDMI 1) and then I connect the soundbar to the tv via ARC (hopefully eARC in the future). Now when I turn on the apple TV it all fires up and automatically goes to HDMI 1 and the sound from the Apple tv comes out of the soundbar and the video comes in the TV. 

If I wan't to use the TV as the source of video and sound I switch the soundbar to ARC mode and the sound from the TV is there. 

The only thing is that I have not yet got the "Dolby Atmos" Icon on content that supports that for streaming services like Netflix.. I'm figuring that out still (but the HD, 4K, Dolby Vision, Ultra 4K HDR is all there)

[_oSo_]

I also did some testing using my Samsung Q90R tv (2019), Xbox One X and the Q90R soundbar.

First set up
1) tv connected to soundbar using Arc
2) Xbox One X connected to soundbar using HDMI 1 on soundbar

Results: I get Dolby atmos from Xbox One X and tested it using the Dolby atmos app that is available for download for the Xbox. The sound is impressive and I can hear all the speakers firing up with the Dolby atmos demos available from the app. The app also lets you set up your devices to properly receive the Dolby atmos signal
Netflix app on Xbox gives me Dolby atmos but image quality is bad, I doNt think it’s 4k UHD.
Disney + app on Xbox no Dolby atmos at all, not even 5.1, just basic surround, horrible sound and video quality.

Second set up
1) tv connected to soundbar via Arc
2) Xbox connected to tv via HDMI 1

Results: I get Dolby atmos from Native Netflix app on tv, compressed, not even close to what I get from Netflix app on Xbox when using the previous set up.
I do not get any Dolby atmos from the Xbox at all (Netflix or from the Dolby atmos app).

Overall the Dolby atmos sound is by far better when I have the xBox connected directly to the soundbar.l in comparisons with the solve atmos I get from the tv native apps. All this at a great cost “image quality is bad”
The compressed version of Dolby atmos from Netflix native app on the q90R tv is good but not as good as what I get from the Xbox. Video quality is great when watching native apps from the tv.

Also there is a problem turning on and or off the tv+ soundbar + Xbox.

With the Xbox connected directly to the soundbar I have to constantly be serious g HDMI inputs and for that I can only do it with the soundbar remote. The tv remote doesn’t turn on the tv and soundbar together, another inconvenience because I need the soundbar remote to turn in the soundbar. And also the Xbox need to be turned on individually.

With the Xbox connected to the tv and the soundbar connected to the tv via arc all I need is my tv remote. It easily turns on or off all devices. I even get an Xbox icon on the tv menu and the tv automatically switches to the HDMI source I’ll be using without having to use more than one remote. This is by far my favorite set up but I and unhappy because I do t get the real atmos sound that I experienced with the Xbox connected directly to the soundbar.

At this moment I’m settling for video quality over sound, this is unfortunate because the purpose of having a great soundbar is to experience great quality sound. I believe my tv has a lot to do with this too. Not just the soundbar. And as someone mentioned previously, it seems like the perfect match of soma sing Q90R tv and soundbar is not so perfect at all.