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NeilTch
Contributor II
May 6, 2019
Answered

If TV output must be set to PCM will that limit my ability to have 3.1 SONOS system?

There is only one output (optical) from my new LG OLED TV and it goes to an optical splitter (1 in 4 out) and on to my Playbar as well as 2 Transmitter/Receiver earphones.
The 2 earphones require the output from the TV to be PCM.
Because the TV must transmit via PCM to the Playbar will that limit my ability to have a 3.1 SONOS system?
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    jgatie
    jgatieAnswer
    May 6, 2019
    3.1? No, PCM is 2 channel stereo, which the 3.1 system will split into 3.1. It won't be true 3.1, but it will be far more effective than converting 2.0 stereo into 5.1. A front L/C/R is much easier to simulate than surrounds.
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    7 replies

    jgatie
    jgatieAnswer
    May 6, 2019
    3.1? No, PCM is 2 channel stereo, which the 3.1 system will split into 3.1. It won't be true 3.1, but it will be far more effective than converting 2.0 stereo into 5.1. A front L/C/R is much easier to simulate than surrounds.
    NeilTchAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 6, 2019
    Sorry jgatie, I should add that I am about to purchase 2 Play1's in addition to my existing Playbar so that I can have a 3.0 system. Now, given that it all will receive info via PCM,how different will the system be from a true 3.0 setup without PCM conversion?
    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    May 6, 2019
    I don't think you quite understand the Sonos you have. The PLAYBAR is already 3.0. It has right, center and left speakers already inside it. If you add two PLAY:1s, the only way you can add them is as surround speakers, which would give you 5.0, not 3.0. Sonos doesn't provide a way for those two PLAY:1s to be right and left speakers, leaving the center to the PLAYBAR.
    Bruce
    NeilTchAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 7, 2019
    AaaaahhHH, I understand now, I did not know that the centre was already 3.1, thank-you!
    So getting back to my original concern: PCM should not make any discernible difference using the Playbar for a 3.1 system, however if I add two additional Play:1s to simulate a 5.1 system what can I expect given that the information is in PCM format?
    controlav
    controlav
    Lead Maestro
    May 7, 2019
    I find it hard to believe a new TV limits optical output to PCM only. You will need Dolby Digital over optical to get 5.1.
    Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.
    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    May 7, 2019
    I find it hard to believe a new TV limits optical output to PCM only. You will need Dolby Digital over optical to get 5.1.

    The restriction to PCM was because of the earphones requirement (through PCM splitter), not the TV. Will the earphones take an RCA input? Perhaps adding an optical to RCA converter will allow you to set the TV to DD and still get PCM stereo to the earphones.
    Danny
    NeilTchAuthor
    Contributor II
    May 9, 2019
    The single tv optical out had 2 choices: Auto or PCM. I chose PCM because it was the only option that allowed my Sennheiser earphones to work in doing so I limited my SONOS options to just 3.1 and cannot play 5.1 with this PCM setup
    I’m thinking now of putting the TV output back to Auto (not PCM) and purchasing an optical to rca converter, Amazon has a few under $50 and perhaps that is the work around if I want SONOS 5.1. Hhmmmm I will give it a go....
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