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Sharc - The eArc device that can save you thousands as you prepare for Next Gen/Current PC Gaming
- Thread starter Hawk269
- Start date
Ok, so I'm back and may need this after all. The CX doesn't pass through the lossless audio to my older Denon x2000. Or DTS for that matter.
All I want to do is keep the HDMI 2.1 stuff from my 3080 and output all the lossless DD and DTS MA to the AVR.
Can I hook up my pc to the Sharc and send audio to the receiver as if I'm sending it direct or how can I keep my HDMI 2.1 benefits and send discrete lossless audio to the AVR?
Can I go from pc to Sharc and also just use optical to the receiver? If this works I'm definitely ordering.
All I want to do is keep the HDMI 2.1 stuff from my 3080 and output all the lossless DD and DTS MA to the AVR.
Can I hook up my pc to the Sharc and send audio to the receiver as if I'm sending it direct or how can I keep my HDMI 2.1 benefits and send discrete lossless audio to the AVR?
Can I go from pc to Sharc and also just use optical to the receiver? If this works I'm definitely ordering.
I seem to be in a situation where I get the worst audio delay when using bitstream/DTS for my digital/optical surround system, and it only gets better with uncompressed LPCM, which obviously sucks for 5.1 with LPCM being sent as stereo output.
Since this is about the worst time to upgrade TV, sound system, and AVR, would there be any way a Sharc would work for a TV with only ARC/HDMI 2.0 and a surround system with only digital to deal with whatever is even causing this?
It's kind of a lose-lose situation, but the more i notice the desync, the more I lose my mind.
It's mostly with movies and TV where it's driving me nuts so any input delay isn't going to bother me as much.
Since this is about the worst time to upgrade TV, sound system, and AVR, would there be any way a Sharc would work for a TV with only ARC/HDMI 2.0 and a surround system with only digital to deal with whatever is even causing this?
It's kind of a lose-lose situation, but the more i notice the desync, the more I lose my mind.
It's mostly with movies and TV where it's driving me nuts so any input delay isn't going to bother me as much.
I ordered it for the same reason, but in my case I know it's the C9 + Game mode + TV's Internal/Optical Out that cause it.
Also since your TV is HDMI 2.0 you could use an HDMI optical audio extractor, to bypass any audio-via-HDMI delays.
I've ordered mine based on user YR1's feedback across pages 134-136 here.
I had my PS4 go through a low-tech digital-to-digital switch, and it seemed to still have delays for some reason. I'm sure there is an HDMI passthrough delay for other devices that I have to deal with, though, and it does seem to be a bit worse there. An Apple TV at least has its vague "wireless sync" to compensate unlike the PS4. The Apple TV still puts out audio through the other digital cable hooked up to the TV, but I don't imagine the PS4 using HDMI passthrough because of that, especially when the switch is set to the PS4.
But an extractor might at least be an idea to reduce the delay somewhat as a temporary solution, and I can just feed that into switch. But for some reason, there is still a delay, even with a direct digital connection.
On that note, what is the purpose of devices with explicit TV/Bitstream/LPCM 2ch switches versus those with, well, none? Isn't the output device sending one or the other anyway?
So now I'm hitting the opposite problem... Surround content is fine, but for some stereo content on my Nvidia Shield, the audio is sometimes before the video. That's easier to fix as I can just use the delay feature on the sound bar, but then it messes up surround sound (which is usually in sync). Is there some way to adjust the delay just for stereo content? I emailed Thenaudio a few days ago but haven't heard back yet.
Yeah I emailed them and they said it's fine to be powered all the time, and it goes into a very low power mode when there's no audio being processed, so it shouldn't use much power when the TV is off.
I wonder if your TV remote is sending IR signals to the AVR, so it's getting two volume up signals (one via CEC and one via IR)? That'd be my guess.
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I actually contacted support for the Sharc, and they said this is normal due to how the Sharc emulates CEC.
I wish I could fix it, but it's not a big deal. Not sure if it happens on all AVRs or not, but it does on the two I tried.
so, will this work for me/fix my situation?
PS5 connected to HDMI 2.1 port on TV. Optical from TV connected to home theater system. I can only use PCM audio from PS5 otherwise if I use DTS or Dolby, I receive an audio delay (lip sync issue etc). Samsung Q90T
PS5 connected to HDMI 2.1 port on TV. Optical from TV connected to home theater system. I can only use PCM audio from PS5 otherwise if I use DTS or Dolby, I receive an audio delay (lip sync issue etc). Samsung Q90T
If you want surround sound, no. I had a Q90T and bought a Sharc for it, but the TV itself is bugged and won't output 5.1+ PCM using passthrough. Known issue.
I returned that TV and got a CX and now it works.
damn. well thanks for saving me the money. think samsung will fix the issue?
It's been a known issue for a bit, and they've put out firmware updates since that still didn't fix it, so who knows.
So at least for now on that TV, to get the best sound from a console, you need to plug the consoles into an AVR, and that into the TV.
Problem is, I plug my PS5 directly to soundbar then soundbar to TV and the sound works but HDR doesnt work
Have you tried the Nvidia Shield's own AV Sync adjustment?
Thanks for the info regarding using an USB to power plug source.
Won't it output 5.1 Dolby or DTS either?
The Sharc should help with the delay if it works like on a C9 passing through 5.1 Dolby (delay without the Sharc, no delay with the Sharc, as confirmed by YR1 in avsforum that I linked in my previous comment).
Unless the reason the Sharc aids with 5.1 Dolby delay on a C9 is because the TV doesn't add lag only when outputting the audio via the dedicated HDMI2 port for eARC/ARC (which is likely).
The Q90T may have other reasons for the delay that only by using PCM solves it (don't have any info about it, so I wouldn't know).
Dolby worked for passing through surround, but it had delay. PCM had no delay, but it converted to stereo.
Yeah, I've tried that. It would have been perfect since it only affects PCM. Unfortunately it only allow delaying the video, but I need to delay the audio. Their docs say:
But I can't really do that as the delay is different for stereo vs surround.
Seems like I can't win... Without the SHARC, stereo seems fine (in sync) but Dolby / DTS / Atmos surround is delayed (and I can't get uncompressed 5.1 from the Xbox). With the SHARC, uncompressed 5.1 from the Xbox works well, Dolby / DTS / Atmos surround is fine, but stereo is not in sync (too early compared to video). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I see.
On the C9 there is also much less delay when passing-through PCM to the Internal Speakers or Optical Out (20 ms vs Dolby's 100 ms), without the Sharc.
On the Q90T those delays occur no matter what and still apply even when using ARC/eARC, is that right?
Seems you've tried everything, then, huh...
Was also thinking about C9's own AV Sync, but even if it worked you'd get the same that happened when doing something similar on the soundbar, with the opposite sync problems on everything that isn't stereo.
I guess what I'd do in your place would be to change the output on the C9 to Optical instead of ARC/eARC when you're using the Stereo apps.
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Yeah I have an EARC compatible soundbar but bought the SHARC to see if somehow it's EARC is better for Atmos sound delay, it's horrible on bitstream via XSX to LG OLED.
Well, at least it seems to help in fixing Dolby 5.1 sound delay that occurs with Internal speakers/C9 Optical Out.
Dolby 5.1 is what I plan/need to use.
thenaudio.com
buy directly. email them if they dpnt ship to canada.
Do I need to update ny sharc if I just got it?
I second this question, as I just got a shARC for my C9/X4400H (one of the few unlucky Denon AVRs with eARC incompatibility issues).
Just download the firmware executable, plug the SHARC into your computer via USB, and run the firmware installer.
It'll tell you what version your device is running and update it accordingly.
FWIW, when I got mine a few weeks ago, it was one FW version behind.
And there's been another FW released since then, making any that shipped recently up to two firmware updates behind, potentially.
I'm pretty sure that the newest FW was released after pretty much all units currently available exited manufacturing.
It'll tell you what version your device is running and update it accordingly.
FWIW, when I got mine a few weeks ago, it was one FW version behind.
And there's been another FW released since then, making any that shipped recently up to two firmware updates behind, potentially.
I'm pretty sure that the newest FW was released after pretty much all units currently available exited manufacturing.
Mine shipped! Pretty much two weeks exactly from when I ordered it.
I've been avoiding playing games on my PS5 and SX with a lot dialogue so looking forward to fixing that.
I've been avoiding playing games on my PS5 and SX with a lot dialogue so looking forward to fixing that.
I forgot to test Gears 5 dialogue last night. Just tested playing games at 120 fps.
I am so tired of this audio popping. It's like I get shot every time I turn on or off a device, open or close a game, or change into HDR or SDR. I really hope they're working on fixing that in a firmware like was suggested.
Hi guys, want to confirm if SHARC will work on the following set up before I click the payment button.
3080RTX > LG CX (hdmi 1) > SHARC (hdmi 2 earc) > Denon-AVR2313 (game hdmi input)
Nintendo Switch > LG CX (hdmi 3) . . . . .
Is the above set up correct? And this will give me Dolby Digital 5.1 audio when I'm playing PC games on my LG CX right?
Will the Nintendo Switch's LPCM works as well? (currently everything is only Stereo into DPLII on the AVR)
Thanks for the help!
3080RTX > LG CX (hdmi 1) > SHARC (hdmi 2 earc) > Denon-AVR2313 (game hdmi input)
Nintendo Switch > LG CX (hdmi 3) . . . . .
Is the above set up correct? And this will give me Dolby Digital 5.1 audio when I'm playing PC games on my LG CX right?
Will the Nintendo Switch's LPCM works as well? (currently everything is only Stereo into DPLII on the AVR)
Thanks for the help!
I just hope the ShARC carries on working fine with my CX and a firmware update on CX doesn't break anything in terms of audio.
As it stands everything works apart from minor quirks relating to handshaking issues such as powering on the AVR first before the TV otherwise I get no sound,.
Also the Atmos issue on Apple TV everyone has including me but seems LG is working on an update for that as it's related to software on the tv. These are all minor things considering everything else works fine.
As it stands everything works apart from minor quirks relating to handshaking issues such as powering on the AVR first before the TV otherwise I get no sound,.
Also the Atmos issue on Apple TV everyone has including me but seems LG is working on an update for that as it's related to software on the tv. These are all minor things considering everything else works fine.
what receiver u got? i have sn onkyo and luxkily it doesnt pop for me
It's an Onkyo as well. Thenaudio says it is because it isn't muting the source fast enough when it changes and that a custom firmware could solve it, but haven't heard anything since.
I haven't had problems with Xbox CEC without a sharc. PS5 CEC sucks though because it's all or nothing. If I have CEC on Xbox and the PS5 and everything is powered off and I turn on the Xbox it turns on the tc receiver and PS5.
I guess it could be my LGCX, but it only does that with my PS5.
I think you can affect CEC behavior with the dip switches on the sharc, but I don't know anything else I'm afraid.
Well my Sharc finally arrived, I was worried it would not make it through Customs but DHL came through. Cool of Thenaudio that they use a global professional shipper.
What I'm connecting together:
LG 65CX
(HDMI 1) PS5 (doubles as 4K UHD Bluray player) (HDMI in PC mode)
(HDMI 2) Sharc
(HDMI 3) Denon X3100W (2014, no HDR, no Atmos)
(HDMI 4) PS4 pro (to be replaced by the new xbox as soon as they have a nice next-gen exclusive)
- and an assortment of devices behind the receiver (Switch, gaming PC, PS3, X360, SNES classic, etc)
- the Sharc output goes into an input on the Denon that I labeled "sharc"
Since I have a loop in my setup (TV -> shArc -> AVR -> TV) I did get the CEC endless loop upon first connection, and sometimes when switching the source into HDMI 3, but I found I can stop it in its tracks by going into HDMI 1, 2 or 4. And in order to reliably avoid it altogether this is what worked for me:
* Have the source signal you pretend to change to already on and ready (turn on the PS5 and give it a few seconds before going to HDMI 1 or turning the TV on, or changing the source on the AVR and wait a few seconds before going to HDMI 3)
* Disable all CEC, HDMI Control, Device Power Control, and everything that even smells like CEC on all your devices, except Simplink on the LG which gets turned on for ARC or EARC, but the "power sync" option below it needs to be off. I've always hated CEC with a passion, so for this step I personally grin like an idiot while turning all CEC settings off.
Primary objective: Get lagless, uncompressed audio from the PS5
Secondary objective: Have the rest of my audio setup keep working as it was before the Sharc
Happy to report that the primary objective was accomplished. Having been using DD (dolby digital) for the last few months since I got the CX, coming back to uncompressed, lagless surround sound made my day yesterday and finally got the damn holiday spirit into me this season.
Alas, secondary objective was a failure. As others have reported, audio from the LG internal apps stopped working, and other assorted stuff. Some have already mentioned it, but I can confirm that what stops working are non-surround audio sources. So WebOS netflix will have sound on shows or movies that have 5.1 tracks, but not if they only have stereo. The shitty Youtube app on the LG will not produce any audio as it seems to only be able to work in stereo.
So next step was trying to see if there was a pattern to the madness, playing around with the audio arc options on the TV. This is what I got:
The fields where it says 'N' means no audio. 'N' with a qualifier means I got a different audio format than intended. As you can see, "Auto" on the LG for the Audio Out format is a stupid option so don't use it. "Passthrough" allows surround sound but not stereo sources, while "PCM" does the opposite: makes stereo sources work, but not surround ones.
As you can see, no option was clearly better, I would have to keep changing settings depending on the source. But since my primary objective was to get lagless 5.1 PCM I settled on the first option. It also had the nice bonus of allowing Dolby trueHD through to the AVR. Not DTS MA because the CX can't do DTS, but it should work on a C9.
But, before calling it a day I decided to try turning Pin 1 on the Sharc to the DOWN position, as the sheet of paper that came with the device alluded to it doing something to the types of audio it would support. DOWN option is documented as "only basic audio". Why not, let's see exactly what it does. This is what I got:
How about that? Now everything works and it's even better that I had hoped when placing the order. Netflix is now sending surround tracks as Dolby Digital whereas before it was using DolbyDigital+, I need to test it further but I couldn't really hear a difference. The only real loss in this is you cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or Atmos tracks as bitstream to your AVR. In my case my AVR doesn't do Atmos. But getting a core Dolby Digital track stings as it's compressed, and a noticeable downgrade from the HD codecs. So final step was setting the PS5 bluray audio decoding to "Linear PCM" instead of the default "bitstream" (you can only access this "settings" menu while playing a disc). And now it looks like this:
The PS5 does a great job decoding the advanced codecs and just sending the output as uncompressed PCM. Sounds amazingly better than the core DD track. In my particular case, letting the AVR decode Dolby trueHD into the 5.1 speaker setup or letting the PS5 decode the same into a 5.1 PCM stream seem equivalent, but YMMV. But this has the added bonus of fixing the CX's lack of DTS support.
So, there you have it. These results, while not perfect, are definitely better than I expected, add a manageable amount of hassle, and will definitely tide me over for 18 or 24 months while worthwhile AVRs with all the HDMI 2.1 bells and whistles -that actually work- make their way to market.
I'm curious as to the actual amount of audio lag that was being added by using Dolby Digital. On the PS4 pro, which had an optical audio out port, I would also get lag while using dolby digital but never as bad as when going through the CX. just a final test before just sitting back and enjoying. Some of the testing was performed using the Bladerunner 2049 4k bluray late at night and now I'm itching to watch the whole thing again and crank it up until the neighbors start complaining on the group whatsapp chat.
What I'm connecting together:
LG 65CX
(HDMI 1) PS5 (doubles as 4K UHD Bluray player) (HDMI in PC mode)
(HDMI 2) Sharc
(HDMI 3) Denon X3100W (2014, no HDR, no Atmos)
(HDMI 4) PS4 pro (to be replaced by the new xbox as soon as they have a nice next-gen exclusive)
- and an assortment of devices behind the receiver (Switch, gaming PC, PS3, X360, SNES classic, etc)
- the Sharc output goes into an input on the Denon that I labeled "sharc"
Since I have a loop in my setup (TV -> shArc -> AVR -> TV) I did get the CEC endless loop upon first connection, and sometimes when switching the source into HDMI 3, but I found I can stop it in its tracks by going into HDMI 1, 2 or 4. And in order to reliably avoid it altogether this is what worked for me:
* Have the source signal you pretend to change to already on and ready (turn on the PS5 and give it a few seconds before going to HDMI 1 or turning the TV on, or changing the source on the AVR and wait a few seconds before going to HDMI 3)
* Disable all CEC, HDMI Control, Device Power Control, and everything that even smells like CEC on all your devices, except Simplink on the LG which gets turned on for ARC or EARC, but the "power sync" option below it needs to be off. I've always hated CEC with a passion, so for this step I personally grin like an idiot while turning all CEC settings off.
Primary objective: Get lagless, uncompressed audio from the PS5
Secondary objective: Have the rest of my audio setup keep working as it was before the Sharc
Happy to report that the primary objective was accomplished. Having been using DD (dolby digital) for the last few months since I got the CX, coming back to uncompressed, lagless surround sound made my day yesterday and finally got the damn holiday spirit into me this season.
Alas, secondary objective was a failure. As others have reported, audio from the LG internal apps stopped working, and other assorted stuff. Some have already mentioned it, but I can confirm that what stops working are non-surround audio sources. So WebOS netflix will have sound on shows or movies that have 5.1 tracks, but not if they only have stereo. The shitty Youtube app on the LG will not produce any audio as it seems to only be able to work in stereo.
So next step was trying to see if there was a pattern to the madness, playing around with the audio arc options on the TV. This is what I got:
The fields where it says 'N' means no audio. 'N' with a qualifier means I got a different audio format than intended. As you can see, "Auto" on the LG for the Audio Out format is a stupid option so don't use it. "Passthrough" allows surround sound but not stereo sources, while "PCM" does the opposite: makes stereo sources work, but not surround ones.
As you can see, no option was clearly better, I would have to keep changing settings depending on the source. But since my primary objective was to get lagless 5.1 PCM I settled on the first option. It also had the nice bonus of allowing Dolby trueHD through to the AVR. Not DTS MA because the CX can't do DTS, but it should work on a C9.
But, before calling it a day I decided to try turning Pin 1 on the Sharc to the DOWN position, as the sheet of paper that came with the device alluded to it doing something to the types of audio it would support. DOWN option is documented as "only basic audio". Why not, let's see exactly what it does. This is what I got:
How about that? Now everything works and it's even better that I had hoped when placing the order. Netflix is now sending surround tracks as Dolby Digital whereas before it was using DolbyDigital+, I need to test it further but I couldn't really hear a difference. The only real loss in this is you cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or Atmos tracks as bitstream to your AVR. In my case my AVR doesn't do Atmos. But getting a core Dolby Digital track stings as it's compressed, and a noticeable downgrade from the HD codecs. So final step was setting the PS5 bluray audio decoding to "Linear PCM" instead of the default "bitstream" (you can only access this "settings" menu while playing a disc). And now it looks like this:
The PS5 does a great job decoding the advanced codecs and just sending the output as uncompressed PCM. Sounds amazingly better than the core DD track. In my particular case, letting the AVR decode Dolby trueHD into the 5.1 speaker setup or letting the PS5 decode the same into a 5.1 PCM stream seem equivalent, but YMMV. But this has the added bonus of fixing the CX's lack of DTS support.
So, there you have it. These results, while not perfect, are definitely better than I expected, add a manageable amount of hassle, and will definitely tide me over for 18 or 24 months while worthwhile AVRs with all the HDMI 2.1 bells and whistles -that actually work- make their way to market.
I'm curious as to the actual amount of audio lag that was being added by using Dolby Digital. On the PS4 pro, which had an optical audio out port, I would also get lag while using dolby digital but never as bad as when going through the CX. just a final test before just sitting back and enjoying. Some of the testing was performed using the Bladerunner 2049 4k bluray late at night and now I'm itching to watch the whole thing again and crank it up until the neighbors start complaining on the group whatsapp chat.
Well my Sharc finally arrived, I was worried it would not make it through Customs but DHL came through. Cool of Thenaudio that they use a global professional shipper.
As you can see, no option was clearly better, I would have to keep changing settings depending on the source. But since my primary objective was to get lagless 5.1 PCM I settled on the first option. It also had the nice bonus of allowing Dolby trueHD through to the AVR. Not DTS MA because the CX can't do DTS, but it should work on a C9.
But, before calling it a day I decided to try turning Pin 1 on the Sharc to the DOWN position, as the sheet of paper that came with the device alluded to it doing something to the types of audio it would support. DOWN option is documented as "only basic audio". Why not, let's see exactly what it does. This is what I got:
How about that? Now everything works and it's even better that I had hoped when placing the order. Netflix is now sending surround tracks as Dolby Digital whereas before it was using DolbyDigital+, I need to test it further but I couldn't really hear a difference. The only real loss in this is you cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or Atmos tracks as bitstream to your AVR. In my case my AVR doesn't do Atmos. B
you seem to have a very similar setup to mine, and tested the same things i did, with pretty much the same results...but you thought to change the pins on the sharc, which i didn´t. So thanks so much for that, that pin1 setting did pretty much fix my remaining problems!
Well my Sharc finally arrived, I was worried it would not make it through Customs but DHL came through. Cool of Thenaudio that they use a global professional shipper.
What I'm connecting together:
LG 65CX
(HDMI 1) PS5 (doubles as 4K UHD Bluray player) (HDMI in PC mode)
(HDMI 2) Sharc
(HDMI 3) Denon X3100W (2014, no HDR, no Atmos)
(HDMI 4) PS4 pro (to be replaced by the new xbox as soon as they have a nice next-gen exclusive)
- and an assortment of devices behind the receiver (Switch, gaming PC, PS3, X360, SNES classic, etc)
- the Sharc output goes into an input on the Denon that I labeled "sharc"
Since I have a loop in my setup (TV -> shArc -> AVR -> TV) I did get the CEC endless loop upon first connection, and sometimes when switching the source into HDMI 3, but I found I can stop it in its tracks by going into HDMI 1, 2 or 4. And in order to reliably avoid it altogether this is what worked for me:
* Have the source signal you pretend to change to already on and ready (turn on the PS5 and give it a few seconds before going to HDMI 1 or turning the TV on, or changing the source on the AVR and wait a few seconds before going to HDMI 3)
* Disable all CEC, HDMI Control, Device Power Control, and everything that even smells like CEC on all your devices, except Simplink on the LG which gets turned on for ARC or EARC, but the "power sync" option below it needs to be off. I've always hated CEC with a passion, so for this step I personally grin like an idiot while turning all CEC settings off.
Primary objective: Get lagless, uncompressed audio from the PS5
Secondary objective: Have the rest of my audio setup keep working as it was before the Sharc
Happy to report that the primary objective was accomplished. Having been using DD (dolby digital) for the last few months since I got the CX, coming back to uncompressed, lagless surround sound made my day yesterday and finally got the damn holiday spirit into me this season.
Alas, secondary objective was a failure. As others have reported, audio from the LG internal apps stopped working, and other assorted stuff. Some have already mentioned it, but I can confirm that what stops working are non-surround audio sources. So WebOS netflix will have sound on shows or movies that have 5.1 tracks, but not if they only have stereo. The shitty Youtube app on the LG will not produce any audio as it seems to only be able to work in stereo.
So next step was trying to see if there was a pattern to the madness, playing around with the audio arc options on the TV. This is what I got:
The fields where it says 'N' means no audio. 'N' with a qualifier means I got a different audio format than intended. As you can see, "Auto" on the LG for the Audio Out format is a stupid option so don't use it. "Passthrough" allows surround sound but not stereo sources, while "PCM" does the opposite: makes stereo sources work, but not surround ones.
As you can see, no option was clearly better, I would have to keep changing settings depending on the source. But since my primary objective was to get lagless 5.1 PCM I settled on the first option. It also had the nice bonus of allowing Dolby trueHD through to the AVR. Not DTS MA because the CX can't do DTS, but it should work on a C9.
But, before calling it a day I decided to try turning Pin 1 on the Sharc to the DOWN position, as the sheet of paper that came with the device alluded to it doing something to the types of audio it would support. DOWN option is documented as "only basic audio". Why not, let's see exactly what it does. This is what I got:
How about that? Now everything works and it's even better that I had hoped when placing the order. Netflix is now sending surround tracks as Dolby Digital whereas before it was using DolbyDigital+, I need to test it further but I couldn't really hear a difference. The only real loss in this is you cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or Atmos tracks as bitstream to your AVR. In my case my AVR doesn't do Atmos. But getting a core Dolby Digital track stings as it's compressed, and a noticeable downgrade from the HD codecs. So final step was setting the PS5 bluray audio decoding to "Linear PCM" instead of the default "bitstream" (you can only access this "settings" menu while playing a disc). And now it looks like this:
The PS5 does a great job decoding the advanced codecs and just sending the output as uncompressed PCM. Sounds amazingly better than the core DD track. In my particular case, letting the AVR decode Dolby trueHD into the 5.1 speaker setup or letting the PS5 decode the same into a 5.1 PCM stream seem equivalent, but YMMV. But this has the added bonus of fixing the CX's lack of DTS support.
So, there you have it. These results, while not perfect, are definitely better than I expected, add a manageable amount of hassle, and will definitely tide me over for 18 or 24 months while worthwhile AVRs with all the HDMI 2.1 bells and whistles -that actually work- make their way to market.
I'm curious as to the actual amount of audio lag that was being added by using Dolby Digital. On the PS4 pro, which had an optical audio out port, I would also get lag while using dolby digital but never as bad as when going through the CX. just a final test before just sitting back and enjoying. Some of the testing was performed using the Bladerunner 2049 4k bluray late at night and now I'm itching to watch the whole thing again and crank it up until the neighbors start complaining on the group whatsapp chat.
So I plan on doing Vudu 4k watching via internal apps.
How do I get the atmos or 7.1 audio back?
Holy crap, setting the first pin down indeed fixed stereo audio for me! Why didn't the dev mention this in the various emails we exchanged? Man, I bought a Chromecast and everything.Well my Sharc finally arrived, I was worried it would not make it through Customs but DHL came through. Cool of Thenaudio that they use a global professional shipper.
What I'm connecting together:
LG 65CX
(HDMI 1) PS5 (doubles as 4K UHD Bluray player) (HDMI in PC mode)
(HDMI 2) Sharc
(HDMI 3) Denon X3100W (2014, no HDR, no Atmos)
(HDMI 4) PS4 pro (to be replaced by the new xbox as soon as they have a nice next-gen exclusive)
- and an assortment of devices behind the receiver (Switch, gaming PC, PS3, X360, SNES classic, etc)
- the Sharc output goes into an input on the Denon that I labeled "sharc"
Since I have a loop in my setup (TV -> shArc -> AVR -> TV) I did get the CEC endless loop upon first connection, and sometimes when switching the source into HDMI 3, but I found I can stop it in its tracks by going into HDMI 1, 2 or 4. And in order to reliably avoid it altogether this is what worked for me:
* Have the source signal you pretend to change to already on and ready (turn on the PS5 and give it a few seconds before going to HDMI 1 or turning the TV on, or changing the source on the AVR and wait a few seconds before going to HDMI 3)
* Disable all CEC, HDMI Control, Device Power Control, and everything that even smells like CEC on all your devices, except Simplink on the LG which gets turned on for ARC or EARC, but the "power sync" option below it needs to be off. I've always hated CEC with a passion, so for this step I personally grin like an idiot while turning all CEC settings off.
Primary objective: Get lagless, uncompressed audio from the PS5
Secondary objective: Have the rest of my audio setup keep working as it was before the Sharc
Happy to report that the primary objective was accomplished. Having been using DD (dolby digital) for the last few months since I got the CX, coming back to uncompressed, lagless surround sound made my day yesterday and finally got the damn holiday spirit into me this season.
Alas, secondary objective was a failure. As others have reported, audio from the LG internal apps stopped working, and other assorted stuff. Some have already mentioned it, but I can confirm that what stops working are non-surround audio sources. So WebOS netflix will have sound on shows or movies that have 5.1 tracks, but not if they only have stereo. The shitty Youtube app on the LG will not produce any audio as it seems to only be able to work in stereo.
So next step was trying to see if there was a pattern to the madness, playing around with the audio arc options on the TV. This is what I got:
The fields where it says 'N' means no audio. 'N' with a qualifier means I got a different audio format than intended. As you can see, "Auto" on the LG for the Audio Out format is a stupid option so don't use it. "Passthrough" allows surround sound but not stereo sources, while "PCM" does the opposite: makes stereo sources work, but not surround ones.
As you can see, no option was clearly better, I would have to keep changing settings depending on the source. But since my primary objective was to get lagless 5.1 PCM I settled on the first option. It also had the nice bonus of allowing Dolby trueHD through to the AVR. Not DTS MA because the CX can't do DTS, but it should work on a C9.
But, before calling it a day I decided to try turning Pin 1 on the Sharc to the DOWN position, as the sheet of paper that came with the device alluded to it doing something to the types of audio it would support. DOWN option is documented as "only basic audio". Why not, let's see exactly what it does. This is what I got:
How about that? Now everything works and it's even better that I had hoped when placing the order. Netflix is now sending surround tracks as Dolby Digital whereas before it was using DolbyDigital+, I need to test it further but I couldn't really hear a difference. The only real loss in this is you cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or Atmos tracks as bitstream to your AVR. In my case my AVR doesn't do Atmos. But getting a core Dolby Digital track stings as it's compressed, and a noticeable downgrade from the HD codecs. So final step was setting the PS5 bluray audio decoding to "Linear PCM" instead of the default "bitstream" (you can only access this "settings" menu while playing a disc). And now it looks like this:
The PS5 does a great job decoding the advanced codecs and just sending the output as uncompressed PCM. Sounds amazingly better than the core DD track. In my particular case, letting the AVR decode Dolby trueHD into the 5.1 speaker setup or letting the PS5 decode the same into a 5.1 PCM stream seem equivalent, but YMMV. But this has the added bonus of fixing the CX's lack of DTS support.
So, there you have it. These results, while not perfect, are definitely better than I expected, add a manageable amount of hassle, and will definitely tide me over for 18 or 24 months while worthwhile AVRs with all the HDMI 2.1 bells and whistles -that actually work- make their way to market.
I'm curious as to the actual amount of audio lag that was being added by using Dolby Digital. On the PS4 pro, which had an optical audio out port, I would also get lag while using dolby digital but never as bad as when going through the CX. just a final test before just sitting back and enjoying. Some of the testing was performed using the Bladerunner 2049 4k bluray late at night and now I'm itching to watch the whole thing again and crank it up until the neighbors start complaining on the group whatsapp chat.
My last remaining issue is now the audio popping whenever I power a device or change anything in the signal type (resolution, hdr, etc).
have you tried setting the 1st pin on the sharc to "down"? that fixed the stereo issue for me.
With the 1st pin "down" you don't have to change the Sound output to PCM (instead of pass through) on your TV when using the built-in LG apps?
This doesn't have any consequences for the rest of your devices?
no, still have it on passthrough.
haven´t noticed anything so far (but didn´t run any thorough tests either)
Correct, leave the LG on passthrough, and ideally you don't have to fiddle with this setting any longer.
What you lose is passing HD codecs through the LG. These are Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD-MA, and surely also Dolby Atmos, though I had no way to test this last one. If possible, set your HD codec source to decode and send PCM instead.
If you want Atmos you're gonna have to leave pin 1 UP. Same goes for getting 7.1 channels in a Dolby container (like DD+). Can you set the Vudu app to send out its audio in 7.1 PCM? I don't know the vudu app but if it's like the netflix or youtube app, you have no way of fiddling with the audio configuration.
Does anyone else have the audio popping issue when changing resolution, turning on device, etc? Thenaudio says they cannot replicate the issue and that I'm the only customer that has contacted them with the issue so they don't know how they can proceed to fix it. If anyone else has the issue lemme know and tell me your setup and maybe that can help them find a solution.
That's not an issue for me since I only use the YouTube app on my LG. For all my streaming needs with HD audio I use my Apple TV 4K! :)
You are right, you would not get both, not without changing settings everytime. Set LG "audio out" setting on PASSTHROUGH for DD+, change it to PCM for stereo.
DD+ is still a lossy compressed codec, but it can carry higher quality audio than the base DD, not to mention more channels. The question is, is Netflix streaming higher quality audio when it can? They have the incentive to save on bandwidth. I just tested a couple of shows and for a few minutes and couldn't discern a difference. Have you identified a title where the drop in quality is noticeable when going from DD+ down to plain DD?
On my AVR. It doesnt have an Atmos light cause atmos was added after release
it does DD+ on atmos movies. I wonder id thats putting out 7.1.