Samsung HW-F355 Soundbar DTS 2.0 and Dolby Digital- Optical issues

[mikebanks385]

Hi, i'm new to this forum and I'm a big fan of tech products.

I just bought a Samsung LED UN55FH6030 and I didn't like the sound from it so I decided to buy a soundbar. I went for a cheap one from Samsung, the HW-F355. A optical cable was included in the box and there were no HDMI ports on the soundbar so I decided to plug the optical cable (TOSLINK) from the soundbar to the TV optical port. All my other equipment is plugged to the tv in hdmi (Playstation 4 and Cable STB).

Now, I know for a fact that PCM cannot output Lossless Audio (DTS 7.1 and Dolby True HD) when connected through optical. I also know that my soundbar supports Dolby Digital and DTS 2.0 Channels (it's written in the manual, on the soundbar and on the box). I noticed that when I choose surround sound in my Cable box settings, if I go to the sound options of my TV I can change PCM to Dolby Digital. I think that's because my Cable Box supports Dolby Digital 5.1 I also tried playing a movie that was in MKV format with DTS MA 7.1 and DTS HD in the USB port of my TV and when I went to the sound options of my TV, now I could choose DTS as it was no longer greyed out. The sound quality was better when I did that.

Now the problem I have is that on the PS4 if I want to watch a movie in DTS or Dolby Digital, I have to choose bitstream direct I think because if I don't do it the PS4 will only output PCM in Stereo 2.0 mode because the soundbar is plugged to the TV though optical. I tried choosing bistream direct in ps4 sound settings (for the games and bluray to at least output in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS) and in the sound options of my TV, Dolby Digital and DTS were greyed out I could only chose PCM as opposed to when I was watching a movie in USB or watching the Cable Box.

So I'm all confused, why can I modify the sound options of my TV (from PCM to Dolby Digital or DTS) when I'm watching MKV over USB or when watching Cable Box but I can't do it when playing games or watching bluray on the PS4? What would be the best settings for my PS4 to get the best quality possible out of my setup?

 

[JMJVK]

I went for a cheap one from Samsung, the HW-F355. A optical cable was included in the box and there were no HDMI ports on the soundbar

There's your problem right there. Most TVs don't bridge multi-channel. What is said to be sent as multi-channel is probably down-mixed without you knowing.

 

[mikebanks385]

There's your problem right there. Most TVs don't bridge multi-channel. What is said to be sent as multi-channel is probably down-mixed without you knowing.

Yeah but when im watching a MKV movie over USB that is encoded in DTS, I can choose DTS in my TV sound settings. The sound effects really sound like true DTS as I've had receivers with DTS before so I know what it sounds like. Also, when I'm watching TV from my cable box (Cable box does 5.1 Dolby Digital), if I choose surround sound in my cable box settings, then I can choose Dolby Digital in my TV sound settings and it really sounds like Dolby sound. So I mean the TV must output in those format if I can choose them in my TV sound options when soundbar is plugged? Can you enlighten me?

It's with the PS4 that I can only choose PCM in my TV sound settings and the other 2 options (DTS and Dolby Digital) are greyed out (not accessible), even if I change PCM to Bitstream in PS4 sound options. So it looks to me that when the PS4 is plugged, the TV may downconvert the signal when it's with the ps4? But why would it work with the USB movie and the cable box but not with the PS4?

BTW I know that I won't get Dolby True HD or DTS MA but at least I want to get the regular DTS 5.1 or Dolby 5.1. Soundbar has Dolby Digital and DTS 2.0 written on it.