Question

Please help me set up my system for 5.1

  • 14 October 2016
  • 14 replies
  • 595 views

Userlevel 1
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RIGHT!

I have a PlayBar and two Play 1's

All I want to connect to the PlayBar is my TV, a PS4 and a PC (nettop).

My Samsung TV has an optical port out but it looks like this is just giving out a stereo signal.

The PS4 has an Optical out also so if I connect this directly to the PlayBar I get the dolby signal.

This is the back of the PC I have,it just has an HDMI which I use to the TV and an audio out spot which is just the size of a headphone jack.

http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/01/acer-revo-one-rl85_6-100538371-orig.jpg

What kind of connector would I need to get this all set up? Honestly I'm not too bothered about the TV coming through the PlayBar, the kind of shows I watch using normal TV channels probably wouldn't be improved much with the PlayBar! But I'd really like my PC and PS4 to be hooked up at the same time if possible? Would prefer not to be ne swapping the cable round too as Ive broken optical cables before!!

Anyway to this this without spending another £50 odd pound ???

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14 replies

Userlevel 1
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01EMVRHGW/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1476472863&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hdmi+in+toslink#immersive-view_1476531016198

So of I get this am I gonna lose the audio direct from my tv ? As that won't have an output to the PlayBar then would it ? Everything would just be going into it and out to the tv and the PlayBar ...
Userlevel 7
Badge +17
Or build the switcher inside playbar2 🆒
The worst thing about this is all the brands look so cheap! So when your trying to compare your just looking at reviews and some of the reviews look like they have been paid for by the sounds of it, I wish a good brand would make a switcher - Surely Sonos can see the demand, if they put their name to a £30 hdmi / toslink switch they would make a fortune!

But that would be tantamount to officially admitting the Playbar has flaws, they're never going to do that.
Userlevel 1
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The worst thing about this is all the brands look so cheap! So when your trying to compare your just looking at reviews and some of the reviews look like they have been paid for by the sounds of it, I wish a good brand would make a switcher - Surely Sonos can see the demand, if they put their name to a £30 hdmi / toslink switch they would make a fortune!
Userlevel 1
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Think I'm gonna try this one... Has an auto light so guessing it switches automatically ?

http://www.agptek.com/Video-Converters-858-212-1.html#1

https://www.amazon.com/Switcher-Extractor-Splitter-Optical-Support/dp/B01DCYDH5K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=brain059-20&linkId=d3da6cc9d2d7c855041acfdf37429062

I might be wrong but it has a lot of good reviews on the USA Amazon site and doesn't look too intrusive, also has a 30 day money back guarantee if its rubbish!

Thanks for your replies!
So you would just feed the ps4 and PC into that throigh HDMI then one HDMI to tv and one optical to sonos ?

Exactly so. The blurb for the switch says that it supports ARC (audio return channel) so OTR TV broadcasts should send the audio to the switch over the HDMI cable. Don't know if you need to change any TV settings to make that happen,

Would prefer not to have a switcher with a remote as it kinda defeats to object of sonos automatically changing from sources... And more wires and plug sockets too??!!

Hmmm this isn't as stream lined as I'd hope for to be honest 😞


I have to agree. Although having gone through the initial pain I have a system that works easily and with which I am very happy. Life is made easier by a Logitech Harmony Touch programmable universal remote, which I would have irrespective of Sonos, so don't see that as part of the cost of Sonos.

What's sonos advice on this ??

I can't speak for Sonos, but from the responses I've seen, it goes along the lines of saying that the only officially supported configuration is to pass everything through the TV with a single optical from TV to Playbar. They tend to say "many users have used switches successfully but this is not a Sonos-supported configuration and we do not recommend any particular switches". That's the gist of it anyway.
Userlevel 1
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So you would just feed the ps4 and PC into that throigh HDMI then one HDMI to tv and one optical to sonos ?

Would prefer not to have a switcher with a remote as it kinda defeats to object of sonos automatically changing from sources... And more wires and plug sockets too??!!

Hmmm this isn't as stream lined as I'd hope for to be honest :(

What's sonos advice on this ??
As far as I can tell that looks good
Userlevel 1
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01EMVRHGW/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1476472863&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hdmi+in+toslink

Would something like this be perfect ? Shame it has so many HDMI ports when I only need two
Userlevel 1
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Damn this is gonna work out expensive 😞 no wonder people were complaining about it only having one slot, didn't think it would be this bad
There is probably a neater way to do this, but this could convert your PC output to optical, then feed into the optical switch. Not ideal to use two switches though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tendak-Optical-Extractor-Converter-Splitter/dp/B01850K40M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476470642&sr=8-1&keywords=hdmi+in+optical+out
You need an HDMI switch with optical output then. I'll have a look round. There is a Monoprrice one that is availablei in the US but I've struggled to find it at an economic price in the UK.
Userlevel 1
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I watch a lot of tv from the PC on Kodi so really want that to be 5.1 if possible 😞 I was using it without the 5.1 and it was sounding pretty good though so it's not the end of the world if it's impossible. The PC says it's capable of 7.1 audio though as it's sold as a multimedia PC just don't know if that's only through HDMI or something?
Hi Chris. How important is 5.1 from the PC? If not important, you could run HDMI from PC to TV, then use one of these to take the TV optical and the PS4 optical to the Playbar:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ViewHD-TOSLINK-Digital-Switcher-VHD-TS3X1-3x1/dp/B00G188Z7A