Answered

Using a line-in audio on Port for TV audio playback

  • 14 December 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 2371 views

I want to use a Sonos port for line-in from TV audio output. Network connection would be wired and I’m able to adjust audio delay from the tv. I’m wondering if:

 

  1. has anyone done this?
  2. is the delay steady?
  3. If this won’t work - any ideas on how to be do this?

I’m using sonos ports for all other wired speakers zones in my house and will feed audio from the port that is being fed from the TV’s line out.

icon

Best answer by Airgetlam 14 December 2020, 06:21

View original

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

5 replies

I wouldn’t recommend it. Your TV likely allows you to adjust by adding a delay. Given that there is already a delay on an analog input on any Sonos device, the sync between what you see on the TV screen is going to be ahead of what you hear. 

I have never run across a TV set that is capable of sending the audio out before what is shown on the screen, but your set may be different, and I would certainly be interested in the make and model if you can adjust the audio in a negative direction. 

Once you’ve set up an analog line in on a Sonos, it doesn’t vary in the amount of delay, unless you go back  in and adjust the settings. 

Sonos sells two speakers that are designed to work with most TV sets, the Beam, and the Arc. Either of them would be a substantial upgrade than using the stereo only analog line in on the Port, and give you at least Dolby Digital with 3 speakers that are built in, the center, left and right speakers. You could then add a pair of surrounds if desired, and a Sub, as time and finances permit. 

You are right - I can only add delay (visio off-the-shelf flatscreen). So the fundamental issue is running video audio to an IP device like the port. All I want to do is run my tv audio to the speakers in zones that are driven by the Ports but I’m guessing I’m just out of luck. I can use some of the speakers you mention but I would still like to allow audio to be fed through several zones away from the TV (kitchen, etc).

Note...as long as the speakers you want to send to are not in the same room as the TV, it works just fine. I used to do this with my kitchen, which was a separate room in that house during football games. As long as I didn’t stand in the doorway, where I could hear both ‘rooms’ at the same time, it was absolutely fine, and since there was no TV in the kitchen to worry about lipsync, it worked perfectly. 

Speakers are both in the same room and also in the adjoining kitchen. I’m trying to understand why this makes a difference? Music audio when played on both rooms and when you are in earshot of both room’s speakers is fine.

The only thing that makes a difference is that all rooms connected to the Home Theater (TV) ‘room’ will play in sync, just 75 ms. later than the speakers in that Home Theater ‘room’.

It may help to disassociate the concept of the physical locations of the speakers, and think of them as ‘nodes’, or ‘zones’ in the Sonos software. Sonos uses the term ‘room’ instead of ‘zone’ or ‘node’ to define a speaker or set of speakers. 

Because of the way the underlying software works, in order to prepare the signal to play in all other rooms, Sonos buffers the signal coming from the TV’s room.