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Contributor I
March 22, 2013

A/V Receiver Optical Out to Play Bar??

Did anyone try it? will it work?

Sonos suggest to by pass the AV receiver with all components in to TV and Optical out to Play bar.....

I am just trying to de-clutter my living room with the a play bar, sub & play 3 to replace my 5.1 speakers. and of course sync with my other sonos products around the house.

will it works?
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    16 replies

    Trending Lyricist I
    March 22, 2013
    If you can find a receiver with an optical out it should work. That being said, I haven't ever come across one. You just need to verify that the receiver will route the audio signal from any input (HDMI, etc) to the optical output. As long as Sonos gets the signal it will work...doesn't really matter what the true source is. I have everything going through an HDMI switch with optical out which is another alternative if you can't find a receiver that does the job.
    pablotdi
    Avid Contributor I
    March 22, 2013
    If you can find a receiver with an optical out it should work. That being said, I haven't ever come across one. You just need to verify that the receiver will route the audio signal from any input (HDMI, etc) to the optical output. As long as Sonos gets the signal it will work...doesn't really matter what the true source is. I have everything going through an HDMI switch with optical out which is another alternative if you can't find a receiver that does the job.

    Most "flagship" or top of line AVR's will have 1 optical output (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/SC-1522-K) but I haven't seen a low end (sub $400) model have it.

    That said, if I own a 9.2 channel AVR, odds are, I'm not looking to pair it to a sound bar ;)

    But yes, if you have an AVR with an optical out, I see no reason why the Playbar wouldn't work.
    joeydego
    Contributor I
    March 23, 2013
    warning, HDMI will NOT be passed thru the receivers optical out. No dice. Not on yamahas, anyway.
    Lyricist III
    March 23, 2013
    FYI you will need to hook up gear with hdmi for video switching and hook up audio via optical. This is due to the hdmi looking to pass through its audio for dts or another format not supported.

    Also you will need to set the digital out on each device so it does not pass dts or anything other than standard 5.1.

    I have done one system like this and ran into these issues.

    Hope that helps!
    Lyricist III
    June 21, 2013
    I have a supposed high end Samsung 8 series TV, with no DD5.1 digital out over optical. It´s a stupid problem, which caused me lot´s of searching and cursing.

    Now I have bought myself this product, the Octava HD41ARC HDMI switch. (Search and you will find)

    And it solved all my problems, works like a charm.
    I can highly recommend it with the Playbar with a system with no optical 5.1 out.

    Hope this was helpful.

    Cheers
    Steffen
    Lyricist II
    July 18, 2013
    Does the Octava HD41-ARC support PCM?
    I´m searching a solution for getting real 5.1 Sound with the Wii U and my Sonos 5.1 Setup.
    Lyricist II
    July 29, 2013
    Does the Octava HD41-ARC support PCM?
    I´m searching a solution for getting real 5.1 Sound with the Wii U and my Sonos 5.1 Setup.


    Ok, i got the answer myself.
    The Octava HD41-ARC does not convert the LPCM/PCM 5.1 stream from the Wii U... So it´s not working.
    Lyricist I
    July 29, 2013
    I have a supposed high end Samsung 8 series TV, with no DD5.1 digital out over optical. It´s a stupid problem, which caused me lot´s of searching and cursing.

    Now I have bought myself this product, the Octava HD41ARC HDMI switch. (Search and you will find)

    And it solved all my problems, works like a charm.
    I can highly recommend it with the Playbar with a system with no optical 5.1 out.

    Hope this was helpful.

    Cheers
    Steffen



    Quite surprised you do not get DD5.1 from your Samsung. I have a 2013 - 7 series model which outputs DD5.1 from the optical connection, from HDMI inputs (both a Sky HD box and PS3)
    Lyricist I
    December 8, 2014
    according to monoprice customer service, this should do perfect, and supports your LPCM as well!

    Product Number: 7974 (i cant post links i guess, just go to monoprice website)
    Enthusiast II
    December 8, 2014
    Quite surprised you do not get DD5.1 from your Samsung. I have a 2013 - 7 series model which outputs DD5.1 from the optical connection, from HDMI inputs (both a Sky HD box and PS3)

    Durb(Steffan),
    which model do you have? I have spent LOTS of time trying to get my playbar 5.0 setup working with my Samsung 7000 series. I can only get 5.1 out of the optical on one hdmi connection (cable tv box) but not others. I USED to get it from internal apps - Netflix - too but it appears that Samsung have disabled the 5.1 audio on the Netflix app - it shows as stereo only when netflix info line displayed. I get 5.1 when connecting a Samsung bluray when directly connected.
    I've also had problems with audio dropouts when playing the Netflix 5.1 films and even 2.0 shows from the cable tv box I and many others have been working with Sonos for about a year to get these resolved without success for some of us. I'm guessing it's the reason why Netflix won't pass 5.1 even though films are shown in the catalogue as being Hd & 5.1 etc.

    Can I ask you what version of Netflix you are using, what model TVs, what is shown when you watch an Hd/5.1 film when you press 'info' and finally, does the Sonos app confirm 5.1 on the playbar?

    Thanks.