Question

Optical connector converters


I need to convert from optical to HDMI for an older TV (only 4 years!)

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14 replies

Sonos doesn't make anything like that. Have you looked on Amazon?
You need to tell us what connections your TV has and which Sonos components you are seeking to use.
Playbar has optical input. TV has HDMI output.
What is the TV make and model please? This doesn't feel quite right.
It's a Panasonic TH 37PX70BA
From what I find online, it has 2 HDMI in, and 2 SCART in/out ports. It also has a stereo RCA out, and a component in. There may also be a VGA in, it's hard to tell in the line drawing, and it's under the HDMI titled area.
So, probably what you'd want to get is one of those devices that many people talk about in the Home Theater area of these boards. What you'd do is connect your HDMI input from various devices (cable box, satellite box, console, DVD/Bluray player, etc) and connect them to that switch. The switch should have an optical out on it, and then you'd connect the optical cable between that switch and the Playbase, as well as an HDMI cable from the switch's output to your TV. Then you'd be set.
Another possibility would be to use the RCA out with the following converter:

https://www.flexson.com/by-sonos-product/sonos-playbar/flexson-analogue-to-digital-audio-converter
If we're throwing around Flexson, one of the devices I was speaking of was this one:

https://www.flexson.com/accessories/connectivity/flexson-3-input-hdmi-switch-audio-converter-for-sonos-playbar

Although I'm not sure I'd buy from them until they learn how to spell "Analog". Or maybe I need to learn how to spell "Analogue" 🙂
Two nations divided by a common language.
Btw, the sort of switch @Airgetlam suggested would have the advantage of potentially preserving surround sound, but the RCA would give only stereo.
is there any audio lag from the Flexson 3 Input switch? I have a projector set up with no optical cable. I have a computer, Roku Ultra and an OTA converter box all with HDMI outputs. Looks like the Flexson solves this issue.
I don't have one, so I am not 100% sure, but I'm fairly confident in saying that the switch wouldn't introduce any noticeable lag. And the nice thing is that once you're using optical input to the Playbase/Playbar, you've gotten rid of the 70ms lag associated with the line-in on the Connect and Play:5. There's a host of other information around that 70ms if you're interested, but I won't bore you and others right now.
Flexson unit looks right. All the 70ms chat is way over my head, but thanks