Dealing with HDMI ARC issues on Amp and input choices

That’s only a semi-solution, since I can do it, but it means getting my wife to do the same and convincing her to download ANY app she doesn’t need is tough. The only reason she ever eventually downloaded the Sonos app was she really wanted to watch a few episodes of Supernatural and I was going to be gone for the rest of the day and evening and it was the only way she could get the sound going.

Plus I have a friend who comes by to help with cleaning and she has an autistic person to care for. When he’s with her, he likes to just sit here and watch Emergency! on the big screen. I’m not going to be able to convince her to download the Sonos app for just my house, let alone, adding another app she’ll never use.

AutoPlay - IT WON’T WORK. I’m finding, now, that I have to keep going into the Sonos app and selecting Line In to get audio to work. I think it’s every time, but I may have forgotten a time or two when it worked without that, but I’m not sure. But I have it selected for the Amp and I don’t see other Autoplay options I can pick.

Here’s a series of screenshots I took trying to set AutoPlay:

I picked “System: and got this:
 

I scrolled down until I got to “House Great Room,” where the AMP is, and picked that and got to here:
 

If I pick Amp, all I can configure is wifi. I scroll down and see “Line-In” and it says it’s connected. I scroll down to Autoplay and pick it and get this:

I pick Autoplay Room and get this:

So Autopla is selected for this device

@TangoMe 

I’m not quite sure exactly what you’re trying to achieve, but if you are using the ‘Line-In Autoplay’ and its grouping options and want to keep that input as your Amp ‘default’, have you switched off ‘TV Autoplay’ in the Amp Home Theatre Settings too? That’s assuming you are using the HDMI-ARC Port on the Amp and don’t wish to have the different inputs conflicting? I’m just wondering if the HT Autoplay option is what’s taking away the focus, perhaps? Also if the Line-in Autoplay isn’t working for you then check the cable and perhaps also try increasing the line-in source level to a higher value. See if that ‘perhaps’ fixes things for you.

Thank you for the input. A lot of those questions are answered upthread. I wish I could use ARC, but can’t for a few reasons. I consider it a serious design flaw that the AMP can’t accept normal HDMI input and that there isn’t even an option, somewhere in settings, to allow it to use just straight HDMI for input. (@Corry P: is that something that could be considered or added - a setting somewhere to allow normal HDMI input without ARC? I seriously doubt I’m the only person it would benefit!)

I tried tagging you in the above reply with a question - apparently it didn’t work. The question is if it might be possible for Sonos to include a setting that could allow a user to allow normal HDMI without ARC on the AMP? It could even include a warning that there’s no promise it will work or there could be sync issues when using it. For many of us, running a short 2’ HDMI cable from a HDMI switcher or multiplier to the AMP would work well. With my previous setup, I had a tuner that took HDMI input for audio and it worked fine for a few years, before I changed my setup to eliminate components I stopped using.

To tag, use an @ sign in front of the name, like this:

@Corry P 

There, tagged him for you. 
 

It’s been a request since the Beam was released, there has been no indication that Sonos is interested in adding any other option than ARC to any of the three devices that now have an HDMI port. I’m sure Corry P will pass on the request to the development team, but I’d also suggest that you don’t hold your breath. 

I did the “@” symbol then his name - what should I have done to make sure it tagged him?

This is the kind of thing that is seriously frustrating about Sonos: The systems cost a LOT of money and the company’s attitude is often, “So what? Why make things work better for customers.” Seriously, I have thought about this issue at times and this situation has me seriously thinking whether I want to use Sonos for my future plans.

Basically Sonos works with specific situations and it appears they have no interest in working with different ones. I’ve spent thousands on my home theater system in our guest house and it’s a treat to use it, but the PlayBar loses sync with the system and can’t use HDMI - only ethernet, wifi, or optical for input. Apparently I can get an ARC that will use HDMI - but this tells me it’ll require ARC and if any of my components don’t use it, I’m screwed - and Sonos doesn’t care. Their response seems to be, “DILLIGAF?” and that’s a really rude and pissant way to treat one’s customers.

That has me, already, looking into replacing that 5.1 system, even though it’s only about 18 months old, with a non-Sonos system from a company that is more about “We can do that,” Than “DILLIGAF?”

(For those who haven’t caught it yet, DILLIGAF is short for “Do I Look Like I Give A F---” and, honestly, I’ve felt that describes Sonos’ attitude for a good while now.)

Hi @TangoMe 

This would not be practical - the Amp would have no way of forwarding the audio to the display device without another HDMI socket. Combine this with us being unable to support the use of HDMI splitters and you see the problem. If the Amp worked this way, you’d be limited in HDMI devices to the number of sockets Amp has, rather than by how many socket’s your TV has.

The audio carried by an HDMI cable destined for a TV is not on the same physical wires inside the cable as when ARC is in play, which is why the Amp is unable to play directly from an source device. When a HDMI Audio system is designed, a choice is made between having HDMI passthrough wiring (limiting the number of devices that can connect), or to utilise ARC. ARC is the more modern way of doing it, but does depend on the display device providing ARC.

HDMI-ARC sockets on AVR’s have bi-directional audio capability. The units that I’ve worked with handle the ARC return audio similar to a Sonos Line-In.

Yes, but they have multiple HDMI sockets and are intended to be source switchers.