Sony KD-65XE9005 - Centre channel sound goes to HT-ZF9 subwoofer, not soundbar

[Firmware-Nighmare]

Hi Sony,

I have the following setup; 

Sony KD-65XE9005 TV

Sony HT-ZF9 Soundbar & Subwoofer (3.1)

Sony SA-Z9R rear wireless bluetooth speakers (2)

Connected to Lan 

TV Viewing 

I use the main sat receiver input in TV to view free to air BBC, ITV, Channel 4 channels primarily.

Use aerial to receive free to air Digital terrestrial channels & radio stations. 

Issue

3/2.1 surround sound does not work when viewing content broadcast in 3/2.1 on;

• Satellite TV channels
• Amazon Prime App
• Netflix App
• Disney + App 

3/2.1 surround sound only works on one satellite channel out of hundreds tuned i.e. Quest!

When BBC, ITV, Channel 4 broadcast a movie in 3/2.1, and I have the Digital Audio Output set to [Auto 1 or 2] for compressed &/or multi channel sound, all speakers work (soundbar, sub + 2 rear), except the primary voice of the presenter/character on screen is sent to the Subwoofer in an extremely low and muffled noise - completely inaudible.

I have noticed the 3/2.1 issue persists on HD channels that have the below symbols displayed in the TV programme information banner, most notably the 'Data Service (Broadcast application)' symbol.

The odd thing I also noticed from the tens of hours of testing is that when live sport is broadcast in 3/2.1, I can hear the presenter perfectly through the soundbar and not subwoofer (unlike movie content), plus the rear surrounds work ok. This is the case even when the data service symbol is visible in the information banner, adding further confusion to the matter! 

The only solution to above is to either change the Digital Audio Output from Auto1 or 2 to PCM or turn on Audio Description which directs the speaking voice sound of movie/app content back from subwoofer to sound bar albeit you then have the dubbed voice description to deal with. Including this observation as may be useful to someone out there.   

This issue has been driving me nuts since New Years eve. Issue may have been there before that but I didn't cop it until then. 

TV and Soundbar have been factory reset a number of times now and the issue persists. I have all hardware updated to latest versions. I know all menu's off by heart at this stage!

SONY - Please help! Can you advise if a software update is planned to patch this? 

Thank you in advance. 

[LightFoot]

Hi @Firmware-Nighmare   Sorry if I missed it, but just checking that you have the soundbar connected via HDMI Arc. You should note that this is a customer helps customer community with generics help from some Sony employees. If you want specific help, I would contact Sony Support.

[Firmware-Nighmare]

Hi @LightFoot, 

Many thanks for reaching out. Apologies I forgot to mention that audio set up is indeed via HDMI ARC on TV and Soundbar. 

Will reach out to Sony also - Thank you kindly for the heads up 👍