Is the optical output of the Connect always active?

  • 4 November 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 733 views

I'm trying to figure out the smoothest way of integrating my stereo system into a Sonos eco system and the Connect seems like the obvious solution. I also use a optical output from my TV to feed the system audio, so by including a Connect I'll have two optical sources I have to switch between. To avoid manually having to select a source I have found a optical switch with priority on the inputs, which would make the whole process of changing between my TV and the Connect automatic. The only thing that would prevent this from working is if the Connects optical output is always active, or if it takes a long time from turning of the music until it turns of the optical output. To sum it up: Does the Connects optical output switch off automatically? If yes, how long does that take from when you stop playing music?

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6 replies

It depends what you mean by 'off'. The optical LED remains lit at all times. Clearly the S/PDIF doesn't carry music data when the player is paused/stopped.
Aha, I see. I'll investigate what the switch considers off. Thanks!
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
in fact, it won't even send data if something streaming is silent. Years ago, I had a Connect hooked up to a Sony receiver, and a stream I was creating from a scanner would drop the digital audio signal on silence and it would return when audio returned... the receiver would always show "PCM 2.0" or something similar when the audio restarted, indicating that it had stopped receiving digital data, even though the stream was still playing.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Same thing from my Connect to my Denon, the connection status goes blank between songs then returns with the music.

I went with a manual optical switch but with an IR remote rather than trying one of the auto switching systems.
Ah, I see. So that means if I'm playing a game while playing music, the game audio will probably jump in between each pause?
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
It is really hard to tell just what will happen, sometimes the optical input will be overloaded by multiple incoming streams if the switch is really just a combiner. If it is a true switch based on the presence of the light it will likely pick the first cable to light up. If it is decoding the optical streams to look for data it may jump at every pause and may not jump back.

The more I looked at this the more I wanted a manual with remote switch.

Shame your receiver doesn't offer more optical inputs or you could just use one for each device. Any digital Coax inputs open? Maybe just drop back and use the RCA output of the Sonos?