Only stereo or PCM instead of surround through an HDfury Arcana
Your sound system shows PCM 2.0, or plain Dolby Digital, where the content definitely carries something better. Nine times out of ten the format was thrown away before it ever reached the Arcana.
Does this match your symptoms?
- The sound system reports PCM 2.0 where you expect Atmos or DTS.
- You get plain Dolby Digital where the content carries something better.
- Every source behaves the same way, whatever you play.
Fix it in this order
- Set the source to bitstream or passthrough, not PCM. This is the cause in the large majority of cases.
- On streaming boxes, prefer automatic detection over a fixed format. A fixed setting caps everything to that format.
- Route the source through the HDfury Arcana so its AutoMix EDID advertises your sound system's audio capabilities rather than only your television's.
- Power-cycle the source so it reads the new description instead of the cached one.
- Check what your sound system decodes. Atmos over TrueHD does not fit through ARC at all, whatever the rest of the chain does.
Which model do you have?
HDfury Arcana (18Gbps). Identical on both models. Neither decodes, re-encodes or upmixes; both pass through what the source sends, and both advertise your sound system's audio capabilities to the source through AutoMix.
HDfury Arcana 2 VRR (40Gbps). Identical audio behaviour. One extra route if your sound system is an older AVR without eARC: OLED menu → Scaler → Audio Only TX1 sends full HDMI audio to it as a 1080p stream over HDMI COPY, which sidesteps the ARC limitations entirely.
Start at the source, not at the soundbar
A source set to PCM output decodes the audio itself and sends uncompressed channels. Once that happens the original format label is gone, and nothing downstream can rebuild it. This is the most common cause by a wide margin, and it is the quickest to check.
What you want instead is bitstream or passthrough: the source hands the untouched encoded stream onward and lets the sound system decode it. Names differ by device. Disc players call it Bitstream, Passthrough or Auto. Streaming boxes tend to bury it under an audio or accessibility menu.
There is one honest exception. If your source is doing the decoding well and your sound system accepts multichannel PCM, PCM output is not automatically worse. But it does mean Atmos metadata is lost, so if Atmos is what you are chasing, bitstream is what you need.
The boxes that behave differently
Apple TV 4K. Leave the audio format on the automatic setting rather than forcing a fixed one. Forcing a format is a common way to end up with less than the content offers.
Nvidia Shield. The audio settings distinguish between passthrough and decoding per format. Check that the surround options are actually enabled, not just present.
Fire TV, Chromecast with Google TV, Google TV Streamer. These typically have a switch between automatic detection and a fixed format. Automatic is the right default; a fixed setting caps everything to that format.
Game consoles. A PS5 or Xbox will happily output PCM if the audio output setting says so. Both have a bitstream option, and both need it for the lossless formats to arrive intact.
What the HDfury Arcana can and cannot change here
The Arcana passes through what the source sends. It does not decode, re-encode or upmix, so it cannot turn stereo back into surround. If the source sent two channels, two channels is what arrives.
What it does change is what the source is willing to send. Its AutoMix EDID tells the source about the audio capabilities of your sound system rather than only those of your television, and that is often the difference between a source offering Atmos and a source deciding stereo is all that is wanted. That is the mechanism by which an Arcana fixes this class of problem — indirectly, by correcting the description.
The Audio sub-menu affects routing rather than format. eARC Only, the default, sends sound to the eARC system and not to the display. Display+eARC sends it to both, which can help when a television has trouble returning ARC audio. Neither adds channels that were never sent.
Check what your sound system actually decodes
Before spending another evening on settings, confirm the target supports the format. Sonos soundbars handle Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Digital Surround on current models, but not DTS:X or DTS-HD Master Audio. A receiver from before eARC may decode plenty over HDMI but far less over ARC.
And the standard itself matters: Atmos over TrueHD does not fit through ARC at all. If your sound system only has ARC, no device anywhere in the chain can deliver it. That is worth establishing before you buy anything, not after.
Then force a fresh handshake
After any change to a source's audio setting or to the EDID, power-cycle the source. Sources read the description once at connect and cache it; one that is not restarted keeps sending what it decided last time.
If that does not do it, power everything fully off and bring it up in order: audio system, HDfury Arcana, display, source last, with a few seconds between each.
Frequently asked
What should I do if I have an HDfury Arcana (18Gbps)?
Identical on both models. Neither decodes, re-encodes or upmixes; both pass through what the source sends, and both advertise your sound system's audio capabilities to the source through AutoMix.
What should I do if I have an HDfury Arcana 2 VRR (40Gbps)?
Identical audio behaviour. One extra route if your sound system is an older AVR without eARC: OLED menu → Scaler → Audio Only TX1 sends full HDMI audio to it as a 1080p stream over HDMI COPY, which sidesteps the ARC limitations entirely.
Can the HDfury Arcana convert stereo into surround?
No. It passes through what the source sends and does not decode, re-encode or upmix. What it can do is make the source willing to send surround, by advertising your sound system's capabilities through EDID.
Should I set my source to PCM or bitstream?
Bitstream or passthrough if you want Atmos or the lossless formats, because PCM output means the source decodes first and the format label is lost.
My soundbar shows Dolby Digital instead of TrueHD. Why?
Either the source is on PCM, or the chain has fallen back from eARC to ARC. Check the source setting first; it is the more common of the two.
Does the Audio sub-menu change the audio format?
No, it changes routing. eARC Only sends sound to the eARC system and not the display; Display+eARC sends it to both. Neither adds channels the source did not send.
Related
- DTS or DTS:X not reaching your sound system
- No Dolby Atmos on Sonos Arc or Beam Gen 2
- EDID: what it does and when to touch it
Does an HDfury Arcana or HDfury Arcana 2 solve this?
Both models pass the same audio formats. Choose between them on video bandwidth, not on sound.
Checked against the official HDfury Arcana and HDfury Arcana 2 manuals and against firmware 0.88 and 0.25, August 2026.