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rpuls
Trending Lyricist I
September 17, 2021
Answered

Pioneer DJM 900NXS digital output to sonos beam?

Alright, please bear with me. I know the beam is not designed to be compatible with these kinds of devices. But…. if we can be theoretical at least, what does it take to convert the digital output from the pioneer djm 900nxs mixer to a signal that the sonos beam can play?

I have seen some people converting RCA to digital hdmi audio, but I just bought such a converter, and the beam would not recognize it. I then noticed that the pioneer mixer has a digital output, same physical plug/socket as a single RCA / phono connection, but should be digital, however I don’t know more about it than that. Link to the manual is here: http://docs.pioneerdj.com/Manuals/DJM_900NXS_DRB1542B_manual/?_ga=2.122783947.1149498362.1631907776-1773056362.1629119165
or the website: https://www.pioneerdj.com/en/support/documents/archive/djm-900nxs/
The digital output is sparingly mentioned on page 8.

I don’t understand what the digital audio signal is, or is called, and I haven’t been able to find any converter that takes this plug and turns it into hdmi. furthermore, I don’t know if the beam would recognize it as a TV (I believe, the beam won’t talk with anything else that tvs or tv impostors).

I see a few options here, but can’t make the right connection. The beam can take audio from HDMI (but needs to look like a tv or something?) or it can take a optical signal from the adapter that came with the device.

The djm, has several output sources, RCA and RXL (analogue) or this digital thingy… Any ideas on which converter that should work with either of the output sources of the djm, and which type of input I should use on the beam (hdmi/optical) ?

Thanks in advance!

ps. I have seen few similar questions, which are all shot down very quickly with “No we don’t recommend doing this, it is not designed to do this” …. etc. look, I know… But I would still like to try.

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rpulsAnswer
Trending Lyricist I
September 21, 2021

Solved:
After playing around with the digital output settings on the mixer all of a suddenly I got sound!
In, case anyone else ever want to copy this setup, here is what I did:

  1. Power off the mixer
  2. Hold down utility ON/OFF button (top right corner)
  3. Now turn on the mixer, and keep holding down the utility ON/OFF
  4. After few seconds mixer is in “club settings” mode, and you can release the utility button
  5. Use the < & > BEAT buttons to navigate to DOUT FS (Digital output sampling rate)
  6. Press the TAP button to select menu item.
  7. Use the < & > BEAT buttons to select 48kHz

In case this is not enough, I also set DOUT LV to -5dB, but I don’t think that should be necessary.

The converter I ended up using is a small black metal square with the text:


Toslink ←  → Coaxial

Digital audio converter

I bought it on amazon for about 7€

 

I assume that the sonos beam was not compatible with the 96kHz that the mixer outputs by default.

✓ Answered the question 

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controlav
controlav
Lead Maestro
September 19, 2021

What does the Sonos app say the audio format is in? Could be that the Pioneer (or the source device that is generating the audio) is choosing an unsupported codec.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.
rpulsAuthor
Trending Lyricist I
September 19, 2021

How can I check this? The beam in the app just shows “TV” but has no sound. But maybe you are referring to a more detailed description ? 

Unfortunately I have still not been able to find out what codes/signal/standard the pioneer outputs. The player is a CDJ 900NXS, it plays mp3 files and outputs a RCA phono (red/white) the the mixers ch 1, 2, 3 or 4 line-in.

While writing, this I realize that the player also has digital output capability. Tomorrow i will try and see if the setup works when only using digital signal all the way.

rpulsAuthor
Trending Lyricist I
September 21, 2021

Alright, so I tried only using digital output all the way, so the sound is never converted to analogue, but still no sounds. I even tried a different converter, both gives the same result, the beam recognizes it immediately but never plays any sound..

Someone at the pioneer forum responded and told me that the digital signal is “Linear PCM, 16bit/48kHz or 96kHz”, so the question is, does the sonos beam support that signal?

 

rpulsAuthorAnswer
Trending Lyricist I
September 21, 2021

Solved:
After playing around with the digital output settings on the mixer all of a suddenly I got sound!
In, case anyone else ever want to copy this setup, here is what I did:

  1. Power off the mixer
  2. Hold down utility ON/OFF button (top right corner)
  3. Now turn on the mixer, and keep holding down the utility ON/OFF
  4. After few seconds mixer is in “club settings” mode, and you can release the utility button
  5. Use the < & > BEAT buttons to navigate to DOUT FS (Digital output sampling rate)
  6. Press the TAP button to select menu item.
  7. Use the < & > BEAT buttons to select 48kHz

In case this is not enough, I also set DOUT LV to -5dB, but I don’t think that should be necessary.

The converter I ended up using is a small black metal square with the text:


Toslink ←  → Coaxial

Digital audio converter

I bought it on amazon for about 7€

 

I assume that the sonos beam was not compatible with the 96kHz that the mixer outputs by default.

✓ Answered the question 

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