cottoned?

Bruce, what are your sources?  I know ATV4k, and that would need to directly connect to Arcanna, not sure what else you use.

You’re old enough to know that phrase… cottoned on, as in understood? I suspect it’s probably a corruption of ‘caught on’, but who knows. I suppose I could look it up, or contact the folks at ‘A way with words’.

My issues are my damn TV from Vizio. I have been told, and confirmed by experimentation, that it will not pass anything beyond DD when the input is an HDMI port. Since I choose not to use the internal apps which report watching habits back to Vizio, that leaves me with the two, and possibly three inputs I want to run through the Arcana device. And this is a 2019 Vizio model. Had I but known that a Sonos was going to go eARC, that might have been something I’d paid more attention to. 
 

That being said, this isn’t Sonos’ fault. I made my bed, I need to lie in it. Which means I’ve preordered the Arcana, and will shop for a switch as soon as the Arcana ships. I’m interested in hearing what Atmos does for me, but I’m also aware of how limited the amount of Atmos encoded stuff there is out there. Trying to be realistic about the whole thing. Not expecting that suddenly everything I watch on DirecTV will be Atmos encoded, even F1 and Baseball/Football. 

Edit:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/cotton-on

Hoping someone might be able to help confirm if the Arcana might be the right solution for me.

Reading all the posts and the FAQs on the HDFury site it feels like it should work, but I’m not that technical so after a bit of extra help to confirm before pre-ordering.

I’m in the UK and have recently purchased a Sonos Arc, but my 2015 Sony Bravia android TV only has HDMI Arc so looking at options to get Dolby Atmos without having to buy a new TV.

I have the following connected sources:

• XBox One S (for Bluray/UHD content, plus Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ apps)
• Sky Q satellite TV (with some UHD content)
• Apple TV (may soon be upgrading to Apple TV 4K)

As I understand it, if I couple the Arcana up witha an appropriate HDMI splitter then it should allow me to get Dolby Atmos (form the relevant sources) as it effectively takes the limitations of the TV (no eArc or DD+ passthrough) out of the question?

Also, a more minor point, but with the Arcana + splitter set-up would I still get sound from integrated apps on the TV or anything connected to the TV (like a Amazon Fire stick)?  I know I wouldn’t get Dolby Atmos from these integrated apps and they wouldn’t be my primary source (as would use the Apps on the Xbox one/Apple TV 4K), but just keen to understand if I’d still get sound through the Sonos Arc this way.

Finally does anyone know what sort of import tax there would likely be for pre-ordering the unit for delivery to the UK?  Looks like it could push the price up a fair bit, but still looks like it might be worth it.

Many thanks in advance.

Mark

@markcdodd :

Arcana + splitter should work for you. If you connect Arcana to the TV’s ARC output, you should be able to get sound from the TV. 
 

I can’t help you with the tax estimate.

It would be nice if by the time they are delivered they have got it to the point where you just plug it between the TV and the ARC without the need for a switcher.

 

Not sure I understand what you mean here.  Arcana has one HDMI input for sources.  If you need more to pass more than one source through Arcana to send audio to the Arc, then you will need an HDMI switch.  If you only have one source, then you do not need a switch.

 

I think I understand what @Briinthesky is saying. I think they mean it would be nice if you could still plug everything into the TV first so the TV is doing the input switching. Then the Arcana would go between the TV and the Sonos Arc. 

If that’s what you’re asking @Briinthesky, unfortunately there’s no way that would work. By the time the audio has reached the TV, you’re limited by the TV’s capabilities which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place. In this case, the Arcana is basically tricking the Sonos Arc into thinking that the Arcana is the TV (and one that has full eARC capabilities and doesn’t try to do any additional audio processing). So it HAS to come before the TV in the chain (and really, it’s more complex than that because it’s technically splitting the signal but it’s also now, thanks to the super powers, RECEIVING audio from the TV’s ARC port as well - super confusing). 

If that’s not what you meant, you’ll have to clarify your statement because I don’t get it, either. ;-) 

 

You are correct on the above, but….what if your sources are a cable/sat box, fireTV, and a blueray player with an ARC capable TV?  Your TV should be able to process the audio from the cable box and firetv and send it to Arcana through the ARC port.  As you stated, your limited by the TV’s capabilities, but the two sources directly connected aren’t beyond the TV’s capabilities.  The Blueray would connect to the Arcana directly, because it is beyond TVs capabilities.  Basically, something like the diagram below.

I am not 100% sure this work, since I can’t test it obviously and have not see a demo setup this way.  It should work in theory though.  I showed the same diagram on the discord channel, so perhaps I can get an answer on that.  They may not want to talk about it though, as it’s a somewhat complicated setup and much of what could go wrong is out of HDFury’s ability to address...if an issue is between source and TV for example.

 

 

 

 

Hi

Yes you are correct, what i was suggesting was it would be nice if you could leave everything connected to your (Arc capable) Tv and just plug the hdmi into the Arcana and then the Arcana into the Sonos ARC

I was coming from the point of view really of having spent  in the region of 1k on ARC, Sub and 2 play one’s and then $189 plus possible import tax on the Arcana the idea of a large sum for a working switch( Vertex) it would be nice to use the set up as drawn by melvimbe so the money pit would end.

i am happy with the Tv giving DD+ from Netflix and Disney etc so if i can just plug in my OPPO and get full Atmos from that i would be delighted.

The other reason i ask is having looked there are hundreds of switches out there but finding one that will agree with the Arcana could be a nightmare!  

The only reason Arcana exists because TVs limit what audio can be sent to the Sonos Arc.  If your still passing everything through the TV, then Arcana adds no value in the setup.

I did speak with an HDFury rep, showed him that same diagram, and he said it would work, just didn’t want to talk too about it and confuse people.

Yea, I think the trick of it is to know the video and audio capabilities of your sources, display, and Arc , and then just make sure whatever switches, splitters, and matrices you have in between meets the requirement and does limit what your source/display/Arc can do.  For example, my FireTV is capable of 4k 60Hz HDR and DD+ w/atmos  TV is capable of 4k 120 Hz HDF.  ARC can do DD+ w/atmos.  Therefore the switch needs to be at least 4k 60Hz HDR and DD+ w/atmos.  I’ve seen some that only handle 30Hz, so I don’t want that.  120 Hz would be better for future proofing, but not completely necessary since I don’t have a 120Hz source yet, and can replace the switch if I ever do.

Just a minor addition. ARC can, but does not have to, send DD+. It depends as much upon the source as anything else. 
 

For instance, my 2019 Vizio TV has ARC, yet it can’t pass DD+ through from an outside source, it’s only the TV’s internal apps that will pass DD+ out through ARC. 

I wanted to hear some experiences of how Arc has performed in terms of Atmos performance for streaming services which deliver Atmos through DD+. Is it considerable or is it hit or miss. How is the sound in comparison to when you play the same content on DD+. I have invested a lot in the Arc+Sub combo and on the fence for Arcana, would cost close to $300 in Canada. If the difference is considerable, for streaming services, I would cross that fence. If not, I would stay on the side of DD/DD+.

It’s somewhat of a tough question to answer, as there are several factors involved.  Obviously, the source may not use the atmos format very much or very well, so you may not hear much.  You also need to consider the room and how well audio reflects off the ceiling.  From my opinion it is worth it, but I can’t completely say it’s not more of a placebo effect than anything else.  I can’t identify a particular sound and say it came from the ceiling, but it does sound better/fuller to me. 

Do you have rear speakers?  If not, I think I would go for that before getting the Arcana if I was in your position.  That will provide more for for you. I’d think about Arcana later on, or perhaps you opt for a TV upgrade.

Thanks, I do have the rear speakers and I am not sure if Atmos over DD+ with Arc would be significantly better than just DD+. As you mentioned I have a rectangular room with 9 ft ceilings and open kitchen on one side. I have no plans to change the TV.

I had a Yamaha YSP2700 which i thought was great but does not do Atmos. i have a lot of Sonos gear and when i saw the ARC i had to try. I have no regrets what so ever (other than the money i have spent) if you like movies then you will love the ARC Dolby 5.1 sounds great, DD+ sounds even better so i would imagine full fat Atmos would be even more so. i find normal TV is also better if it is 5.1 when it is Dolby 2.0 some channels can be lower volume.

i have added a sub and play 1’s and i absolutely love it, i would watch movies every night if i could!

Not much in terms of new information to talk about regarding Arcana.  The current pre-order sales count is at 980, which means the price will jump from $165 to $175 when it reaches 1000 orders.

And although I don’t really have the best grasp of video processing, it looks like some of the features of Arcana can help improve picture quality as well.  Some of that is modifying the signal, and some of it seems to be more about properly communicating video capabilities between source and display.

Pre-order count broke 1000, so price is now $175.  Price won’t change again till 1500, or pre-order ends.  No official date for when preorder ends, other than ‘before October 1st’.  From what I’ve seen from watching HDFury, then much prefer to under promise and over deliver, so I imagine it will be a couple weeks sooner than that.

Should have mentioned this earlier, but they are only doing a 1000 devices in the first order batch, so purchases after this point will ship ‘before November 1st’.  They have also said that Arcana should start showing up in online retailers, like Amazon,  November 1st, but that will be at the after pre-order price of $199.

Looking forward to it’s arrival!

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.

I preordered the HD Fury eARC dongle. Should ship this week. I’ll report back if I get it to work. I’m also trying to get it to work wirelessly, so I’ll try hardwired first.

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

Jason

Wirelessly?  In what way do you mean that?  The device (which really isn’t a dongle, since 5 ports and requires it’s own power) doesn’t have any wireless capabilities.

I grabbed a REI WHD-100-K hdmi wireless sender and receiver. My hope is to wirelessly mimic an ARC port from the HD FURY through the REI transmitter to the receiver that’s connected to the SONOS Arc. 

I’ll be interested in what you find out. There’s absolutely no mention of it handling ARC or eARC at all on their website. 

I’d be surprised if it works, and if it actually does, I’d be surprised if there isn’t significant lag, resulting in lip sync issues.

@packman69 I assume this is for a projector situation.  If this doesn’t work, then I would look into getting an HDMI splitter  near the source, with one HDMI output going to the PJ, and the other to your wireless transmitter.  Your transmitter than feeds the Arcana, which can feed Sonos Arc.  With this setup, you are sending normal HDMI wirelessly instead of an eARC signal.  I still think you’ll have lip sync issues though, and you’ll be limited in the audio codecs you can send.

Honestly, since it doesn’t mention ARC, I would put money on the fact it doesn’t handle it at all. 

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.

just plugged my new hdfury arcana eArc adapter in to my Apple TV, projector, and Sonos Arc. Worked straight out of the box delivering 4k HDR to the screen and Dolby Atmos to the Sonos Arc. 

Amazing product. worth having regardless of your tv/projector set up just so you don’t have to mess around with settings.

Just wanted to say I have received my Arcana and have attached it to my Vertex two.

At first was not getting sound from the Tv but I switched to earc only and then it was ok.

Have now updated firmware to .71 without any issue

Watched Transformers  via the OPPO and got full fat Dolby Atmos -absolutely awesome!!

I have noticed that if I try a downloaded movie from a hdd via the OPPO the Sonos doesn't like it and seems to only play the background music and speech, all the main speech etc is missing even if it is 5.1. I didn't get this before. so will keep trying it out.It did happen once when watching Punisher on Netflix but it was ok after turning everything off and then back on. 

Has anyone else had this issue at all ?

Have to thank all the People at HD Fury for there help and advice also the superb bit of kit that will no doubt improve with time that has stopped me needing to buy a new TV. I am sure you are all shattered from all your hard work but it is very much appreciated by a lot of people.