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Trouble getting Playbar to play audio for Chromecast via Google Home

  • 26 July 2019
  • 6 replies
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Hello!

I'm trying to set up my apartment for a small, simple home theatre, but I'm running into problems with the audio. My current setup consists of a projector sitting on a shelf on the back wall, a Chromecast plugged into the projector via the HDMI port, a Google Home Mini also on the back shelf with the projector, a screen mounted to the opposite wall of the projector, and a Sonos Playbar mounted to the wall underneath the screen.

I don't have a TV that's easily accessible to plug the Playbar into (since they're on opposite walls), so having the Playbar pick up the audio of the projector is potentially not possible (or will require a rather long cable). My hope was to connect my Google Assistant to my Sonos account, with the Playbar set up without a TV, and have audio play through the Playbar when casting to the Chromecast in the projector.

Currently, the audio for the Chromecast plays through the Google Home Mini's speaker (by default). The Playbar is visible as a device in my Google Home app, and I can use Google Assistant to play Spotify on my Playbar via voice commands. I feel like I've got most of the setup done, but I can't seem to get the last connection working (playing audio through the Playbar for the cast stream on my Chromecast).

I've been reading various other posts online with similar problems, and I'm becoming concerned that having the Playbar play the audio for the Chromecast may not be possible with the current APIs. I would appreciate any help on the matter. I do not want to resort to a 20+ foot long optical cable if possible.

Happy Friday,
Jake
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Best answer by jgatie 26 July 2019, 17:00

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6 replies

I'm afraid you cannot do this the way you wish. The Playbar is not Chromecast enabled, it is only Google Assistant enabled. You could get a wireless HDMI transmitter/receiver and extract the audio to an optical output, but that is a lot of messy wiring.
I'm afraid you cannot do this the way you wish. The Playbar is not Chromecast enabled, it is only Google Assistant enabled. You could get a wireless HDMI transmitter/receiver and extract the audio to an optical output, but that is a lot of messy wiring.

Drat. Is there any information on whether or not this functionality will be available in the future, and if it is, the approximate quarter/year it'll be in?
No, there is no indication that functionality is coming.
No, there is no indication that functionality is coming.
All right, so here's an alternative question:

The Sonos One speakers have Google Assistant built-in. I should be able to ask it via google assistant to play something on my TV via the Chromecast, and the audio will come through the Sonos One. If I set up the One as part of the same home theatre group as the Playbar, would I be able to make the audio come through the Playbar along with the Sonos One as a single surround sound system then?

No, there is no indication that functionality is coming.All right, so here's an alternative question:

The Sonos One speakers have Google Assistant built-in. I should be able to ask it via google assistant to play something on my TV via the Chromecast, and the audio will come through the Sonos One. If I set up the One as part of the same home theatre group as the Playbar, would I be able to make the audio come through the Playbar along with the Sonos One as a single surround sound system then?


Not sure.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/technology/sonos-sues-google.html

with this lawsuit, the addition of Chromecast is less and less likely to happened. As an Android users (phones & tablets) not having Chromecast has been a big disappointment for me. As an example, while watching video on my Android tablets, there is no way I can play the sound to my Sonos system. 

>$1000 cannot perform this basis function. Sonos can do better here.