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I have an LG TV OLED C1 connected via HDMI ARC to my Sonos Beam, which has worked perfectly. Since recently purchasing a Humax PVR box, sometimes the audio will not play through the Sonos when the Humax box is in stand-by. If I try to turn the TV volume up or down, I get a ‘mute’ icon appear on the TV screen and no sound is emitted from the Sonos.

When I use the Beam app on my phone to try to fix the issue, it tells me that a device is interfering with the communication between the TV and the Beam. The only solution that seems to work is to remove the HDMI cable (that comes from the Humax) from the port in the TV, change the TV audio settings to ‘internal volume’, re-connect the Humax HDMI cable and then switch the TV audio back to ‘external device HDMI ARC’.

There must be a more straightforward fix. Any ideas, anyone?

This is almost certainly an issue with HDMI-CEC from the Humax box. This comes up from time to time. If there isn’t an option in the Humax settings to disable CEC (it may be called something different, so look carefully) then insert a ‘CEC-less’ adapter into the HDMI cable between the box and the TV. It will simply break the electrical connection that CEC uses. You can find such adapters readily on Amazon. 

Hi Ratty.

Sounds like you’ve got a good understanding of this issue. I’ll look again through the Humax settings, as didn’t see anything that resembled CEC, but it may have a different name, as you said. 
 

Failing that, presumably the Humax will still send audio via the TV to the Sonos, when I’m watching a recording (the Humax isn’t directly connected to the Sonos) if I use a CEC-less adapter, as you’ve described?

Failing that, presumably the Humax will still send audio via the TV to the Sonos, when I’m watching a recording (the Humax isn’t directly connected to the Sonos) if I use a CEC-less adapter, as you’ve described?

Yes, the audio and video are unaffected. The adapter simply stops any bogus CEC signal, so prevents the TV misdirecting the audio away from the Beam.

I have an older Humax PVR which, despite never claiming CEC support, managed to upset things. Adding a Lindy CEC-less adapter fixed it. Only £12 or thereabouts. It can go at either end of the HDMI cable.

Thanks Ratty. Have ordered a similar item, so should be sorted. Thanks for your help. 

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