ARC TV + Atmos passthrough sounds compressed as hell, any real workaround?

[cat]

I'm stuck with an ARC-only TV and can't figure out if there's any real workaround or if this is just an ARC limitation I have to live with.

Setup:

TV: OnePlus Y series (HDMI ARC only, no eARC)

Audio: Sony Bravia System 6 (supports Dolby formats)

Source: Local playback via TV flash drive / USB stick


Issue:
When I play Dolby Digital Plus / Dolby Atmos (6ch) content and enable audio passthrough, the Sony Bravia Connect app shows Dolby Atmos 5.1, but the audio sounds heavily compressed and terrible, even though Dolby technically works.

If I turn passthrough OFF, sound quality is much better, but I lose real 5.1. Surrounds still play, but that seems like the soundbar just upmixing stereo or PCM.

So basically:

Passthrough ON = real Atmos/5.1, but awful compressed sound

Passthrough OFF = good sound quality, but fake/upmixed surround


From what I understand, the ARC-only TV is likely decoding, re-encoding, and sending compressed Dolby over ARC.

I also looked into HDFury Arcana, but it seems:

It only helps when audio comes from an external HDMI source

It won't fix audio coming from the TV itself (flash drive or TV apps) since the TV already processes it before ARC


Questions:

1. Is there any way to get proper Atmos or 5.1 from TV flash drive over ARC without heavy compression?

2. Am I right that Arcana is useless unless I add an external media player?

3. Is the only real solution here to stop using the TV as the source entirely?

 

[Vincentponcet]

Your only solution to get full bandwidth Atmos/DTS:x audio is using a separate box, like an Nvidia Shield or AppleTV on which you will have the apps, and reading files from USB stick.

 

[middlemarch]

I avoid ARC and EARC like the plague. I cannot understand why anyone would want to use the apps on the TV for anything other than fear of change. Get an Apple TV or Shield, plug it into your receiver like God intended and use your TV as a monitor only.

 

[delta76]

That is the limitation of arc. It only supports compressed 5.1 channels.
An hdmi duplicator should be the right way to go
Source => HDMI duplicator, then feed one to tv and one to the soundbar

 

[staticV3]

1. Is there any way to get proper Atmos or 5.1 from TV flash drive over ARC without heavy compression?

Likely only via a TV firmware update, and only if you can clearly communicate the issue to the manufacturer.

2. Am I right that Arcana is useless unless I add an external media player?

Yes.

3. Is the only real solution here to stop using the TV as the source entirely?

Probably.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

I avoid ARC and EARC like the plague. I cannot understand why anyone would want to use the apps on the TV for anything other than fear of change. Get an Apple TV or Shield, plug it into your receiver like God intended and use your TV as a monitor only.

XBOX X for me, but agree, TV Apps & ARC/eARC is a hard no for me.