Q-Symphony not working

[BP2020]

Hello,

I can't seem to get the Q-symphony feature to work on my new QN65Q7DTAFXZA tv (2020 model) and new soundbar HW-Q60T/ZA (2020 model).  I've connected the soundbar to the TV via HDMI as the manual instructs, and set the sound bar source to D.IN (TV arc), which is supposed to add a "Sound Output" option under TV settings (TV + Soundbar), but TV + Soundbar does not appear under sound output.  Over the past week I've spent almost 3 hours talking with 3 different Samsung support technicians, and none of them seemed to know what Q-Symphony was or the sound setting referenced in the manual.  Ultimately after about 45 mins of troubleshooting with each of them, they each said it should be working and they don't know why.  The 3rd technician tonight now wants me to mail the sound bar to a repair depot so it can be diagnosed...which is a terribly inconvenient option. 

Has anyone else experienced a similar issue and figured out how to resolve it?  I really don't want to have to mail back a brand new sound bar and wait who knows how long before having it returned/replaced.  If it matters, the sound bar was purchased directly from Samsung.com.

[SamsungCaleb]

I'm sorry to hear that have you made sure to have everything set up like the pictures below? 

[BP2020]

Thanks for responding.  Yes, everything is setup like the pictures but "TV + Soundbar" does not appear as an option under Sound Output settings. 

I have an HDMI cord connected to the soundbar's "HDMI to TV (ARC)" slot, with the other end in the TV's HMDI IN 3 (eARC) slot.  Soundbar source is set to D.IN (which then displays TV ARC).  The TV is set to auto update and I've manually checked for updates.  The first Samsung tech I spoke with (last Thursday) remotely connected to the TV and confirmed all the settings looked right, but for whatever reason, no "TV + Soundbar" option is available under Sound Output.  I also tried using a different HDMI cable in case something was wrong with the 1st one; no luck.  The 2nd tech (last Friday) said they would contact engineering to see if they could troubleshoot it and to wait 48 hours to see if an update fixed the issue.  I followed up this afternoon and spoke with a 3rd Samsung tech and he had me disconnect the HMDI cord and instead try using an optical cord, but same story.  No TV + Soundbar option in the Sound Output menu.

The soundbar itself seems to be working fine (Sound Output currently set to soundbar), which makes me think it's something that can be fixed with an update.  Still hoping I don't have to mail it to the repair depot...

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

[userzLCmxbe2wN]

I just set up my new Q60T TV and sou d bar and I am having the exact same issue.  Everything is set up as it should be but tv + soundbar is not an option. 

[BP2020]

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@userzLCmxbe2wN wrote:

I just set up my new Q60T TV and sou d bar and I am having the exact same issue.  Everything is set up as it should be but tv + soundbar is not an option. 

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Sorry to hear that, but at least I'm not the only one.  Have you tried calling tech support?  I'm curious what they told you.  I've talked to 3 over the past week and none of them could figure out why it wasn't working, and the last one wants me to mail the soundbar to a repair depot for diagnostics/etc.  They sent me a shipping label but I'm very hestitant to box this thing up and ship it somewhere when, according to the fine print, Samsung isn't responsible for any damage that occurs in transit.  Plus, who knows how long I would be without a soundbar.

[BP2020]

Well, still no luck.  I tried the live chat feature this morning and they had me do a soft reset of both the TV and soundbar but that didn't do anything.  He did confirm that my model TV and soundbar support Q-Symphony though.  He suggested I hold off on mailing the soundbar in to see if an update fixes the issue, but when I asked how long I should wait for an update he then suggested I call in to do a Remote Service so I did. 

This was the 4th support tech I talked to in the last 8 days and none of them understood or had even heard of the "TV + Soundbar" setting.  Only after pointing them exactly to the part of the manual that talks about setting up Q-Symphony do they even acknowledge that there should be a "TV + Soundbar" setting.  The tech today had me disconnect/reconnect the HDMI from TV/Soundbar (didn't work) and had me do a factory reset of TV (didn't work).  She said they've exhausted all options and I need to mail the soundbar to the repair depot for diagnostics/repair. 

I'm really frustrated with all this.  Both TV and soundbar are brand new, less than 2 weeks old, and I suspect the issue can/should be fixed with an update but can't get any of the tech supports to acknowledge the issue.  I pointed out that others on this forum described the exact same issue I'm having and told them I would be perfectly happy to just know that Samsung was aware of the issue and are trying to fix it via an update, but I'm told they don't have any information about it and I need to mail in the soundbar for diagnostics.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[user6jPXrFjv6K]

Having this same issue with a Q80t TV and Q900 Soundbar

[userHi6LzcBipo]

So I may have figured this out.  I had the same problem with a Q90T TV and Q70T Soundbar where the Q-Symphony option was not available.  I had my cable box wired to the Sound Bar with HDMI cable, then HDMI cable from Sound Bar to the TV's eARC HDMI port  (in my case, HDMI 3 is the eARC port in the TV).  This configuration does not support the Q-Symphony option and here's how I fixed it...

Connect your cable box or whatever source you're using directly to your TV's HDMI port that IS NOT the eARC HDMI port (in my case I used HDMI 1).  Then connect the TV's eARC HDMI port to the Sound Bar.  Choose the HDMI port your cable box is connected to in the TV as the source.  You should now have TV+Soundbar option available as an option in your sound settings which is Q-Symphony.

Hope this helps... 

[user6jPXrFjv6K]

But then dont you lose the capability of Dolby True HD?

[userVVUGL2P4Cf · Accepted solution]

This worked for me!

I've got a model year 2020 QN55Q8DTAFXZA TV and a model year 2020 HW-Q67CT/ZA Soundbar, both from Costco. I'm also using an Apple TV 4K.

Here are my cable connections:

Apple TV HDMI to TV HDMI IN 1

TV HDMI IN 3 (eARC) to Soundbar HDMI TO TV (ARC)

Here are my device Settings:

TV Sound Output set to TV+[AV] Soundbar 

TV Sound Mode set to DTS Virtual:X 

TV Sound Expert Settings Digital Output Audio Format set to Auto

Soundbar set to TV ARC

Awesome sound quality from all of the TV and Soundbar speakers!