OREI HDA-935 Audio Extractor

@RaydenSch Set Digital Audio Output on the Blu-ray player to PCM and you should get Multichannel PCM audio from all DTS-encoded discs.

I am paying attention to this thread with great interest.  I have a Sonos Arc surround system connected to a non eARC TV (which is still able to transmit lossy Atmos).  I considered the HDFury Arcana and also this product.  My biggest concern is bugs that affect overall usability and simplicity.  It might work in a lot of circumstances but you can get issues such as: Audio drop outs, CEC issues, and issues with Audio going back from sources not included in the Orei (such as Audio from TV internal apps).

I don’t see the point in spending almost US$300 for the Arcana given that its only going to be a relatively short term solution until one upgrades their TV.  The Orei makes more sense in that regard.  

In the end, I just settled for Lossy Atmos from the TV apps (would have preferred to use the Apple TV as a slicker interface but Atmos won’t work in this set up unless you have this kind of device or an eARC enabled TV).  

The key for me is that unless you use Blu Ray discs (which I do not), then I don’t see the point given that all streaming services output Atmos in the lossy format anyway.  My biggest issue is that I cannot get Atmos from Disney Plus on my native TV app for some reason (only Dolby Digital Plus) while Netflix and Prime output Atmos just fine.  

If on the other hand, I can be convinced that its a smooth user experience after adjusting a few settings, I might give it a go.  

I decided to buy the 935 since my 2016 model Samsung SUHD TV (UN65KS9000) with 4 HDMI 2.2 ports and ARC is only capable of Dolby Digital and PCM; no Dolby Atmos or DD+ audio formats.  While DD 5.1 sounds great from Disney+ I know from experience using my newer LG TV with ARC and my Sonos Arc and One SLs.  I can get lossy Dolby Atmos and DD+ from Disney+, which blows DD 5.1 away.  Neither TV will get Dolby Atmos from my Ultra 4K HD 3D Blu-ray players playing Dolby Atmos discs so I’m hoping the 935 will do the trick.  

I would check to see if you can run the bluray player through the TV first, to get the DTS processing, then Orei, then Arc if that makes sense.  It’s possible that your TV handles this passthrough of audio differently then it does audio from the native apps.  If that works though, you would still need to run the bluray player directly to Orei to get atmos, so you have to get a HDMI splitter too.  Maybe more trouble than it’s worth.

Do you get audio from any of the native apps?  Like I mentioned above, does passthrough audio work? And it’s probably obvious, but the orei needs to connect to the ARC port on the TV.

This is clearly advertised as a feature of the device. Hopefully support has an answer for you.

Or a different streaming box besides firetv.  However, you should be able to use your native TV apps, since it’s an advertised feature and all.

I don’t think that’s necessarily true.  TV software development is focused on video quality, as that’s what sells TVs.  Audio quality, and meeting audio standards, are not top priority.  It’s not unheard of for a TV firmware update to cause issues with eARC, and it take some time for them to get around to fixing it.   For that reason, it makes sense to use a device like Arcana or the 935 because the feature you need from it is the main reason the product exists.  

$300 is  a lot, and maybe that’s ok if you’re using it with a $1k+ TV,  $900 soundbar, $700 sub, etc.  However, if you’ve got a $400 TV and a $450 Beam (G2), that extra $300 is huge.  I really hope this Orei device is useful.

And as I pointed out before, I like that this device has a headphone jack that can be used for a bluetoot output too.  I am tempted to give this a try just for that feature.

Guys thanks for your advice. I changed the audio setting on my bluray player from Auto to PCM, and now Orei can send Multi-channel PCM 7.1 to my Sonos. Happy with this result. 

I toggle between FireTV (IN2 on Orei) and the Bluray player (IN3 on Orei) just by pressing any key on their respective remotes, so, the CEC function works properly. However, there is a bug, as I toggle back and forth between the FireTV and the bluray player the audio stops coming quite often. I thought it’ll be a deal breaker, but I used Orei’s remote to turn it OFF and ON and the audio came back. I’ll continue to monitor this issue and let you guys know how frequently the issue occurs. Let me know if this device works flawlessly for you guys.

Still have to resolve the “audio from the TV’s native apps issue.” Passthrough from the TV’s ARC to Sonos through the Orei hasn’t worked for me yet, no matter what audio setting I selected on the TV. I haven’t tried running the app on a computer and then HDMI it to the Orei for sound & Video yet, but even if it works that way, I don’t think I will go through the hassle of doing all that every time I want to watch a game. I’m looking forward to the Soccer world cup and TSN Direct on my Samsung TV is my only option.

In Canada, I had to pay around $230 Canadian for this device, I’m wondering if I should just sent it back and save for a new TV that comes with two 2.1 HDMI ports, and then use an HDMI switcher to connect my devices, maybe the HDMI switcher will be bug free?🤔 But I don’t know yet.

Another update to my previous comment:

I found two more issues, when I turned ON my TV this morning, the FireTV home page was like zoomed-in. I have never seen that before when the FireTV was connected directly to my TV. I turned the Orei OFF and ON and the resolution went back to normal.

A few hours later I went in the Amazon music app on the FireTV and played a song, the sound came out completely distorted. I turned OFF and ON all of the devices involved and tried again but had same issue. Again, it played just fine when the FireTV stick was connected to the TV directly.

This product is just full of bugs, seems like a beta version or something. I initiated the return process on Amazon and learned that the return will be reviewed and approved by the seller. It isn’t turning out to be a very good experience.

Just to say my preference was to go with the Feintech VAX04101A:

https://feintech.eu/en/collections/hdmi-topseller/products/feintech-vax04101-hdmi-earc-pass-switch-4x1-for-soundbar
 

I’ve been really pleased with it, but it’s quite difficult to get hold of it in some countries, but maybe try the Feintech site, or speak with their Support Staff.

I’m curious if the OREI has a firmware update option?

Hmmmm so far this device sounds like it causes more problems than it solves which is a shame.  The most reliable device (HDFury Arcana is still selling for US$250 which is insane!) is also not without its glitches and the Feintech product is not extensively reviewed and also difficult to purchase in many parts of the world.  

I think the bottom line is:  If your TV has non eARC but can pass through Atmos using lossy format (Dolby Digital Plus), then its really not worth the hassle.  If the TV cannot do that - then chances are the TV is either quite old or was pretty inexpensive to start with - meaning that spending a lot of $$ on a go between device that is reliable is hard to justify.  The cheaper alternatives seem unreliable or hard to purchase.  

Hopefully over time these products get better and cheaper.  But the addressable market seems small and shrinking so I am not too optimistic.  

This is mostly fair comment (IMO) , but it depends on what your perception of ‘old’ is when it comes to TVs.  I bought a top-of-the-range LG 4K OLED TV in 2017.  It was the 2016 model that was just about to be replaced by the 2017 version.  As a result I got it for ‘only’ £2,100 instead of its launch price 11 months earlier of £3.600.  So not cheap, but possibly old. 

Six years is admittedly a long time in televisions, but the picture is fantastic and I don’t plan to change it for many years yet, barring a hardware failure.  But it doesn’t do Atmos at all.  And there is an audio lag / lip-sync problem for all audio using an external  audio  system, like the Arc.

So the Arcana has brought Dolby Atmos and perfect lip-sync to my TV watching.  The alternatives were another expensive television or Arcana, which was the only show in town at the time.  For me, it has been worth the money, but of course that won’t be true of everyone.