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I'm searching for a good HDMI Switch as my Sony TV does not pass 5.1 over its own optical output to my Sonos Playbase.



I've read a few different forums and notice the Monoprice (https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=5557) one is highly recommended but it's not available in the UK.



I've also noticed that some people have purchased HDMI switches only to find out that they also downgrade the audio quality from 5.1 to stereo.



Before I buy the wrong one, can anyone recommend a high quality switch available to buy in the UK that definitely passes through 5.1 correctly?
Hi Jarve, Just out of interest what is the model of your TV. I thought most modern Sony's pas 5.1 via optical.
I've just bought a Tendak HDMI to HDMI and Optical splitter from Amazon, it was cheap and only takes one HDMI input but it does the job for me. I have a Samsung TV which doesn't pass 5.1 through optical, and the 4th gen Apple TV which doesn't have an optical port, hence my need for the switch. The switch mentioned above isn't a high quality option but it works perfectly which is all I wanted.
Yeah, i thought the same with regards to the Sony TVs opsman, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I tested by running the optical cable straight from playbase to sky box and that works ok. As soon as I run it via the TV it downgrades it again. The TV is KDL-50W829B.



Lewis, could you post the link to the Tendak you purchased?



Thanks.
I'm not familiar with your particular TV but having a quick look through the manual i would expect it to output 5.1 over optical if settings are used correctly. Have you tried outputting via optical before?
This is the Tendak I purchased



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tendak-Optical-Extractor-Converter-Splitter/dp/B00Y0920B4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493723990&sr=8-2&keywords=Tendak+HDMI+to+HDMI+and+Optical+splitter



As I say, it was very cheap, it doesn't do anything fancy, but it works for me. The Flexson switch posted in the other thread does look better to me (and I'll probably buy this in the future), but I wanted something cheap that would get me by for now to see if I would even notice the difference with "real" 5.1 over the Playbar's "fake" 5.1 (note - massive improvement!). The Tendak does the job absolutely fine.
Hi Opsman, unfortunately the only thing I can see from the manual is it stating that it has an optical input, I can't find anywhere that mentions whether it has the capability to pass through or not. I will submit a question on the Sony forums to see if they can answer the question.



Lewis, thanks for the link, much appreciated and looks like it'll do just the job! A couple of quick questions ...



1. I assume that you need one of your HDMI ports on the TV to support ARC? In my case I will have my Sky Box and Xbox connected to the TV via HDMI (ports 1 & 3) and then another HDMI cable running from HDMI 2 (ARC) into the Audio Extractor? I guess that when I switch from the Sky Box/Xbox the Audio Extractor will work out which one I'm using via the HDMI 2 (ARC) channel.



2. What does the pass/2CH/5.1CH switch on the Audio extractor do? which setting should I have it on?
That Sony should pass Dolby Digital with no issues. I don't see anything in the manual about an optical input, only something about an optical output.



And here is where it confirms that it handles Dolby Digital:



Select [Auto] if the device connected via DIGITAL AUDIO OUT (OPTICAL) is compatible with Dolby Digital. Select [pcm] if the device is not compatible with Dolby Digital.
Sorry Airgetlam, I meant optical output! ... I've switch it to [Auto] but it still doesn't seem to work.



If I run the optical cable straight from the Sky Box to the Playbase I get 5.1 (confirmed by looking in the Sonos App) - if i run the optical cable from the TV to the Playbase (with [Auto] set) it returns back to stereo! (through the same sky channel).
That's bizarre. I'd be pinging Sony on that one, since it was pretty plain in the manual. PCM would be stereo, Auto should be Dolby Digital. Of course, you'd have to set the Skybox audio settings to be sure it was set to output Dolby Digital on it's HDMI connection to the TV, but still.



I'm confused. Sorry you're having so much trouble!
With regard to the Tendak I mentioned earlier, my TV has no ARC capacity. I run an HDMI cable from Apple TV4 into the input of the Tendak. Then I run an HDMI from output of Tendak to the TV(to carry the image) and also optical cable from optical out of Tendak into the Playbar (to carry the audio).



I have it set on the 5.1 setting as this is what I want for surround sound, no idea of the use of the other two options (assume they'd just carry normal stereo or DD2.1 sound).



Only minor irritation is when I pause a movie etc that I'm running through the Apple TV, when I restart it there is a minor half a second wait where the movie restarts before the sound kicks in. It's only a tiny pause and doesn't bother me but thought you should know. Perhaps the more expensive alternative may avoid this, but I was happy to save the extra £50 ...
There's no lip sync delay when watching, just to clarify. It works perfectly.
Thanks for clarifying Lewis, that's extremely helpful! My set up is slightly different in that I've got 3 devices plugged into the TV via HDMI and then want to run another HDMI lead into the Audio Extractor (which is then plugged into the Playbase via Optical).



Given your feedback and other forums that I've read it seems like the Audio extractor is the way to go so I've ordered the Flexson one, I thought given the amount I've already spent already I might as well go for a good quality one!



It should arrive Monday so I'll let you know how it goes ... fingers crossed!
Hi. I use a Monoprice 105557 4x1 HDMI Switch with Toslink, Digital Coaxial output and that works fine for me. I am a bit more dedicated videophile/audiophile so I use it to get all HDMI's into my Oppo UDP-203 disc player to upgrade everything with Oppo processing. Then I use the audio optical digital output port set to Dolby Digital straight to my Sonos Playbar so I can get 5.1 surround with my system. Sonos is great but they won't decode DTS so if one wants to watch a disc with only DTS-HD or PCM as choices, this is the only way I hack found to make it work, so far.
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