How to connect a Sonos Arc with Mac Mini and TV as monitor?

  • 5 November 2020
  • 2 replies
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A

Hello, we have a Sonos Arc. We watch television (Netflix, etc.) through a Mac Mini connected by HDMI to the TV. Now we have bought a Sonos Arc and we want to connect it, but when connecting it to the Mac Mini via HDMI it does not sound, and if we connect it to the HDMI (HDMI 1) of the TV, as the Mac Mini is also connected by HDMI to the TV (HDMI2 ), it is not possible to use them at the same time, so if we select HDMI1 on the TV, you can see the Mac but you cannot hear SONOS, and if you select HDMI2 you can hear the sonos but you don't see TV through the Mac Can you think of a solution for this? It is incredible that a machine as recent as the Sonos Arc does not come with more input options, since many people today only watch television with a computer connected to a TV that only acts as a monitor. Thank you! Arty

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2 replies

Smilja

@ARTY62, You need to connect the Arc to a HDMI port labelled ‘ARC’ (= Audio Return Channel). Does your TV set have one (HDMI-2 perhaps)? If not, use the Toslink adapter.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
Airgetlam

First, turn off your caps lock. ‘Yelling’ won’t likely help the situation.

The Beam is looking for an HDMI ARC signal. Your Mac doesn’t create an HDMI ARC signal, it only creates an HDMI signal. It is the electronics in the TV set that creates that ARC signal, so if you connected your Mac to the TV via HDMI and left the Arc connected to the TV, you would get the ARC signal.

However, if you don’t want to run the audio through the TV’s electronics, you could get an external HDMI switch that pulls the audio from the HDMI stream, and sends it out via an optical output, which you could then connect to the adapter that came with the Arc. Search Amazon for ‘HDMI switch optical out’ and you’ll find dozens. Theres many threads in the Home Theater area of this forum where users discuss this option, although mostly for use with TVs that don’t have an HDMI ARC port, or an optical output. 

Since you have an Arc, and not just a Beam, you could go the extra bit and look at a similar device which creates an eARC signal, called the HD Fury Arcana, which is discussed at length here. It’s similar to the devices in the previous paragraph, but takes the HDMI audio and instead of an optical output, it creates an eARC output, which is what the Arc is also capable of dealing with.

In both cases, you’d need to ensure that your Mac is sending out the correct type of audio signal. If your using an optical connection, Dolby Digital is required. If using eARC, you could use Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, or TrueHD. There are no Sonos devices that can interpret a DTS signal.

Hope this helps. 

Bruce
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