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OREI Products with HDMI-ARC (Audio Return)

  • 17 June 2020
  • 9 replies
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M
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I have reached out to OREI regarding two of their products that indicate they both support HDMI-ARC (Audio Return Channel) - either the UHD-402 or UHDS-402A.

My TV has an HDMI-ARC output but delivers a audio lag to the Sonos Beam.  Up until now, I have been using a Cable DVR with two outputs for my source.  The Optical output from my Cable DVR to the Beam (with the Optical/HDMI adapter) and the HDMI output from the Cable DVR goes to the TV.  I also want to be able to connect additional sources such as BluRay or a streaming like Roku or Chromecast.

Three questions:

  1. Will this idea of extracting the HDMI-ARC work with the Beam?
  2. Anyone have experience with either of these two products?
  3. Which one of these is best suited for my needs?  I have had three emails with the company but not quite getting the communication that I need to make a best decision. 

The link for the two products at the company’s web site are:

OREI UHD-402  https://www.orei.com/products/4k-4x2-hdmi-matrix-switch-by-orei-switcher-18g-ultrahd-with-arc-supports-up-to-4k-60hz-1080p-w-ir-remote-hdcp-2-2-compliant-remote-control-uhd-402

OREI UHDS-402A  https://www.orei.com/products/4k-4x2-hdmi-matrix-switch-by-orei-switcher-18g-ultrahd-with-arc-supports-up-to-4k-60hz-1080p-ir-audio-extractor-w-edid-hdcp-2-2-compliant-remote-control-uhds-402a?_pos=1&_sid=a89a359a8&_ss=r

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Michael

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Best answer by Airgetlam 17 June 2020, 18:43

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Michael
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9 replies

Airgetlam

Those devices don’t extract HDMI ARC, they pass it from the TV that generates it. So there would be no difference, since your TV remains the device that creates the HDMI ARC. 

Bruce
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@Airgetlam Thanks for the feedback.  I’ve been going back and forth with emails to OREI to explain what I wanted it for in detail and they we’re giving me assurances that this is what I needed. But I couldn’t get any documentation to prove it.

In another post I saw someone report that they were using a better HDMI cable between the Tv HDMI-ARC and the Beam.  They also had a Samsung TV.  They were not getting the audio lag.  I may see if that might work.  I had not considered that to be a possibility.  
 

Any ideas for HDMI cables that I should consider?  Your thoughts?
 

Michael
 

 

Michael
Airgetlam

Any HDMI 2.1 compliant cables would be what I’d use. Pretty hard these days to find any older cables (like HDMI 1.4, 1.5, 1.6) if you’re shopping in places with normal turnover. The problem has always been that many/most cables aren’t really labeled well. So there’s no way of knowing which version of compliance they have. Makes life challenging (and fun! right?)...In general, if you get anything through the cable in terms of ARC, it should be fine. On older cables, you would get nothing. For what it’s worth, I’ve been buying cables from a company called Blue Jeans Cables for several years, and been very happy. They’ve got an old style, but very informative, website. and more recently, you can get much of their stuff on Amazon, which hasn’t always been the case. 

It wouldn’t surprise me, given the whole ‘newness’ of the Sonos situation if the CS folks at OREI aren’t understanding the situation. Shoot, I have difficulties myself, and I consider myself somewhat advanced in the ways of HDMI and ARC, mostly due to self importance :) 

Bruce
Airgetlam

By the way, the only potential solution for extracting eARC before it reaches the TV is being discussed here. Surely at some point, there will be others, but right now, it’s the only company working on a device that I’m aware of. 

Bruce
M
Userlevel 4
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Any HDMI 2.1 compliant cables would be what I’d use. Pretty hard these days to find any older cables (like HDMI 1.4, 1.5, 1.6) if you’re shopping in places with normal turnover. The problem has always been that many/most cables aren’t really labeled well. So there’s no way of knowing which version of compliance they have. Makes life challenging (and fun! right?)...In general, if you get anything through the cable in terms of ARC, it should be fine. On older cables, you would get nothing. For what it’s worth, I’ve been buying cables from a company called Blue Jeans Cables for several years, and been very happy. They’ve got an old style, but very informative, website. and more recently, you can get much of their stuff on Amazon, which hasn’t always been the case. 

It wouldn’t surprise me, given the whole ‘newness’ of the Sonos situation if the CS folks at OREI aren’t understanding the situation. Shoot, I have difficulties myself, and I consider myself somewhat advanced in the ways of HDMI and ARC, mostly due to self importance :) 

Understood.  Since I was getting audio from the TV output HDMI-ARC to the Beam, just lagged, it’s not the cable.  I am just seeking the HDMI-ARC signal not the eARC.  So far my Optical solution has been working.  I just never gave the cable any thought that it could be the issue.

Michael
melvimbe

Do you actually need to get audio out of the TV?  Are you using the TVs smart apps?  If your only goal is to get audio from your cable box, blueray, and/or a streaming stick, then you could use that 2nd OREI device, as it’s an HDMI switch that will extract the audio to optical.  You can then connect the optical to your Beam like you’re currently doing. 

 

The only things your losing with that setup is the ability to switch inputs via the TV remote (unless you can reprogram it or something) and CEC controls between TV and Beam...which usually aren’t that important.

Danny
Airgetlam

Nah, your instincts would be correct, the cables wouldn’t introduce any lag. The software running on the TV does, so make sure it is current. melvimbe’s suggestion is a good one, if you’re not using smart apps on the TV, although since they provide ARC support, you should be able to get the smart apps signal via the ARC connection passed out to the switch, and then though the optical connector, if you select the TV connection as the “input”. 

Bruce
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Thanks Danny, @melvimbe ,  Yes, I currently use an Optical switch with IR remote from J-Tech.  I implemented this shortly after getting the Beam and having the Audio Lag with the HDMI-ARC TV output problem.  I have one optical connection directly from the cable box and a second from the TV for TV apps.  
Xfinity added Netflix and Amazon to cable box apps so I have not had to use the TV apps too much.  I’ve checked for firmware updates to the TV a 2019 Samsung Q80r.  I have upgraded my Sonos to S2.  But I didn’t think that would make any difference for the lag problem. 

Michael
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What I failed to mention in the original post, is that Xfinity now offers a new DVR with 4K capabilities, but they have removed the ‘extra’ Optical output.  This and I would like to at least get DD+ audio are the reasons I am revisiting this HDMI-ARC Samsung lag problem.  I guess I could get a simple splitter to add in sequence from the new DVR.   So the sequence would be

DVR → HDMI/Optical splitter (1) → Optical Out → to Optical Switch (for other sources) → Optical/HDMI adapter → Beam

                                                (2) → HDMI Out → TV 

Michael
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