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. 

[_oSo_]

The Netflix app on my Samsung tv delivers Atmos content and when that happens the sound bar detects it properly. It’s not lossless audio but instead a compressed form of Atmos, but still a lot better than 5.1.
My problem is when I want to use the Netflix app on my Xbox (Or any other app from the Xbox that delivers atmos content or when playing blue ray disc with atmos content) , because I have the Xbox connected to the tv, seems like no Atmos audio is passed to the tv and then to the soundbar. The only way to get Atmos from my Xbox is by connecting the Xbox directly to the soundbar (the arc port) but by doing so I need to plug the tv to a different hdmi port and then I loose arc from the tv.

[Amburz57]

Hi, your comments are a great help to me because I intend to upgrade from the LG C6 to the LG C9 to pair with my Q90R Soundbar. Can I ask you a couple questions... Obviously you have your soundbar connected via arc but is it connected via hdmi cable 2.1 (Belkin 2.1), and is your Apple TV connected to the bar or direct to the C9. If so in the C9 settings when you try to turn on Earc does it stay on or automatically switch back off. I ask this because as far as I know the Q90R supports pass through on all ports as well as Dolby Atmos + DTSx via all ports too.

[zhspence]

Amber, are you referring to me I’m asking questions? If so you can send me a message if you want and I’ll talk you through the whole lot as I have the C9 and Q90R bar.

Thanks,

Zac.

[Amburz57]

Hi Zac, yes I was talking to you directly but after reading the whole chat from front to back, you and the others have answered all questions I had. So thanks for that! I'm upgrading my LG C6 to the C9 this week so I'm sure to put the Earc on pass through ready for the Q sound bars imminent update.

[zhspence]

Perfect, glad you got your answers. The C9 is a fantastic tv, and they have said that they will release an update that allows pcm multichannel rather than just 2 channel stereo. Why they didn’t in the first place is odd. Yeah just make sure you have it set to pass-through as that’s what you use for eARC enabled devices to get all HD audio. Hopefully the update won’t be too long. All I know is that it’s middle of November the eARC support update that I believe also brings further bug fixes for the soundbar including connectivity issues.

[Amburz57]

At the moment I have my Apple TV 4K and Xbox One X connected directly to the Soundbar so I can get Dolby vision and Atmos But that’s not the ideal situation so I can’t wait to upgrade to have both connected directly to the tv. PCM multichannel what will be the benefits for us with both the C9 & Q90R... would we have to change the Earc pass through to a different setting.

[zhspence]

I have the PS4 pro and that has pcm but I have to use bitstream on the console because if I used pcm it would change it to 2 channel stereo. When they update the pcm issue, you can still keep earc on passthrough but pcm multichannel is important because of gaming consoles and pc’s. I don’t have anything connected to the soundbar apart from the tv. All sound from all sources goes through tv then to the soundbar. I’ve heard that the PS5 is going to support a lot of sound formats to the update will come in time for that.

[Blib]

Hi zhspence, I just found your post via google. I just bought the C9 and Q90R combo as well, and I am aware of the missing eARC feature. Is this what is giving you the problems with 2.1 PCM sound as well? Or is this a seperate issue that also needs to be fixed from samsung? Because as I understand it ARC doesnt have the bandwith for PCM 5.1 which is the root problem here, so Im hoping there isnt another bug as well. 

Also, since you are connected directly to the TV you should have VRR, but I guess the PS4 doesnt support that. I am thinking of connecting through the soundbar to the TV myself to get 5.1 PCM audio, but I guess this mean I will miss out on VRR? Or do you know if it supports VRR passthrough? 

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, do you have any audio delay/lip sync with this setup? Either through TV apps or PS4? Thanks, I hope you are able to answer these. 

[zhspence]

Hi! It’s a seperate issue altogether, LG didn’t enable part of the sound to allows pcm multichannel and that is coming in an update either end of this year or second part of 2020 (LG confirmed) VRR is supported by the tv and soundbar only as long as you use a 2.1 hdmi cable but it doesn’t matter at all because I have a PS4 pro and it’s not supported. Obviously the C9 and soundbar support it but I’m guessing that will have to wait for ps5. So in terms of VRR you won’t be able to use it with a ps4.

HDMI arc only allows compressed 5.1 surround and no HD audio formats. Earc however allows uncompressed 5.1 and 7.1 obviously the c9 is eARC supported but the Q90R isn’t but good news is that it’s getting an update this month to support eARC which will allow lossless audio of 5.1 and 7.1 (if the content you’re watching, allows it)

I have had no lip sync issues at all, on all audio. I don’t have anything else connected to my soundbar Jsut the tv and it works fine.

So basically, eARC will be supported by the soundbar this month (Samsung confirmed and coming in a firmware update) also under the settings on c9 you must have it set to earc on and on passthrough. Auto and pcm will not give you the full lossless audio via eARC. LG confirmed passthrough is the eARC setting.

On my PS4 I have set to bitstream Dolby just because I can’t get pcm multichannel but next year it will with the update.

Hope this all helps.

Zac.

[Blib]

Het zach, thank you, that is helpful. If i understood correctly Samsung should have fixed their eARC problem in may, so let's hope they actually publish that fix this month, and that LG won't be delayed as well. 

I also forgot to mention that the reason I was asking about VRR was because I'm going to connect ut to a nvidia card in my PC, so I should get VRR if I go directly to the TV. Or do you think that the soundbar supports VRR passthrough? 

And I should also be able to send DD Atmos from my PC through the TV over ARC to the sound bar as well if I understand correctly, but ut will be lossy. Only 2.1 for lossless right? At least until LG fixes their bug, then glorious lossless 7.1 all the way.