A small update for my case.   As a reminder I'm on the one year older model HW-J650 but had the same issues as everyone else here with the HW-K650. Also the firmware version for both models were the same. Until the problems got fixed (for the K-model). However the firmware version for my J-model did not change.   Then, I contacted Kirsty from UK customer support and was bumped to the German customer support as I live in Germany. Today I had a call from a Samsung second-level support agent. I had sent him a short summary and a link to this thread. He explained to me that my model won't accept the K-model firmware. He then noted everything in his system and said that this is enough material to contact the hardware/software guys (in Korea). I will be updated once things move forward. I'm slightly optimistic that it should not take too long to issue a firmware update. The main work should be already finished with the initial update for the K-model. But I'm also a bit suspicious due to the complete and long history of this thread... ... View more

No worries Rob.   I have sent an email to Kirsty.    Will let you know how it went. ... View more

Thank you! PM sent. ... View more

Well, I think I just wait for a Samsung response. Have waited so long already. A few more days (hopefully) won't make a difference. Don't want to brick my soundbar ... View more

You mean I should try to install the K-firmware on my J-model soundbar? The speaker configuration is a bit different between these models.   I don't know if that is a good idea. Also I don't know if my soundbar accepts the file. ... View more

I checked the website for my model. But it is the same version I have already installed on my soundbar. ... View more

Tried it. Everything is up-to-date... ... View more

Just returned home from holidays.   First, Robbie great job! Well done!   Sadly for me nothing has changed. To remind you, I'm on a HW-J650 which is the one year older than the HW-K650. But it does have the same issues. The firmware version has not changed. On the website it is still on 3111.3 from end of march. I tried WiFi with the Fraunhofer files but the sound bleeding is still there. And that's where I stopped 😞   Anything I can do?   Robbie can you send an email to your high-profile contacts at Samsung about this? My setup and the firmware was part of the communication that was passed to them.   Frustrated 😞 ... View more

UE55JU7090 - 1490 HW-J650WWB-3111.3 / 1006.2R 2x WAM3500WWB-3112.5 / 180R App-Version 4078 ... View more

Thank you Robbie!   Will post my setup and firmware-versions tonight late when I get home. ... View more

PM sent to Robbie!   Can't believe Samsung's reaction. 😞   I Hope we can build up enough pressure. Otherwise nothing will change. ... View more

Brilliant job Robbienobs!   Well done!   Was the Samsung technician aware of the seventy-something-pages thread about all these problems? ... View more

@Robbienobs wrote: Will do Thank you!   I don't know if this is a bug or not. But it would be really nice to be able to switch through the different sound modes (STANDARD, MUSIC, CLEAR VOICE, SPORTS, MOVIE, and NIGHT MODE) when the soundbar and (rear) speakers are grouped to a 5.1 setup.  ... View more

@BornInThe50s wrote: Great work in gettjng a home visit :smileyhappy:   Not sure if this has been covered, like most I've been using the optical cable work around, with the benifit of auto power on with the TV, but drawback of dual remotes :smileysad:   So, I tried the HDMI-ARC cable and, whoo hoo, a single remote for volume :smileyhappy: But, I loose the auto power on of the bar that comes with using the optical cable. I've tried leaving the optical in as well as the ARC cable, but still no auto power on. Which means, dual remotes again :smileyfrustrated: Did I miss something or is this normal? If it is, could the question be asked about auto power on of the bar via the ARC cable? Probably not achievable?    Fingers crossed for your visit, & lets hope its the end of the start, and the start of the end.. (I know, based on Winston Churchills famous speech) It should work. Do you have HDMI-CEC enabled? On Samsung TV it is called Anynet+. It is enabled by by pressing the Skip Forward button on the remote control for at least 5 seconds. Then check the display of the sound bar. Mabe you have to enable it also on your TV.  ... View more

Great! Hope that everything will work out.   Small addition to the report: Please tell the technician that next to the HW-K650 also the HW-J650 is affected. This model is one year older. ... View more

@Simon_w: I'm on a HW-J650 which is I guess very similar to the HW-K650. But it's a 4.1 instead of 3.1, which means it has 2 center speakers. Then 2x R3, a UE55JU7090 and a PS4 as a bluray player. The R1s have the new firmware 3112.5. The sound bar is 3109.2 and is the newest for my model. Yesterday, I did test with the optical connection and it worked wonders. True 5.1 on Dolby Digital blurays with TV audio set to Bitstream and Dolby Digital. Great sound and the R1s volume was matched perfectly to the soundbar. Balance for all speakers set to 0 in the group. Then tested DTS only bluray with TV audio set to Bitstream and DTS. I can confirm Peejay84's observation. It is a pathetic stereo sound with my center speakers and R3s silent.    @Peejay84: Thanks for the tip with the bluray players, which can transcode DTS to Dolby Digital on the fly. This will be the next thing I will buy.   Then my observation with optical connection and regular TV (HD and Dolby Digital audio (sometimes), I've again noticed the sound and lips are not synchronized. I don't remember which comes first and have not played with settings. But I think the default was set to 80 or 90. If the source was real Dolby Digital 5.1 again, I get very good surround sound with the R1/soundbar volumes perfectly matched. But when it the source is only stereo, the front speakers are mirrored to the rear ones. This will lead to very echoy voices at higher frequencies (women speakers). Lower frequencies don't produce this echo effect. I guess it is because they are supported/provided by the sub woofer? Anyway, I have to ungroup the sound bar/speakers with regular TV shows otherwise the echo makes me go crazy.   My next tests will be 5.1 test material from USB-stick and check the sound-lip-sync. ... View more

Hi Simon,   Thank you for your reply!   Following up:   Dolby/DTS: I have found some Block Buster Blurays, e.g. Dr. Strange, that have only DTS audio tracks. This movie would be played as stereo on our setup, right? Would the rear speakers be silent, mirror the fronts or would some mixing happen? I remember watching The Avengers with DTS-track a few days ago. PS4 set to DTS and the Audio settings menu of the SamsungTV (for the soundbar I guess?) were Bitstream and DTS, if I recall correctly. The connection at that time was either Wifi or HDMI ARC. There was definitly coming good sound from the rears. And in combination with the Sound Bar it sounded good. But I could not distinguish if it was real 5.1.   optical connection: The optical was giving really bad sound for me in the last test with TV programm (HD movie but I do not remember what Audio format was passed). L/R/RL/RR were good. But I had almost no center (voice). I will however try it again with blurays and the audio formats from the link you gave.   ... View more

Hello,   It seems I'm having the same problems everybody is experiencing. Although I have a Samsung J7 series, a HW-J650 and 2 R3 speakers. I've tried a lot of connection options (Multiroom App, Sound Connect, Wifi, HDMI ARC, Optical...) and so far I have had (different) problems every time. Sync-Issues with TV, no real 5.1 instead mirrored front and rear, low volume on center or rears and so on. A quick test with the optical connection was giving the worst result for me in TV. A movie was televised in HD and Dolby and the Center volume was very low compared to the other speakers. Unvortunately I need to try all tests again with Blurays played on a PS4.   1) Reading through this thread, the US one and also other sites on the web I stumbled on something I need to clarify. In the Spec of the HW-J/K-650 for Audio Processing ther is given Dolby Digital 5.1ch and DTS 2ch. Does it mean, that DTS will output only Stereo Sound?   2) Does it make a difference where I connect my PS4 to, directly to TV or SB? I want a real 5.1 signal to reach the sound bar to know if every speaker is triggered indipendently.   3) Regarding 5.1 test material. I need to download some. But if I connect it via USB to the TV or PS4 will it be passed to the sound bar correctly. Or does the TV reduce it to a stero signal?   I am really sad about all the time I had to invest so far and not getting sufficient results. Hope that Samsung is working on this problem. ... View more