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Question

Sonos Playbar HDCP/ Audio Extractor inquiry

  • May 25, 2026
  • 6 replies
  • 62 views
B

 

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post

Hello and good afternoon! I was curious if perhaps anyone on here may be able to assist me with an issue I ran into regarding streaming content and my Sonos play bar please. 

I have 2 play bars and a sub but I’ve only ever used them for music, however I purchased a new TV recently and I’d like to set up the Sonos system to work with the TV. The television is Samsung 85” model U8000F. Unfortunately for me the tv does not have a dedicated optical audio output for a cable connection to the play bar, so to overcome this obstacle I acquired a device called the Insignia audio extractor (links below)  in order to connect the play bar to the tv. The Tv does have ARC/EARC in one of the HDMI ports as well, but the extractor only supports EARC I believe. After I got everything set up I experienced difficulty with streaming content not loading/not working/strange error messages. I thought it was a Disney plus issue at first, but that wasn’t the only service I encountered problems with. The device does appears to have full functionality, however it does cut out for about 1 sec (black screen) every so often, and so far the only streaming service it works with is HBO max for some reason? In the Sonos app it does actually recognize the optical audio connection with my TV as the source, (I saw red light in cable) no issues with adding the using the sub either and all of my HDMI cables should be certified ultra high speed unless I bought one that was bunk. All of the settings should be in alignment with PCM audio or 5.1 for the Xbox, it’s definitely possible that I’m not understanding some type of setting configurations for my current set up, but I did look quite throughly. In the past Microsoft had a digital video store for Xbox and over the years I’ve collected a few movies that I enjoy watching. I tried to play one of my purchased movies and the TV screen displayed a message I’ve never seen before

“ Can’t Play Make sure your TV or monitor is connected and turned on. Also, it must be compatible with HDCP. 

 

Questions:

 

I don’t understand the nature of the problem (why it exists) and how to implement the correct solution. Did I purchase the wrong audio device? Did I not wire/configure/set up something correctly? Does the TVs ARC or EARC have anything to do with it? Could it be my ISP? I was very surprised to encounter an issue viewing my purchased films with the play bar connected, a couple movies did play, but it stated that only HD is supported and not UHD but the TV is 4K, content is 4K, the Xbox is 4K capable and even the audio extractor claims 4K at 60HZ so I really don’t know what is going on with all this? 

Bonus question: The next TV for me will be the Samsung 98” DU9000, and this product does have an optical connection port so my question is would having that dedicated plug in for the optical resolve the issues I’m currently experiencing? Or is the root cause something else entirely?

Could AirPlay or screen mirroring help in any way?

How do I set up the play bar with Just the TV and not the Xbox? Would that have any difference?

 

Product links

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/insignia-hdmi-audio-extractor-with-4k--60hz-hdr-support-black/J2FPJKL656

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/samsung-85-class-u8000f-series-crystal-uhd-4k-smart-tizen-tv-2025/J3ZYG2V4Y2

 

Any advice and or feedback would be greatly appreciated, and of course thank you for your time!

 

6 replies

Airgetlam

Ok, skimming your post (there’s a lot of information!), my guess is you’re trying to carry a Dolby Digital Plus or Atmos (in its various forms) via an optical connection that only has the bandwidth/capability to handle Dolby Digital (not plus or Atmos). Try throttling the output of the TV (or potentially the input to the TV) to at best Dolby Digital, and get that Best Buy device to pass that signal to your Sonos PLAYBAR. 

Bruce
B

I’m apologize for the long post,I  just wanted to give as much information as possible 

TV only has 3 options, PCM, AUTO, and PASS-THRU. Switching setting on Xbox to Dolby Atmos did not resolve any issues 

 

Airgetlam

That suggests you need to throttle what is being sent to the TV. So each device needs to be set to Dolby Digital in their respective audio settings.

Since I’m not overly familiar with your Tv, you might want to call Sonos Support to discuss it.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Or, replace your PLAYBAR with an Arc, Beam, or other ARC (CEC) reporting device that connects to the ARC port on your TV, so you don’t have to use the adapter, and the CEC system tells all CEC devices what formats can be sent through. Optical remains a one way communication protocol, ARC (CEC) is two way, which allows the necessary Sonos devices to communicate back to the CEC system in the TV, which passes on data to all CEC connected devices (like your XBox). 

Bruce
B

Can you please explain what you mean by throttle my TV? Throttle means adjust, adjust in what way?

I’m not interested in Dolby Digital, the play bar does play audio that would normally be playing from the TV speakers and I can connect the sub with no problems. The issue is that when the Playbar is connected to the TV many content services will not work and display messages such as “ Can’t Play Make sure your TV or monitor is connected and turned on. Also, it must be compatible with HDCP” 

Airgetlam

I didn’t say ‘throttle the TV’, I said throttle what is being sent to the TV. You need to go in to the audio settings on every device that connects via HDMI to your TV, and set them to output nothing greater than Dolby Digital, which is the best that the optical connection to your PLAYBAR can handle.

That may resolve the HDCP error…or it may not. HDCP is a handshake between the device receiving the TV’s output and the TV. You may need to speak with Best Buy about that, it has to do with the electric (HDMI-ARC) connection between the adapter and your TV’s CEC system, and nothing whatsoever to do with the Sonos. If you had a CEC (HDMI-ARC) compliant Sonos, like the ones I’ve already mentioned, then it would be a Sonos issue. 

Bruce
Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Grand Maestro
  • May 25, 2026

HDCP High Definition Copy Protection is an anti-piracy measure. It is designed to disable the sending device's output when the receiving device fails to properly respond to the encrypted challenge sent.

If you connect a non-compliant device to the HDCP chain it will fail to properly respond and the content will be locked out.

Pretty robust system, cracking it or even trying to can break some harsh laws, so I'd advise switching to a HDCP compliant device. Hard to do sometimes with all the iffy stuff on the market, some trying to use stolen HDCP keys. Been a long time but I think there was a key revocation mechanism that could disable stolen keys and provide new keys to legitimate devices.

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