Sonos 5.1 audio switch

  • 13 July 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 701 views

Userlevel 2
Hi guys,

2 evenings of pulling my hair out and even with the research, time to create a new post...

Trying to get a 5.1 signal to my playbar / sub / 2 P1s.
No pass through on Panasonic tv so got a Portta HDMI switch with audio extractor...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DZIXIMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_IUpsBb6XKS4ZB
Seen this recommended for use with playbar so thought a safe bet...
Works fine when 2ch selected but as soon as I select 5.1 get no sound whatsoever.
blu Ray, zgemma box and Xbox all perform the same way.
Randomly I got it working once with the xbox. Sonos app showed 5.1 signal for the first time. But never again...
Any ideas what I may be doing wrong? Faulty switch? Wrong switch?
Driving me nuts. Shouldn’t be this hard...
Thanks

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4 replies

I'm wondering if all your devices (bluray, zgemma box(?) and XBox) are all set to send a Dolby Digital signal. I'm willing to bet on at least the Blueray player, it's set to send a DTS signal, which can't be interpreted by the PLAYBAR. And I'd guess a similar issue on the others.
Userlevel 2
If that were right, I would have never got it working.. Xbox was working . 5.1 confirmed in the sonos app. No settings change and will not work again.
Userlevel 2
Just checked another thing. When 2 CH selected, I get an output from the switch(red light at end of toslink cable). When I select 5.1, no red light. So they playbar is not even receiving a signal.
So can’t be a compatibility issue...?
Sounds like a problem with the switch, then. You should be getting that red light out the end whether you're using stereo or Dolby Digital. I'd guess something has failed there.

Of course, the easy way to test that is to connect the PLAYBAR's optical cable to one of the devices directly. Or all of them. That would tell you if the real issue is the switch or not.