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I’d like to stream videos from my laptop to a projector on my wall and am struggling to get good sound.

I’m currently streaming video from my MacBook Pro (2017) to a projector via HDMI, but the sound comes out of my MacBook Pro…. hence I need better sound and want to use the Playbar (Version 14.0). 

I’ve tried multiple things and I can’t get the sound from my MacBook Pro to come out of the Sonos Playbar.   Here’s what I tried (none worked):

  1. Adapter - connecting the toslink (digital optical cable) from my Sonos Playbar into my MacBook Pro’s headphone jack using an adaptor that converts one end of the toslink to 3.5)
  2. Bluetooth Receiver - connecting the toslink (digital optical cable) from my Sonos Playbar into a Bluetooth receiver while my MacBook is connected to the bluetooth receiver via bluetooth.
  3. Analog to Digital Converter - connecting the toslink (digital optical cable) from my Sonos Playbar through the converter, then connecting my MacBook to the other end of the converter via 1) 3.5 headphone cable on both ends; and/or 2) Red/White to 3.5 headphone jack.  Neither worked.

I read online that an analog to digital converter should work, but I’m beginning to think this is impossible because there is no “line in” on a Playbar (at least I can’t find it in the app or otherwise).

 

Can anyone help??  thank you :)
Elizabeth  

 

 

 

HDMI switch with toslink output, HDMI input to Mac, HDMI out to PJ, take the toslink form the switch and feed it into the Playbar.

No A2D converters required.

thanks controlav.  A couple of questions:

  1. Is this the type of HDMI switch you’d recommend?  And if so, any specific recommendations?  https://www.amazon.com/iArkPower-Optical-Extractor-Splitter-Supports/dp/B01K7BZ1XC.   I’ve never heard of these so any help/reco is great.
  2. I’m not entirely following the set up:
    1. HDMI is currently going from my MacBook to projector.  Are you saying I need two HDMI cables?  One from MacBook to HDMI switch’s input, then the other from switch’s output to projector?  
    2. then, toslink from switch to Playbar?   
  3. Lastly, Playbar has no “line in” (only Five, Port, and Amp do so I hear).  Is there a way to tell the Playbar to play sound via toslink (there’s no option for this in the App if you have Playbar only and I don’t have other Sonos to group)?  If the analog to digital converter didn’t work, I’m not sure this HDMI version will work either, right?  It’s a better (digital) connection, but will the playbar play sound from another device (or does it only take sound from AirPlay/Wifi) no matter what we do?

Analogue to toslink converters might not produce a signal the Port can interpret. With an HDMI switch with toslink output the switch will produce a signal the Playbar can use from the HDMI in.

  1. that looks fine yes
  2. yes exactly. You are not using the switch to actually switch anything, just to get to the audio data
  3. Playbar “line in” is toslink, ie digital, which is what is in the HDMI cable from the Mac. No need for any conversions here.

1 - That device will work, however, it might not be the best for your case.  This device will between 3 sources, but you only have the single source, your Macbook.  As well, this device can only do 4k@30Hz.  If your Mac and projector can do 60Hz, for example, than you want a device that meets that spec.

2 -  Yes to all these questions

3 -  In the app, you want to tell the playbar to play the TV source.  Yes, you’re using a projector, but Sonos distinguishes between line in sources and TV sources as it TV sources are played immediately to match video.

There are a lot of reasons the convertor might not have worked.  As mentioned, it could be the wrong audio format.  It also could be that your Mac wasn’t sending audio through the analog outputs (you could test this with analog headphones or powered speaker) when it’s sending out data via HDMI.  And it could be that you didn’t set the playbar to TV source.

Thank you all so much for your help/expertise! 

Melvimbe - changing the Playbar source to tv worked w/the analog to digital converter!  So, I’m all set for now.  Now I just need to decide if A2D is “good enough”, or if I should switch to an HDMI switch.  Do you guys think the sound would be that much better?

If so, does anyone have a reco for an HDMI converter for me?   Here’s one I found, but not sure if it’s ok?

https://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Splitter-Converter-Support-Toslink/dp/B08V8HJBSC/ref=sr_1_13?crid=3HS43CUCCMFX6&keywords=4K%4060Hz+HDMI+Switch+2x1+with+Audio+Extractor&qid=1643822869&s=electronics&sprefix=4k+60hz+hdmi+switch+2x1+with+audio+extractor%2Celectronics%2C155&sr=1-13

Thank you all so much for your help/expertise! 

Melvimbe - changing the Playbar source to tv worked w/the analog to digital converter!  So, I’m all set for now.  Now I just need to decide if A2D is “good enough”, or if I should switch to an HDMI switch.  Do you guys think the sound would be that much better?

 

 

You said the A2D is connected through the headphone jack, so you’re only getting stereo, you aren’t getting any surround sound with that.  If your not using any surround speakers with your playbar, you aren’t really missing that right now.  I don’t really have a good feel if getting 5.1 audio to the playbar alone is going to be significantly better than just stereo.

 

If so, does anyone have a reco for an HDMI converter for me?   Here’s one I found, but not sure if it’s ok?

https://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Splitter-Converter-Support-Toslink/dp/B08V8HJBSC/ref=sr_1_13?crid=3HS43CUCCMFX6&keywords=4K%4060Hz+HDMI+Switch+2x1+with+Audio+Extractor&qid=1643822869&s=electronics&sprefix=4k+60hz+hdmi+switch+2x1+with+audio+extractor%2Celectronics%2C155&sr=1-13

 

I like this one better  than the HDMI splitter.  The specs should be just fine, and it’s cheaper too.  If it were me, I would probably go ahead and get this, only $20, and see if it works better for you than your current A2D solution.

 

As a side note, you can configure the playbar to automatically switch to TV audio when it’s sense audio coming through the optical cable.  I looked for the support article on that, but couldn’t find it.  Should be under Settings → System ->Products → <Sonos room name> I think.

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