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Completing the Sonos Arc setup for use with a projector

X

Hi Folks,

I just got a Sonos Arc with a pair of Era100s and a Sub (gen3). I would love to pair it with my BenQ W770ST projector that has served me well for movie viewing for the past 10 years. I know, projectors aren’t exactly the intended companion for Sonos Arc, especially old ones without eARC, but my research prior to purchasing the Arc indicated that it was possible if I set it up with an HDFury Arcana. So great is my desire to have this work that I purchased one of those too.  

 

I got my projector’s HDMI cord connected into the “HDMI out” port on the Arcana. I connected the HDMI from my Sonos Arc to the “eARC” port on the Arcana. A third HDMI is connecting my XboxOne to the “HDMI in” port on the Arcana.

 

I initiated the set-up, which first asked me to turn on CEC on my “TV” (in this case projector). Fortunately my projector has the option to turn on CEC. However, the next part asks me to enable Audio Out on my “TV,” and here is where I’m currently hung up. I can find no Audio Out option on my projector. I can’t complete the step without it.

It’s got an audio jack for connecting other speakers or headphones, which doesn’t help me with the Sonos.

I am told that if I can manage to complete this set-up process, even if initially not with my projector, I can later connect with my projector without having to go through that set-up again. Is this true? If I find a friend who has a TV that can go through this set-up process, might I then be able to use the Arc with the projector? Is there some other way to get past this?

 

I have one shot at showing my fiancée Star Wars for the first time, and I want to make it awesome!

I sincerely appreciate any help you can give! 

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Best answer by xuande88 22 June 2023, 15:33

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12 replies

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

HI

Are you following the connection steps shown in the diagram in the link:

https://hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/

You have to enable the audio out on your Xbox since that is your source. Also are you streaming Starwars or playing a disc? If streaming there may be some sort of DRM blockage as you are going from the Xbox to the HD Fury. The streaming source may see it (HD Fury) as a recording device. I’m Just guessing as I don’t use an Xbox.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
X

Thanks for your response!

I’ve connected everything like the diagram says, and tried different speaker settings in the xbox audio menu, which is only giving me the options of stereo uncompressed, dolby digital and dts surround.

I am playing a 4K bluray disc of Star Wars in the Xbox one.

Could my HDMI cables be to blame? I’m using one high speed HDMI that came with my xbox and one generic looking one that seems to be 1080p according to the display on the Arcana. Neither has had difficulty connecting my xbox to my projector, but perhaps one or both aren’t good enough for this Arcana setup?

I’m attaching images of what the Arcana screen is looking like and what the xbox thinks of my setup.

 

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Can you select the audio output of the disc usually in “audio selection options” when you inset the disc assuming you can see them.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
X

I can in the disc menu settings, it’s set to English Dolby Atmos by default.

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Try changing the audio in disc menu to English DD 5.1

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
X

Hmm… didn’t seem to make a difference. I tried a plain bluray too.

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

My apologies, but I’ve exhausted my ideas. Maybe someone else from the community will chime. I’m putting some names in this post to se if they can reach out to you.

________________

If memory serves me right one of you have an Xbox. Maybe you can help this member. See his original post. 

@John B, @buzz, @controlav, @jgatie, @melvimbe, @Airgetlam @Ken_Griffiths, @GuitarSuperstar 

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
buzz

I initiated the set-up, which first asked me to turn on CEC on my “TV” (in this case projector). Fortunately my projector has the option to turn on CEC. However, the next part asks me to enable Audio Out on my “TV,” and here is where I’m currently hung up. I can find no Audio Out option on my projector. I can’t complete the step without it.

 

I’m confused by this part too because it should have no bearing on your setup. Where did you see these instructions? If these are SONOS instructions, they are irrelevant because, as far as ARC is concerned ARCANA is the “TV”. In your ARCANA audio menu you can elect to send audio to the SONOS ARC only or to both ARC and the projector. I’m using a really cheap, dumb TV that does not have HDMI-ARC. It should be similar to your projector -- dumb. 

You may need to reboot the TV and ARCANA after making a change. I’ve had a few “stubborn” sessions where someone’s knickers were in a knot, but the reboot fixed it and the system is very stable.

X

Thanks for your reponse, I’m attempting to follow the set-up instructions on the Sonos app for setting up my “TV” because that’s what it says to do in the small booklet of set-up instructions that came with the ARC. I’d love to ignore it, but I still have no sound coming through the Sonos.

I have tried to switch audio between Display+ARC and eARC only on the Arcana; neither has improved the situation.  I’ve rebooted and tried again on several occasions now, so far no luck..

 

buzz

Try rebooting the whole crew, but keep ARC’s HDMI cable unplugged until everything has finished its boot, then start the ARC setup. ARCANA becomes the TV in the SONOS instructions. Likely you will not have any issues with the projector’s CEC, but CEC is always a wild card. Sometimes disabling CEC tames a wild situation. 

I don’t think that it’s an issue in this case, but I’ll warn users that some TV’s don’t actually reboot after a brief power interruption. The interruption must last at least a couple minutes.

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi

it’s me again 🙂

You might try cables that are all rated for 4K (preferably the same brand) as you previously suspected might be an issue. At the very least you eliminate a variable.

Also there’s no need to spend over $30-$40 per cable (unless length is a factor).  

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
X

I’m pleased to say that this morning I seem to be up and running!😀

I did try rebooting everything, but that didn’t seem to work. I’m constantly starting fresh because I don’t have a set up that I leave put together. I keep my projector, Xbox, and now Arc all stored in their respective cases when I’m not using them, so they are not always connected to power. A bit inconvenient, but this way I worry less about dust/other damage.

 

I was noticing that on the Arcana display where the Arc should be showing up there was only “Beam ARC Active”. ARC being active sounded good to me so I didn’t think to do anything about that, but I watched videos showing other people’s Arcana screens and they didn’t have that. I decided to try setting “Somos BEAM1/ARC” to off. That didn’t seem like something that would help, but once I did, my Xbox began displaying more audio options including Dolby Atmos. It still wasn’t coming through the Arc when I selected it though, so I rebooted again and additionally switched “TV ARC routing” to off. This time, sound blossomed from the Arc and it was glorious. The projector, however, was making a very much less than pleasant sound as it presumably also tried to put out Dolby Atmos simultaneously. I turned the projector volume down to 0 and now I at least don’t hear the horrible sound. Maybe there’s a setting I can enable to stop the projector from trying to play the sound altogether.

 

I was able to complete the Sonos app setup and now I can use the Arc to show Star Wars this weekend! Thank you all so much for your help!!

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