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cm100
Avid Contributor I
Jul 15, 2018 7:29 AM UTC

Do 3.5mm analog to HDMI digital audio converters exist (to use for the Beam)?

Heya.

I am trying to figure out if there is an easier way to connect a 3.5mm audio to a Sonos Beam.

I know there are 3.5mm analog to optical digital* and then you can use the shipped optical digital to HDMI adapter**.

* https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=analog+to+digital+converter
** https://www.sonos.com/en/shop/optical-audio-adaptor-for-beam.html

I have tried to Google this, but do 3.5mm analog to HDMI digital audio converters even exist?

I'm just curious if anyone has ever seen any.
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    6 replies

    fffffffffff
    Lyricist II
    Jul 15, 2018 8:01 AM UTC
    This unit will take analogue video and audio and convert it to HDMI. It's phono input so you'll need a 3.5mm to phono lead. You will probably need to feed it an analogue video signal too though as HDMI is expecting both video and audio. The combination you describe above is probably the best for just audio

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/GANA-Composite-Converter-Adapter-Supporting/dp/B01MU6KHKB/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1531641373&sr=8-3&keywords=audio+to+hdmi
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    cm100Author
    Avid Contributor I
    Jul 15, 2018 8:15 AM UTC
    > You will probably need to feed it an analogue video signal too though as HDMI is expecting both video and audio.

    Hm, that could be a problem.

    But maybe its easy just to test. Thanks.
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    Ryan S
    Ryan S
    Retired Sonos Staff
    Jul 16, 2018 9:09 PM UTC
    It's also really important to remember that you need your audio to be HDMI-ARC, not just HDMI. I don't know of any of this sort of converter that would work with Beam, but you could try them out and see.
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    cm100Author
    Avid Contributor I
    Jul 17, 2018 4:57 AM UTC
    Sorry, but it also needs to be HDMI-ARC?

    Noo, I don't believe that? That would mean that any TV that doesn't use HDMI-ARC wouldn't be able to use Beam with a HDMI cable..
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    MikeV
    MikeV
    Jul 17, 2018 11:24 AM UTC
    Sorry, but it also needs to be HDMI-ARC?

    Noo, I don't believe that? That would mean that any TV that doesn't use HDMI-ARC wouldn't be able to use Beam with a HDMI cable..
    Yes, that would be correct. The TV needs to support HDMI-ARC to work with Beam via HDMI. Otherwise you'll need to use an optical connection.

    Beam doesn't have a passthrough for HDMI... regular HDMI audio flows in one direction, from the device (cable/sat, game console, or whatever) to the TV. If Beam had a passthrough, it could sit in the middle between device and TV and capture the audio from the device, while still passing the signal on to the TV. But Beam only has one HDMI port so it only supports ARC. ARC is the only way to send audio in the other direction over HDMI, from the TV to a device.
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    cm100Author
    Avid Contributor I
    Jul 17, 2018 12:22 PM UTC
    That means I picked the wrong best answer 😕 since a converter wont make it HDMI ARC
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