Q850A Sound Bar doesn't pass through DTS-HD MA or DTS:X

[JakeHa0991]

I've been trying to figure out a solution to successfully pass through DTS-HD MA and DTS:X through eARC to my Q850A sound bar with no success. A little background on the devices that are relevant: I have the Sony X90J tv, Samsung Q850A sound bar, and PS5. I've connected my PS5 to the hdmi 4 port on the tv, and the sound bar to the hdmi 3 port on the tv which is the eARC port.

When I play Dolby content, it passes through fine: the ps5 displays that it’s sending Dolby TrueHD which is fine because it uses that as a container to Atmos, and the sound bar displays that it’s playing Atmos.

When playing DTS content, it doesn’t pass through properly: the ps5 displays that it’s sending plain old DTS, and nothing is displayed on the sound bar indicating DTS:X is being played.

When I connect my PS5 directly to the sound bar, both Dolby and DTS content play fine: the sound bar displays that it’s playing DTS:X or Atmos, and the PS5 says that it’s sending DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD respectively.

I've raised this issue at reputable TV and sound bar testers over at RTINGS (here's the link to the discussion: https://www.rtings.com/tv/discussions/Q_HrsEsnVk3I2GdF/how-did-you-get-dts-hd-ma-and-dts-x-passthrou...) and they concluded that this combination of TV and sound bar is the issue. The two devices don't seem to communicate with each other properly as there is no issue when pairing this tv with another brand sound bar. I suspect a firmware update is needed either by Sony or Samsung to fix this issue.

Update: As you can see, other users are reporting the same issue when pairing a Sony tv with a Samsung sound bar, and this issue only happens when pairing the two. DTS-HD MA and DTS:X pass through just fine when pairing a Sony tv with any other brand sound bar.

[Nyder]

Amazing Sony is trying to help you to fix a Samsung issue more than Samsung is.

I'm done with Samsung forever.

[JakeHa0991]

Indeed. I got a call from the Sony specialist this morning and spoke for about 40 minutes. He connected remotely to my TV and tried a combination of settings, even on my PS5. No success. Told me to take some pictures and sent me a link to upload them, this issue is now forwarded to the engineering team and they will get back to me within 72 hours. This is excellent support, Samsung support is trash. I hope Sony comes up with a fix, otherwise, Samsung is at fault and we are screwed as consumers because of their poor support.

[JakeHa0991]

So escalating this issue to the Sony engineering team did absolutely nothing. They simply told me that I have the correct settings without actually making the effort to look into this issue further. I mentioned this to the person that called me (telling him that nothing was actually done after all of these steps) and he told me that he's just reading the notes that are on file. What a joke.

Samsung: the ball is in your court. Impress all of us who have been disappointed by your customer service and you will win back buyers of your sound bars. Until then, I will not buy Samsung bars anymore.

[DiegoAlaric]

Tjis problem with Sony TV will Remains with the New Samsung Soundbar HW Q990B (2022)?

[JakeHa0991]

Sorry not sure about the new Samsung sound bars, perhaps someone else can shed some light.

[Eckerdno1]

Not an issue with Samsung 2022 soundbars and Sony TVs. Tested 990b and 750b models with A80J and a90j  OLEDs

[Qwintine]

Hi,

the problem is worst than an incompatibility between Sony TV and Samsung Soundbar. It is also a problem on all Samsung products!

I bought last week the Q990B soundbar (yeah the best soundbar of 2022 by 95% of the reviewers and testers) and I owned a Samsung TV the samsung au8000 55 inches (2021) with HDMI eARC on HDMI input 1. A great combo… well NO … I plugged an ultra speed 48gbps certified HDMI 2.1 cable between the two. 
The results: only Dolby signals are pass through the soundbar from a source plugged in the tv inputs ! No DTS ! (Plain old dts or DTS-HDMA)

I tested direct connection to the soundbar and my media player and dts (plain and HD-MA) is playing great!

My conclusion and ideas : 

- Samsung eARC (TV and Soundbar) is HDMI 2.0+eARC (yes Samsung is still implementing  HDMI 2.0 + eARC addon on 2.0 and not a real certified 2.1) is bugging 

- Samsung TV hardware has strong limitations to support DTS (or may be dts licensing issues)

- Could be a mix of these assumptions  if I think about this thread about combining Sony TV and Samsung Soundbar. 

I expect from a great brand like Samsung a patch/update or at least an official statement about the issue. 

In the meantime, my mitigation to enjoy the soundbar at maximum with high quality content is : nvidia shield pro / ps 5 directly plugged  to soundbar. All other sources (cable sat (only DD out) , Nintendo switch (Multi channel PCM))  plugged on tv inputs. 

[TJCust]

Sony A80J with Samsung HW-Q900A same issue.   DTS:X when PC-Soundbar-TV, but not when PC-TV-Soundbar. 

Considering taking the soundbar back and buying Sony.   The Q900A will not pass through 120hz 12-bit VRR so I am sacrificing image quality for sound quality or vice-versa.   

EARC is a PITA. 

[Qwintine]

Just acquired the Samsung Q990B last week (plugged in my 2021 AU8000)  Same issue with all DTS soundtracks … no bitstream in pass through in the eARC channel. 
My bet is the Samsung still not selling after two years HDMI 2.1 but modified HDMI 2.0 with eARC. 

[Dexterprog]

this issue is still present as to this date. I have this issue with a Sony X95J and a Samsung Q930B, using an Nvidia shield.