You've bought a new soundbar like the Sonos Arc or Bose Smart that supports audio formats like Dolby Atmos. But your TV doesn't have Dolby Atmos. How do you get the best possible sound?
First, it's important to understand that a TV without Dolby Atmos support will not be able to produce better audio formats - no matter which soundbar you connect. The reason for this is that the apps on the TV can only play the audio formats that the TV itself supports. So you would have to upgrade such a TV with an Atmos-capable player first.
If no additional player such as a Fire TV, Apple TV, Blu-ray player or a console such as the Xbox is connected, there is no way to optimize the sound. In this case, you can connect the soundbar directly to the HDMI ARC port of the TV. This will give you the best possible sound under the given circumstances.
However, if you use an external player that can also play more advanced audio formats such as Dolby Atmos, you can benefit from even better sound quality. In this case, we recommend using an HDMI audio extractor or HDMI eARC pass switch that supports these formats. This bypasses your TV's limitation to HDMI ARC. This means you can really get the most out of your soundbar in terms of sound quality. The following of our devices are suitable for use with a current soundbar:
- AX310 - for a single player - also supports 4K120Hz for game consoles - no remote control required - fully automatic
- VAX04101 - for 1 to 3 players and 1 TV - supports 4K 60Hz - with remote control - Automatic switching of inputs possible
- VAX04201 - for 1 to 3 players and 2 TVs - supports 4K 60Hz - with remote control - no automatic switching possible
Please note that many streaming services require Dolby Atmos to be compatible with 4K video. Your TV (or video projector) should therefore be able to handle 4K video (UltraHD) in order to use Atmos.
