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Beam with Apple TV and older TV

  • 13 October 2020
  • 9 replies
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The Ninth
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Hi,

I am using an Sony KDL-40E5510 with an Apple TV 4K. The Apple TV is connected via HDMI to the TV, and control of the TVs on/off and volume via the Apple TV remote works fine.

Now I would like to add a Sonos Beam to improve audio quality and am unsure what is the best way to connect the Beam to the other devices. Ideally I would want to be able to control the Beam’s volume via the Apple TV remote and avoid using Bluetooth.

The TV does not seem to have a HDMI ARC port, at least nothing is mentioned in the manual or on the rear where the ports are. It does have an optical out. Would an optical connection include a volume control, or would I have to manually control the volume on the Beam?

How about a HDMI splitter that sends the signal from the Apple TV to both the TV and Beam?

The other option seems to be Airplay? I guess then the Apple TV would for sure be able to control the Beam’s volume? However it seems to me that this would be the most complex and thus most error prone way of integration?

Am I missing any options?

Thanks for your advice!

Regards, Robert

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Best answer by Annazel S 14 October 2020, 16:37

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9 replies

Annazel S
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @The Ninth.

Thanks for reaching out and I appreciate your very detailed post, let me help you out.

The only supported configuration for a Sonos BEAM when using an HDMI connection to output sound to the BEAM, is to connect the BEAM directly to the TV's HDMI ARC port. 

Connecting the BEAM to an HDMI port on an HDMI switch/splitter is not supported, for it may or it may not work on your set up. This article will guide you through setting up your Sonos Beam. 

 

Beam includes a Sonos Optical Audio Adapter, which connects to any standard HDMI cable. While a traditional optical cable will not connect to Beam, you can use this adapter in the event HDMI-ARC is not an option. 

 

When connected via HDMI-ARC, Beam automatically works with your existing remotes - TV, cable box, and universal remotes - by sending and receiving commands over HDMI CEC. If the Sonos Optical Audio Adapter is being used to connect Beam to your TV, you may need to program your remote using the Sonos app on your phone or tablet.

NOTE:  Voice commands for turning the TV on and off will not work if Beam is connected via an optical adapter.

Setting up the Apple TV (4th generation) remote is a little different than your traditional remote and to detect a Sonos home theater speaker using an optical connection, you will need to program the Apple TV remote to control the speaker manually. 

 

You can stream your iOS device’s audio to supported Sonos products like the Beam using Control Center. Sonos is only compatible with AirPlay 2, for more details you can check this article about Streaming AirPlay audio to Sonos.

 

Hopefully, that helps and if you have any other questions or run into any issues, please do not hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help.

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O
Userlevel 4
Badge +6

@The Ninth , I looked at your TV’s manual, and indeed it does not have HDMI ARC. Therefore, you will have to connect Beam via optical. Having said this, the Apple TV 4k remote is IR capable and will control Sonos Arc’s volume this way. This can be set up easily  using the Sonos app. 

The Ninth
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Hi,

Thanks for both of your input. I did not know that Sonos has this remote programming ability, that definitively solves the problem for me. Thanks!

Regards, Robert

Annazel S
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Thanks to @oriboaz for helping out.

 

Hi @The Ninth.

Thanks for your response and for the good news.

I’m so glad to hear that we’re able to resolve the problem.

If you have any other questions or run into any issues,  please do not hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help.

Cheers!

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A

Where does one attach the OAA (Optical Audio Adapter) . I can’t find a compatible port on the TV. Does it go on the cable box? If not, is their an appropriate adapter for the OAA?

Thanks,

Andre

 

Annazel S
Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @Amiesnieks.

Thanks for reaching out, let me help and check it for you.

All Sonos home theater products must be connected directly to the TV as the recommended configuration. Wiring directly to the source device like a Cable box is one of the unsupported home theater configurations. While this might work, you are limited to the audio-only from this source and the audio may not stop when the TV turns off. We also don’t recommend using an intermediary device to get the audio from multiple sources prior to it getting to the TVcoaxial to optical digital adaptors or an adapter that changes that connection type.

 

Hopefully, that helps, and if you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help.

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The Ninth
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Good morning,

To follow-up on my original question. I now got the Beam and tested its connectivity to the Apple TV via Airplay and optical. 

Airplay works fine, only drawbacks are:

  • Apple TV system sounds still play via the TV‘s speakers.
  • There is a short delay in starting videos and an even slighter delay when un-pausing videos, presumably to build up the Airplay buffer.
  • It needs a stable network connection, which in my case is not an issue because I use cables instead of wireless for both components.

Optical connection does not have those issues but its weak point is the remote control. I want to solely use the Apple TV remote. Sonos has written an article on this, which I followed. The resulting setup has the following drawbacks:

  • It is cumbersome to setup.
  • You don’t get any visual indication of the volume, because neither Apple TV nor the TV are involved in volume control anymore.
  • You cannot use the Apple TV remote anymore to control volume of the Apple TV, which is still necessary if you use it with other audio output (e.g. I sometimes send the audio to my Sonos Amp if I just want to listen to some YouTube music videos).

Explanation for the last drawback:

If you just program the Beam to receive volume commands from the Apple TV, they will also still be received by the Apple TV and sent to the TV via HDMI CEC. However, you need to switch the TV to exernal speakers (i.e. the Beam via optical), and most TVs including my Sony will then react to the CEC commands with an annoying message that the volume of the external speakers cannot be changed, displayed on every volume button press.The solution proposed by Sonos in the article is changing the programming of both the Apple TV remote and the Sonos Beam to the signals of an unrelated remote. That results in the Apple TV remote only controlling the volume of the Beam and not of the Apple TV.

So, for my specific setup and needs, I decided that Airplay is the neater solution and is also much easier setup. I prefer the drawbacks of the Airplay solution over those of the optical connection.

Regards, Robert

PS: one final comment: the neatest solution would have been if Sonos would have provided a second HDMI port supporting HDMI pass through, with the HDMI connectivity then going from the Apple TV to the Beam and from there to the TV. In that kind of setup the Beam could get audio via HDMI and also volume control via HDMI CEC, even if the TV does not support HDMI ARC.

The Ninth
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Hi,

It took not very long to find some additional drawbacks in the Airplay setup, so here is my revised list. Also I got the remote working better in the optical connection and probably will now stick to the optical connection.

Airplay connection has the following drawbacks:

  • Apple TV system sounds still play via the TV‘s speakers.
  • There is a short delay in starting videos and an even slighter delay when un-pausing videos, presumably to build up the Airplay buffer.
  • Sometimes Apple TV on startup defaults back to the TV speakers and you’ll have to change to the Airplay connection to Beam.
  • Airplay supports only 2.0 (stereo) so you cannot use the Beam to its full 3.0 potential.
  • It needs a stable network connection, which in my case is not an issue because I use cables instead of wireless for both components.

Optical connection does not have those issues and after setting it up correctly, I can only see one remaining drawback.

  • You don’t get any visual indication of the volume, because neither Apple TV nor the TV are involved in volume control anymore.

The way I set it up was to first to configure a new remote in the Apple TV for volume control (Settings, Remotes and Devices, Volume Control). I used some random buttons of an unrelated remote of an unused device. Then I setup the Beam for a new IR remote, just using the now-programmed buttons on the Apple TV remote. See also this article from Sonos.

Regards, Robert

The Ninth
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

After having used it for some time now, I can say that the combination of Apple TV and older TV with optical connection to the Beam works quite well. There are some glitches, but nothing major. Once the Beam stopped reacting to the Apple TV remote, but disconnecting and reconnecting it to power solved this. The IR remote reception of the Beam is of course not as good as the wireless signal going from the remote to the Apple TV. I like that the Beam’s LED blinks its when changing the volume, so you know at least that the signal is received. Another glitch is that sometimes when starting a video on the Apple TV it takes a few seconds until the sound kicks in.

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