HDMI ARC poor audio quality (connect, channel, signal, direct)

[nitynity]

I bought a new Sony 4k TV. I mostly watch Netflix movies through my Roku 3. Turned out Roku 3 doesn't support 4k. But my Netflix app in Sony does. But the problem is with the sound quality. My Onkyo receiver is connected to the TV via HDMI ARC and it gets the audio back from the TV in Dolby or whatever. But the sound quality is way inferior compared to the Roku (netflix)audio when playing the same movie scenes. Roku is connected via HDMI as well directly to the receiver.


Is there any limitation on the ARC port? Should I switch to TV optical out port to get better audio? My receiver shows the incoming audio signal from TV as Dolby but still the audio sucks.


Any tips from the pros?

[d4g4m]

On my Samsung, ARC is HDMI2 with cable connected to Onkyo HDMI TV/CD I haven't had problems with sound quality. Maybe your HDMI cable is bad.

[nitynity]

Originally Posted by d4g4m

On my Samsung, ARC is HDMI2 with cable connected to Onkyo HDMI TV/CD I haven't had problems with sound quality. Maybe your HDMI cable is bad.

Thanks for the response d4g4m. I have HDMI2 for ARC as well.The picture quality is ok. I get the sound as well, but the bass is weak compared to when I connect to Netflix through my Roku. It's on TV/CD channel as well on my 2011 Onkyo. I doubt it's the HDMI cable, probably have to switch it with the Roku one and test. Depends on the audio quality output from the TV I guess.

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by nitynity

Thanks for the response d4g4m. I have HDMI2 for ARC as well.The picture quality is ok. I get the sound as well, but the bass is weak compared to when I connect to Netflix through my Roku. It's on TV/CD channel as well on my 2011 Onkyo. I doubt it's the HDMI cable, probably have to switch it with the Roku one and test. Depends on the audio quality output from the TV I guess.

Is the audio output of your TV set to fixed or variable? Have you tried changing any of the audio mode settings on the TV? Does the TV have audio compression?

[nitynity]

Originally Posted by djmaxwell

Is the audio output of your TV set to fixed or variable? Have you tried changing any of the audio mode settings on the TV? Does the TV have audio compression?

I tried setting the sound to Cinema mode which adds the surround effects. I noticed the receiver shows 5.1 Dolby when connected to Netflix app on TV through ARC. So it's being passed through. When I play the same through Roku, it's louder with more bass. That's all.


I probably get a Roku Ultra that supports 4k and won't worry about the TV apps.


I checked the TV user manual, it says:


ARC Output format : Two channel linear PCM, 48khz 16bits, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS
Digital Audio out :Two channel linear PCM, 48khz 16bits, Dolby Digital, DTS

HDMI Input Audio format: 5.1 channel linear PCM

I believe Dolby Digital and Plus is 5.1?

Model : XBR75x900F