Correct setup for HDMI switch box

With your new box, your BT TV and Apple TV will be HDMI inputs.  Your TV will connect to the HDMI output, and it does matter which TV input you use.  It does not need to be the ARC port since you won’t be using ARC anymore.  The Beam will connect to the box with an optical cable.  You’ll need to use the optical/HDMI-ARC adapter that came with the Beam.

I read this as pure digital optical in and out on the switch. Is that correct? If so, does the Apple TV have optical out? I think the 3rd gen was the last to do so. Not sure about that though.

You would still need the HDMIs into the TV for video, optical out of the TV, BT and Apple TV into the switch, optical out of the switch to the supplied adapter to go to the Beam.

Edit: given the thread title, maybe I have misinterpreted.

Do you need to listen to other sources besides Apple and BT? Eg Netflix app on TV or digital OTA stations?

I apologize for being brief.  But can’t write a lot write now.  But if you look at my post’s you will see the Optical switch solution I used with success.

So from what you say, with my set up I’d need a switch box with at least 3 HDMI inputs and 1 optical. Any recommendations?

Hi John, sorry for any confusion. I’ve checked and my Apple TV has an optical out and my BT TV box has an SDIF, however my TV has no optical out. Another contributor has suggested that all the HDMI cables from my inputs should go into the switch and the output HDMI should go to the TV(with the Beam connection you the box via optical).  Would that work? I’m a bit confused as to what type of switch box I need now.

A crucial question is what other sources you want to play besides Apple TV and BT. Please clarify.  Lack of optical on the TV could be an issue here.

The only other sources are the streaming services (Netflix, Prime, IPTV) that I access through the TV. These don’t have lip sync issues. The optical port on the TV has been replaced by an ARC HDMI port. The Beam now connects to the ARC port and the other sources to the other HDMI ports. In simple terms (so I can understand), that means that the HDMIs send the video to the TV and the ARC port ‘returns’ the audio to the Beam. In this scenario where would the switch sit? Could I not continue with the Apple TV and BT connected direct to the TV by HDMI and with the audio ‘returned’ to the Beam via the switch?

Would a set up like this work for me?

I wouldn’t like to make that judgement.  But the only way any switch will help here is if you bypass the TV for audio (it seems to me) and that therefore the HDMI-ARC is out of the game.  The question then is how do you get the audio from your TV apps to the Beam.  Are you sure your TV has no optical out?  What is the make and model?

If anyone thinks I am getting this wrong please chip in!

My apologies, TV does have an ‘digital optical OUT’ port. So do I connect the TV to the Beam through an optical cable? If so, and assuming I use a switch like the one shown on the photo, where does the audio output go? The photo suggests it connects to the Beam. 

One problem you have here is that the Beam input isn’t HDMI it is HDMI-ARC.  I think your best route is a digital optical solution.  Run optical; out of Sky, BT and TV to an optical switch, with optical out connected to the adaptor supplied with the Beam, which then plugs into the Beam.

I actually have an optical switch that is surplus to requirements and which you could have for a small donation to charity.  Can’t guarantee it will solve your problem but I think it will and it’s a trivial amount of money to try it.  PM me if you want to pursue that.

If anyone has a better solution to this please contribute.  I think if an HDMI switch were used it will need to be able to take the TV audio from the HDMI-ARC feed and I am not sure if any do that?

It’s becoming a bit clearer now. So I run optical cables from both the BT box and the Apple TV into the inputs of the optical switch. Then from the output of the switch I run the optical cable (with adapter) into the Beam.

So finally do the HDMI cables from the BT box and Apple TV go into the TV as before? And this way I don’t need to use the ARC port on the TV.

Yes, that is correct, except you also need the optical from the TV into the switch to pick up TV apps like Netflix.

I think this is the solution used by @MSterling  - see earlier post.

Here’s what I used for the audio inputs to the Beam.  J-Tech Digital Premium Quality SPDIF TOSLINK Digital Optical Audio 3x1 Switch with Remote Control (Three Inputs one Output) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ2R38C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_Zac5nUgSyHCSS
 

I think you’re in UK so might have to see if they have this or something similar without import. 

I’ve tried setting up my system as discussed previously i.e.

3 optical inputs into switch (BT TV box, Apple TV, and Smart TV).

1 optical output from the switch via the adapter to the Beam.

BT TV box and Apple TV both also connected to TV by HDMI.

However having done this I can’t get any sound through the Beam and the TV defaults to the ‘TV Speakers’ option.

Any suggestions of what I could be doing wrong?

In your TV sound settings, have you selected to use an external speaker rather than the TVs own speakers?

And do you have the correct input selected on the switch for the source you are playing?

I’ve set the Smart TV to ‘Audio system’ rather ‘TV Speakers’

Theres an option on the settings: Digital audio out, which gives 3 options but I’ve tried changing them to no avail.

What is the TV make and model?

Can we try an experiment? Run the optical from the BT box to the Beam via the adaptor, bypassing the switch for the moment. Make sure BT box is set to output DD5.1 over optical. For the Beam please make sure TV is selected as the source. Play the BT box. 

Please report back.