Question Setting up Dolby Atmos Audio Configuration with NVIDIA RTX 4070 on Windows 10

[pierred512]

Hello everyone,

I have an NVIDIA RTX 4070 graphics card with multiple outputs, including several DisplayPort ports and an HDMI 2.1 output. I'm using Windows 10 as my operating system.
I would like to use one of the DisplayPort ports to connect my 4K monitor for gaming visuals, and reserve the HDMI 2.1 output exclusively to connect my Dolby Atmos soundbar for spatialized audio.

Is it possible to configure this setup on my PC?

Additionally, could you confirm if using Dolby Atmos through a soundbar is free, or if it requires purchasing an app from the Microsoft Store?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards,

 

[kerberos_20]

arc or earc is useless on PC, its audio return channel (ie connecting gpu with tv and soundbar will be behind TV, no PC supports that, PC wont see soundbar, audio limited to TV inputs - stereo)
just hook your soundbar directly to your gpu hdmi output, doesnt matter if soundbar is earc only, you wont be using different devices on arc channel anyway
you will need to duplicate your screen with that hdmi port in windows display settings
no video on hdmi out = no sound in your soundbar
no other config needed

its technically possible to use ARC or eARC on PC with some tweaks, soundbar could be used behind TV through TVs ARC/eARC and windows would use all speakers hidden behind TV on ARC channel, but atmos/dts X licences wont be passed from soundbar to PC through TV, so i wont be suggesting going this route

 

[pierred512]

Okay, thank you for the explanation,
But my problem is that the Sonos soundbar I might get eventually only has one HDMI port, which I believe requires ARC/eARC signal.
(And the video uses a DisplayPort output from my graphics card to my monitor.)

 

[kerberos_20]

Okay, thank you for the explanation,
But my problem is that the Sonos soundbar I might get eventually only has one HDMI port, which I believe requires ARC signal.it doesnt need arc signal

its still hdmi, it doesnt need arc channel to receive hdmi audio

arc channel is return channel, audio is sent through hdmi audio channel which your soundbar will pickup just fine, arc will return it back/or passes through to another device, you dont have such device and you dont need it
here some arc definition
https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/hdmi-arc

but basicly arc is used ONLY if you have multiple devices connected together, so every device on hdmi chain (hub) can use same speakers
direct connection does not use and does not need ARC

in the past , when you had multiple sources(cable, sat, dvd, etc), switching sources was done on A/V reciever, ARC replaces A/V recievers, so TV is audio hub now

 

[pierred512]

Ok, thanks, but the soundbar in question is the Sonos Arc (a soundbar I can't test), and I think I read somewhere (I can't find the text anymore) that this soundbar must necessarily be connected to the TV's HDMI ARC port.
For example, using an HDMI output from a home theater receiver connected to the soundbar wouldn't produce any sound.
Are you sure that what you said applies to Sonos soundbars? Otherwise, why would the first device (See the Amazon link) be specifically incompatible with Sonos soundbars?

 

[pierred512]

To recap my target system :
A PC with a monitor connected via DisplayPort to the graphics card for video,
and the Sonos Arc soundbar (with two Era 300 speakers and a sub) connected to an HDMI port on the graphics card for Dolby Atmos sound.

 

[kerberos_20]

To recap my target system :
A PC with a monitor connected via DisplayPort to the graphics card for video,
and the Sonos Arc soundbar (with two Era 300 speakers and a sub) connected to an HDMI port on the graphics card for Dolby Atmos sound.

just checked sonos arc soundbar https://www.sonos.com/en/shop/arc-black
eARC requirement is stated sure, but thats when connecting with TV, because older ARC or just plain HDMI wont be able to use atmos licensing (eARC as minimum)
because TV as an audio hub will require eARC to use atmos

you wont be using TV as audio hub, you can ignore any ARC/eARC labeling

there is zero issue with direct HDMI connection (PC <-> soundbar), because PC can read artmos/dts -x licence over HDMI just fine
if you use PC -> TV -> soundbar over eARC, then you will have issue, PC will not be able to read license from eARC (not supported) and you will be stuck with plain old multichannel (dolby/DTS)

you probably will need dolby access app from ms store, but there is nothing to configure in it (for home theater), its needed to read license status, you dont need to pickup dolby atmos in sound settings as that will just enable virtualisation on non atmos sources (like on youtube/mp3), which is moot since your soundbar should have virtualisation in hardware

https://imgur.com/5fHP6vo

View: https://imgur.com/5fHP6vo

https://imgur.com/eQD45Cj

View: https://imgur.com/eQD45Cj

https://imgur.com/rMeXmC5

View: https://imgur.com/rMeXmC5

https://imgur.com/XHoxAV8

View: https://imgur.com/XHoxAV8


here from my eARC receiver,both atmos/dts picked up just fine
atmos app doesnt show anything under settings, not even license status, just that home theater is there

the only thing you need to configure is video output, no video on hdmi = no audio
so head to display settings and duplicate your monitor to hdmi output
and set audio output as hdmi out (GPU HD audio)
that will enable hdmi audio in soundbar

edit: found atmos settings, but its just upmix on/off

 

[pierred512]

Thank you very much for your detailed response. However, look at what is said on the official Sonos help and support forum: this solution, if I understand correctly, doesn’t seem to work:
https://en.community.sonos.com/advanced-setups-229000/sonos-as-pc-speakers-optimum-setup-6861404