My HK soundbar says "Dolby Surround" when 5.1 content is playing, shouldn't it say "Dolby Digital" though?

[Staffy]

So I have a Harman Kardon Citation multibeam 1100 soundbar, with sub s and two rears. For most content nowadays (new content) on Netflix and such Dolby Atmos is used, but there is older stuff that is in 5.1, on Disney too.

Back when I used a separate AVR it used to say Dolby Digital on the display for this content. But now when I watch a movie like 28 weeks Later on Disney which says 5.1 on the TV app itself it says Dolby Surround on the soundbar display. So is this just HK’s way of saying it’s Dolby Digital or am I getting “fake” surround now?

I have a Sony A95K QD-OLED and most of the audio settings are on auto. When I play Atmos content it does say so on the display of the soundbar. But it feels like something is wrong because the sound during 28 weeks was pretty bad.

[Widey85]

@Staffy

…So I have a Harman Kardon Citation multibeam 1100 soundbar, with sub s and two rears. For most content nowadays (new content) on Netflix and such Dolby Atmos is used, but there is older stuff that is in 5.1, on Disney too. Back when I used a separate AVR it used to say Dolby Digital on the display for this content. But now when I watch a movie like 28 weeks Later on Disney which says 5.1 on the TV app itself it says Dolby Surround on the soundbar display. So is this just HK’s way of saying it’s Dolby Digital or am I getting “fake” surround now? I have a Sony A95K QD-OLED and most of the audio settings are on auto. When I play Atmos content it does say so on the display of the soundbar. But it feels like something is wrong because the sound during 28 weeks was pretty bad.

From reading the manual it appears it shows Atmos for Atmos sources and Dolby Surround for both 5.1 and 7.1 sources.

It uses an upmixer to try and make 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound appear more like Atmos - that might be causing the sound to be a bit off in comparison to your old system.

Hopefully someone else here knows the system well enough to know if that can be turned off or tweaked (or if it’s really a different issue) but for now I’d suggest trying to recalibrate while playing non-Atmos stuff to see if can optimise for that experience - hit the Calibration button twice on the remote control.

You may also want to tweak the bass and treble a little.

Unfortunately might have to recalibrate between types, but it might remember it or the non-Atmos calibration might be good enough for both…

[Staffy]

@Widey85

…]

From reading the manual it appears it shows Atmos for Atmos sources and Dolby Surround for both 5.1 and 7.1 sources. It uses an upmixer to try and make 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound appear more like Atmos - that might be causing the sound to be a bit off in comparison to your old system. Hopefully someone else here knows the system well enough to know if that can be turned off or tweaked (or if it’s really a different issue) but for now I’d suggest trying to recalibrate while playing non-Atmos stuff to see if can optimise for that experience - hit the Calibration button twice on the remote control. You may also want to tweak the bass and treble a little. Unfortunately might have to recalibrate between types, but it might remember it or the non-Atmos calibration might be good enough for both…

Thanks man, much appreciated.

Yeah it’s not ideal but it’s good to know. The audio in this movie wasn’t super great, perhaps I’m just used so much to Atmos now that it just sounds bad or it was always bad in that movie, that’s possible as well.

I love my HK setup, but there are a few things I wish they had added, more EQ options, just more settings in general and also a better way to see what is on the display. I have to get off my lazy couch to see what is on the display. These are super minor setbacks to an otherwise fantastic setup.