From Sonos reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/h7z9gv/hd_fury_is_working_on_an_earc_solution_for_sonos/
HD Fury is working on an eARC solution for Sonos Arc - Full Audio & Atmos from any HDMI sources
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Not really that informative, but HD Fury posted videos of the product being manufactured in their discord channel. I don’t know what that says about when the product will be shipped out.
I’m guessing it means that it will be shipped out sooner than if they DIDN’T have prototypes being built at this stage. 
Seriously, though, this is really awesome to see. Man, they’re moving fast. I’m truly looking forward to getting mine!
I’m assuming the ‘stretch’ goal will be a firmware update in the future, and not a hardware change.
Damn, these guys are NOT screwing around. They just posted a rendering of the dongle PCB on their support site:
Simplicity itself - two HDMI ports, a USB port (they say for firmware flashing if necessary), and a freaking giant microprocessor in the middle.
Honestly flabbergasted that they’re moving this quickly. At this rate, they’ll have this in production before my return period is up. ;-)
You would need a splitter in addition to that switch, or a matrix. You have one HDMI output, but you need two...one to send to the video to the TV and one to send to the dongle and Arc.
Hrm - you have given me something new to think about here and making me realize I may be completely misunderstanding the connectivity here.
Let’s say that you’ve got three HDMI sources (an Apple TV, a Blu-ray player, and a Nintendo Switch since those are exactly what I’d want to hook up). You’re saying that I would need a “matrix” (like this: https://www.amazon.com/EZCOOTECH-HDMI-2-0-Matrix-4X2/dp/B083K39RHF?th=1) that has two HDMI outputs - one that goes to the TV for video and one that goes to the Magic Dongle for audio.
Yep. Technically you could use a switch + splitter instead of the matrix, but the idea is the same. The matrix gives you features you don’t need for this case, but certainly should do what you need.
The Magic Dongle itself would have two INPUTS, one that would connect to the matrix, and the other for the Sonos Arc (since it technically has an OUTPUT). That way, the Magic Dongle is ONLY handling audio (basically acting as an eARC television as far as the upstream HDMI devices are concerned) and not having to do any video passthrough at all.
Is that how you're understanding how it would work?
Exactly correct.
If so, and if that’s correct, I was fundamentally misunderstanding the role of the “switch" and, to a lesser degree, the Magic Dongle. I was thinking that the Audio AND Video would come from the switch into the Magic Dongle which would then send Audio one direction (to the Sonos Arc) and Video another (to the TV).
But, given what HDFury said earlier about there being no “splitting” in the Magic Dongle, I guess that can’t be the case.
I suppose they could change their mind and add the splitter built in, but I doublt it. If you use there vertex2 or other devices, it’s not needed at all. If you use a matrix, it’s not needed. They would also need to provide power to the dongle (it’s needed for any HDMI splitter) and they may have do something extra to ensure video quality to the TV/projector.
Damn, why’s this all got to be so freaking complicated? ;-)
money and politics. :-)
Damn, these guys are NOT screwing around. They just posted a rendering of the dongle PCB on their support site:
Simplicity itself - two HDMI ports, a USB port (they say for firmware flashing if necessary), and a freaking giant microprocessor in the middle.
Honestly flabbergasted that they’re moving this quickly. At this rate, they’ll have this in production before my return period is up. ;-)
I would think they’d need power to run the processor? Don’t know, but wouldn’t be surprised if the USB is also for power. I do like that they want to move on this. I guess they want to be the only one that does it, for a while anyway. And I do think a lot of people are going to buy their other stuff, or remember the name next time they have a need.
Danny, you continue to be a rockstar. And now I want to go watch Blade Runner 2049 again.…
Thank you for the ongoing updates, sir!
Sometimes, things change in pre production. At least, in my experience.…
And you know I’m incapable of going to other websites to re-read data :) That’s why I’m counting on updates from you!
I hope this comes out soon and is not too pricey!
I am presuming that with a switch/splitter/matrix + this dongle CEC command would still get passed across the connections/devices. I ask as I like the convenience of their ATV controlling volume, power etc.
1st world problem I know.
If sonos can fix some of the issues with Arc’s sound, having this as an option in the near future would push me to keeping the Arc.
As it is, it’s boxed in the corner waiting for news before I wall mount it and replace my beam.
I have a sub and play:1 surrounds, Bass fix and a dongle like this to allow me the joy of Atmos … well it will finally sound epic as I expected!
I hope this comes out soon and is not too pricey!
I am presuming that with a switch/splitter/matrix + this dongle CEC command would still get passed across the connections/devices. I ask as I like the convenience of their ATV controlling volume, power etc.
Maybe? CEC commands require a connection between the TV and your ATV. If you’re using a switch or a matrix, that connection is only going to be there if the switch/matrix is currently set with the ATV as the current input. So if you’re currently watching cable tv, for example, then your ATV isn’t connected to the TV and thus CEC commands won’t work….unless the switch/matrix has some sort of way passing on the CEC commands regardless of what the current HDMI input is.
IR commands of course, should work without issue.
So, are there cheaper options for a 4k HDR Atmos-compatible HDMI switch that folks on this forum like, rather than buying something like the HDFury Integral2 or Vertex? I see those are only 2 input switches… ideally I’d have 3 or 4…and I really don’t need any of the matrix functionality…
Thoughts before I place an order for an Arcana?
Userlevel 1
Great news (as long as it arrives relatively soon). This device is what I have been waiting for to use an Arc with a projector. Thank you.
So, are there cheaper options for a 4k HDR Atmos-compatible HDMI switch that folks on this forum like, rather than buying something like the HDFury Integral2 or Vertex? I see those are only 2 input switches… ideally I’d have 3 or 4…and I really don’t need any of the matrix functionality…
Thoughts before I place an order for an Arcana?
e.g. the Monoprice Blackbird… is this a good HDMI switch option to pair with Arcana?
Hi everybody;
Looking for some help and advices.
Setup:
Sonos ARC + Sub + 2 Ones
Epson LS100 Projector
Chromecast
PC
What is the best setup to get my Sonos system giving its best output and Dolby Atmos from my sources while projecting on the Epson projector.
I’m a bit unexperienced in the A/V and would like to setup a home theater.
Thanks everyone.
Following up on the recent conversations and my idea, although I think it would work (and I will try it) I was looking at switches (what a minefield!) and I am sure you could find one that works but HD Fury were very precise on the need to match all input and outputs. so I convinced myself it would be better to match up so I have bought a Vertex 2 and with the excellent help of the team have set it up with my system and all is working well. There are so many things that you can do with it and being a novice I think it will take some time for me to learn. initial impression is very good and support from Fury has been superb. I have it set to give Dolby vision and full audio for all sources and you can make changes “on the fly” if you want. it seems a lot of people with projectors use them and they can configure it to get much better image.
Thanks!
Hdfury is going to make announcement soon on discord just need to press the 💯 on one of his post should be in the next 15 mins.
Thanks!
I agree that that would likely be desirable. I have CEC commands between my TV and xbox, where the xbox will shut down after X time of inactivity. There’s been a few times where I start using xbox, then switch to another source. After a time, the xbox shuts down and turns the TV off with it via CEC command, even though I’m on a different input. I’m guessing the same would happen with your ATV.
+1
Hello everyone ,
Not been on here for a good while , i have ordered the Sonos Arc to replace my Playbar in my 5.1 set up .
Set up is or will be Sonos Arc with sub and 2 play 1s rears , Samsung JS9000 with one connect box , Sky Q , Xbox one s , Amazon Fire TV 4k .
I am thinking i will need the HD Fury Arcana ? for the best sound as i only have HDMI ARC , any help appreciated .
Hello everyone ,
Not been on here for a good while , i have ordered the Sonos Arc to replace my Playbar in my 5.1 set up .
Set up is or will be Sonos Arc with sub and 2 play 1s rears , Samsung JS9000 with one connect box , Sky Q , Xbox one s , Amazon Fire TV 4k .
I am thinking i will need the HD Fury Arcana ? for the best sound as i only have HDMI ARC , any help appreciated .
You don’t need Arcana to get Atmos from your streaming sources, however if you have Dolby True HD w/atmos bluray discs you want to play through the xbox one s, then you will need Arcana. You would likely want to get an HDMI switch as well to keep things simple.
Hi everybody;
Looking for some help and advices.
Setup:
Sonos ARC + Sub + 2 Ones
Epson LS100 Projector
Chromecast
PC
What is the best setup to get my Sonos system giving its best output and Dolby Atmos from my sources while projecting on the Epson projector.
I’m a bit unexperienced in the A/V and would like to setup a home theater.
Thanks everyone.
Assuming your projector doesn’t have ARC or eARC capabilities, then you will need to get an Arcana. Follow the link(s) in this thread to the HD Fury site, and take look at the Getting started tab for the Arcana. Lots of good diagrams for how you would want to set this up with a projector.
+2
Pre-order starts today! Hooray.
Can anyone advise on my AppleTV and Atmos/DTS question? I mainly use ATV as my source, for apps like Netflix but also play BluRay rips via Infuse. So some of my content is DTS.
I know I’ll never get any audio if I feed a DTS signal to the Arc. So, to avoid any settings switching, my understanding is I need to ensure that any device which outputs to the Arc is sending a format that sends converting any sound data into uncompressed multichannel audio, with Atmos metadata. Does something exist that will support, say, a DTS-MA 7.1 stream and a full-fat Dolby Atmos stream? Is that MAT? Does Apple TV support this? And does Arc support it yet or is that what we’re waiting for?
Yes. This is for a projector setup in an outdoor pavilion. I have a 4x2 HDMI switch. I’m going to test both ways. 1st I’m going to try and go wirelessly to the ARC, because that would save a lot of hassle, but ultimately I think I'm going to have to go wirelessly to the projector and have the source and switch tucked away above the ARC. Not too much more hassle and it should work with no lipsync issues.
+2
I signed up to Discord today but can’t find out how I actually get invited to their server. Keen to show how desperate I am for this.
As a projector owner I’m really relieved on cost. I don’t need access to TV apps’ audio and I was expecting any HDFury device to come in much more expensive.
If I had a non eARC TV I’d be looking at all of them is complexity, plus any other benefits of a new TV, and thinking that $400 might be better spent on a TV upgrade. But given the huge appeal of an all-Sonos household and the fact that projectors and ARC aren’t regularly partners, I feel we’ve really lucked out getting this support so soon. Well done to everyone who asked!
Yes, oddly enough our ATV is our primary source of entertainment so I have not noticed it shutting down the TV on another input. But I have noticed the other way, we’ll play some Xbox and then watch TV only for everything to turn off some time later when the Xbox shuts down. So I think it would be desirable!
Thanks people, this streak has been very usefull! Ive preordered the Arcana and am looking forward enjoying dolby Atmos incobination with beamer & Arc!
Is there any way of getting the Arcana in the UK? Shipping and import tax could be quite expensive.
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