HD Fury is working on an eARC solution for Sonos Arc - Full Audio & Atmos from any HDMI sources

There was mention of ‘big players’ getting involved, so perhaps the feature was requested by someone who could commit to a large order, or something of that nature.

One thought that popped into my mind though about this new change though.  That being that the majority of TVs  being sold today are smart TVs, with multiple HDMI inputs, CEC commands. and at least ARC capabilities.  Applying the Arcana solution currently means you give up all that functionality.  In order to use the TVs smart apps (or switching capabilities) you would need to get one of HDFury’s more expensive products or Thenaudio’s SHARC + HDMI switch...so a minimum of around $175 USD in addition to Arcana….to use some of what you’ve already paid for (still no HDMI switching at TV or CEC commands).

However, if HDFury would make the HDMI video output port on the Arcana ARC capable...able to receive ARC signal from the TV and pass it through to the HDMI port connected to the TV...then much of the TVs functionality is regained. Smart app audio from the TV would pass to the Arcana and then on to the Arc, for DD+, Atmos.  Other HDMI inputs to the TV would also pass through the same connection, so there isn’t a need for an external switch,  You would still have the one source where you what TrueHD/eARC that would go into the Arcana, pass video to the TV, and send audio to the Arc.

That sounds simple enough, but I’m not really sure what all goes into being an ARC ‘sink’ device, or to properly switch to the right audio and video combo depending on the current source.  Probably more difficult then I think.  I would not be surprised if such a feature added $100 to the costs and not really as appealing to consumers.

As  long as it’s standard/typical requirements for the cable and power supply, no problem.

I could see that. They specifically mentioned in one of the posts that it was a distributor they were talking to so maybe? 

I feel you, but at the same time I’m kind of looking forward to Arcana being the simplest possible solution to do what I want it to do - give me a way to get Atmos from my external devices to my Sonos Arc. I have no doubt that HDFury could (and probably will, down the road), throw the kitchen sink at this problem and come up with a solution that does everything anyone could possibly want. But I also have no doubt that that will take a lot longer and cost a whole lot more and will be a lot more complicated.

At this point, I’m going to count it as a minor miracle if they actually get Arcana into consumers’ hands by September/October considering that we’ve had our Arcs for a grand total of about 2 weeks now. I’m sure there will be other options that will open up other functionality but if I can just get Atmos from my source to the Arc, I'll, personally, be happy. 

(I, personally, will be VERY happy indeed considering that I don’t care a thing in the world about built-in TV apps or CEC control since I never use the apps and control everything with a Harmony Hub - but I may be in the minority). 

And just think, this all could have been avoided if Sonos had just stuck one more damn HDMI port on the freaking Arc…. ;-) 

I can agree with this, and don’t really know  how complicate it would be.  As I’ve said before adding more features to Arcana is taking away potential sales from other items.   As far as the kitchen sink goes, not 100% sure how big the market is for this, and they already pretty much cover everything with a combo of vertex2 and arcana.  I would not be surprised to see a vertex 3 have an eARC port added though.

This is the first I’m really seeing a product grow from original inception/need to actual product, so it’s interesting to see how all this develops.

I do use TV apps right now,  and firetv.  I tend to use the TV apps because I like the interface better, but also will share content across 2 TVs at times, which i can’t do with TV apps.  So it may be for the better.  And I don’t have a harmony remote, and all these changes are driving me in the direction of needing/wanting one.

I understand why it was not included, and would have been shocked given Sonos history if it had, but I would have liked to see it included.

I used to work for a company that manufactured relatively simple consumer electronics products. I’ve seen the process go extremely smoothly and quickly, and I’ve seen the process slog on disastrously for months or years. There’s a lot involved, and HDFury is being surprisingly open about the process. I know just enough about how it works to not sound like a complete idiot, but in general they still have to spin up the printed circuit boards, build and test production samples, cut steel for tooling (assuming Arcana is going to have some sort of plastic housing rather than just being a bare board), make packaging, produce and pack up final units, then start distributing them to users. And they haven’t even finished designing the PCB layout because they literally just made physical board changes and added an entire new feature set YESTERDAY. There’s also a software / firmware component in there and I literally have no idea how that works or what timeframes are like. 

Add all of that up, and that’s why I’m saying it will be a minor miracle if any of us have this in hand even before the end of the year, much less by Sept/Oct. They look like they are moving very, very fast and my hat’s off to them for it. 

I’m the opposite - I’ve used a bunch of streaming boxes (Roku, built-in apps, TiVo, even Boxee if you remember that one from way back) and Apple TV has far and away the nicest, slickest, easiest-to-use interface of them all IMO. The built-in apps always feel like I’m navigating through molasses, no matter which TV I’ve ever tried (and certainly on my Vizio). Apple TV is smooth as silk - and it doesn’t hurt that I’m super tied into the Apple ecosystem in general so all my stuff is there and just works (HomeKit, Siri, AirPlay, Apple Music, Photos, apps, etc.). 

As for Harmony, it’s wonderful and it sucks in equal measure. Setup is atrocious, even with the newest Harmony Hub (the iOS app is needlessly slow and confusing). It’s flexible as hell, but you’ve got to WANT to make the thing work. But once it does work, it’s awesome. And you can hand your significant other, kids, or guests a remote that looks like a real remote and has nice big buttons that say exactly what you want to do (“Watch a Movie,” “Watch Apple TV,” etc.). I have two Harmony Hubs in my house, and have set up my Mom/Stepdad, Dad/Stepmom, best friend, and uncle with them as well. 

I’m new to Sonos so don't know anything about their history, but from what I see and hear I’m getting a serious “Apple vibe” in terms of how they think and act. And I’ve been an Apple guy for decades at this point so that’s a mentality I fully get, no matter how frustrating it is sometimes.

Sonos made a very conscious decision to have the Arc be as ultra-simple as possible which, in the long run, is absolutely going to be the right call. Within a few years there will be a plurality of TVs out there that support HDMI-eARC and those owners who purchase the Arc will be very happy, indeed as they’ll get the best possible sound by hooking up only a single HDMI cable from their TV to their Arcs. Simple, easy, effective, user-friendly…. if you have the right/newest equipment. Very much the Apple way. ;-) 

It’s just causing us pain at the moment because eARC is pretty bleeding edge and we Arc early adopters still want everything it brings to the table. Which is why I’m super glad we’ve got people out there like HDFury who are helping us work around these teething pains. 

Speaking of watching this develop in real-time @melvimbe, this was literally just posted on HDFury’s Discord channel: 

HDfuryToday at 12:38 PM

@Michiel For the moment consider you will have to use IR learning, we are checking if we can handle cec forwarding and clear that as well. CEC TV > ARCANA > sources will work, CEC TV > ARCANA > SONOS ARC, not sure yet, but we have a few ideas to try before concluding.

So, it sounds like they’re trying to figure out CEC control as part of Arcana. Gotta love these guys! 

As a Harmony Hub owner, I’ve never cared about CEC. Would someone mind explaining what they need CEC to do, via HDMI, to care about its implementation here?

For me, it’s PS4/ATV/Xbox/Switch - HDMI Switch - Arcana - Arc and Projector.

Harmony Hub turns on the projector and brings down a screen, usually done by voice. Then I tend to navigate ATV with my iPhone or the Apple Remote App, and obviously use game controllers on the consoles. So the sole use for my Harmony Remote or Harmony App is to adjust the volume, which I used to do on a Receiver, and now will do on an amp (for which I’m going to have to fool my Harmony into thinking I have a TV, then teach the Arc that TV’s volume commands).

Am I right in saying that people care about CEC so they can use TV remotes to control volume via HDMI not IR? Or is there a bigger reason?

That’s one of the reasons. CEC can also turn things on / off as you need them. E.g., if you turn your Blu-ray player on it can turn the TV on and turn it to the right input. As a Harmony user I’ve always needed to turn all that stuff off because CEC inevitably screws things up by trying to do what it thinks I want rather than just listening to the Harmony telling the equipment (via IR) exactly what I want it to do. 

In my drastically simplified setup, I’m using CEC to control the Arc’s volume via the TV, but once I get the Arcana will obviously have to control the Arc directly (assuming HDFury doesn’t end up getting CEC to work with Arcana). But, for me the end result is the same - everything is controlled from my Harmony remote. 

That’s a nice feature.  CEC control of features will be nice, as I do find it convenient to have a source turn off the TV  (xbox).  If using a switch would want to make sure that gets past through.  CEC control of the ARC...eh.  The problem with CEC control between Arc and TV (assuming same experience between Beam and TV) is that many commands TVs just ignore, or only follow if the command is coming from current HDMI input (which for the Beam and Arc, without Arcana, is never) So you usually can’t usually use the Beam/Arc to turn TV on/off or switch inputs.  You can control volume of the Beam/Arc though, which you can already do via IR commands...which is actually better since the TV doesn’t need to be on for IR to work, while CEC needs the TV on.

If they do manage to have CEC between TV and Arc via Arcana, makes me think that TV Arc support isn’t too far behind.

I had asked about ARC as well - and they were not too encouraging.  I found a 3x1 switch that purports to do ARC - but maybe not in the way I need -  that I hope to use with Arcana. 

https://www.amazon.com/Koopman-Switcher-Extractor-Splitter-Converter/dp/B0811JZDQN/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Koopman+ARC&qid=1593039669&sr=8-4

For 29.00 I thought it might be worth a shot - I got last years Sony OLED A8G w/o eARC openbox at big saving and hoped not to spend what I saved over the A8H...

I have a bestbuy tv from 2016 and have a Comcast cable box and then there are apps available from Comcast would Atmos be available if I got the arcana in this situation and also have they said if it comes with HDMI cables required between devices?