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pmecchi
Contributor II
February 12, 2019
Answered

BEAM HDMI INPUT QUESTION

Is it possible for the BEAM to accept an HDMI signal directly from a source (cable box/ dvd. etc) instead of the HDMI arc or optical out to hdmi converter
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Keith N
Keith NAnswer
Sonos Staff
February 12, 2019
pmecchi: Actually, it's a little more complicated than how I originally posted. When it comes to ARC and setting up the Beam, the Beam needs to be plugged into an ARC port if using HDMI. My original answer was missing a crucial point of how ARC works. Before we used HDMI-ARC, we were able to plug in any source (via optical) and it would come through without hassle. Now using HDMI-ARC, the Beam is looking for a handshake (over the Audio Return Channel) from the source via specific pins on the HDMI cable before even getting an audio signal.

While I understand you did not want to use an HDMI-to-optical converter, I wasn't sure if you knew the Beam already includes an HDMI-to-optical adapter. It's much smaller and snaps right onto the HDMI cable, rather than most "breakout-box" style HDMI converters. This would require your source (older AppleTV's, Xbox, cable box) to have an available optical audio port. Just now, I tested this with my own Beam setup and wasn't able to set up my new AppleTV via HDMI (no optical port), but my Xbox was able to use optical to finish TV setup and it was able to pass an audio signal to the Beam.
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Airgetlam
Airgetlam
November 21, 2019

I think your running in to the difference between HDMI and HDMI-ARC. Source devices generate  HDMI, but not HDMI-ARC. Most frequently, the function that switches from one to the other is in the display device. So your cable box sends the HDMI signal to the TV, and the TV reflects it back out using HDMI-ARC. This is why it’s called ARC, Audio Return Channel. 
I think there are other external devices out there that can do that transfer, but I’ve never looked in to it specifically, as I don’t happen to use ARC myself. Call me a Luddite, but the whole HDMI-CEC spec is poorly defined and there’s too much variation in the implementation, IMHO. 

Bruce
    Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
    November 21, 2019

    Also, if you’re using that splitter to send an optical signal to your Sonos, you must be sure that the signal is Dolby Digital. In that case, there’s no signal being sent back to the source to tell it what to send, so you need to define that in the audio settings of your source. 

    Bruce
    Cartxo
    Lyricist III
    November 21, 2019

    Thanks Bruce, let’s see if other users suggest which devices would work.

    It’s annoying to have a 5.1 sound system at home for a projector based home cinema and so far I just have the option of Stereo Sound.

    I don’t mind spending some more €€€ in any device in between the Apple TV and the Sonos to have proper sound. So far, the sound for films is bad.

    Darklar3000
    Lyricist II
    January 20, 2020

    @Cartxo - I have a similar problem. I have the Optoma Projector HD31UST - which only has regular hdmi / hdmi mhl. What are my options to use this machine with my Sonos Beam? There is no audio optical out. 
     

    diagram attached. 
     

    thanks for any help. 

    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    January 20, 2020

    You need to get a splitter that HDMI in, HDMI out, and optical out.  That needs to be between your source and the projector (HDMI) and the source and your beam (optical).

     

    You also need to make sure that the source is transmitting audio in a format the Beam supports, which is either PCM stereo or dolby digita.

    Danny
      Darklar3000
      Lyricist II
      January 21, 2020

      That’s really handy thanks. 
      I found This which seems to fit the bill. 

      any idea if this will automatically takeover the beam audio, or whether I will need to select it each time I want to watch my projector (like the line-in on the Play5) 

       

      thanks

      A John B
      Contributor I
      February 8, 2020

      ok - so the source need to be optical out or HDMI+ARC - thank you for following up

      I use an Apple TV 4K with a 4K HDR 10 Monitor and a Sonos Beam.  No TV.

      I use a $20 audio extractor ( AV access 4KCVH2H) with an SPDIF output and then the optional Sonos optical to HDMI adapter.

      The whole thing works fine including the volume control on the 6 button Apple TV remote.

      In Apple TV settings set remote to TV via IR and them in the Sonos app configure using the apple remote volume buttons.

       

       

       

      Darklar3000
      Lyricist II
      February 24, 2020

      That’s really handy thanks. 
      I found This which seems to fit the bill

       

       

      I can confirm that the splitter and beam work well together - when Chrome kicks in it automatically takes over the Beam so it doesn’t require any selecting within the Sonos App. 
       

      The power-in line on my splitter was a bit dodgy so meant the chrome kept loosing connection, but since I’ve stabilised it everything runs fine. 
       

      Extra tip… the Beam will learn the remote control for your tv/projector and you can use it to control the volume - on my Optoma it wasn’t possible to deselect the built-in speakers - so what I did was plug a 3.5mm headphone jack into the output socket and this cancelled them out without effecting the audio to the Sonos. 

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