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Enthusiast II
July 18, 2018

Sonos Beam and Bose QC headphones in Samsung TV

I have the Beam working via HDMI on my TV and when I switch in my headphones to connect to the TV via Bluetooth, it works initially and TV says disconnecting Anynet+ device (the Beam) but then it seems to immediately reconnect the Beam and so not allowing me to switch to the Bluetooth headphones. Any ideas on how to get this working without having to switch Anynet off and on in the menu all the time? My Samsung is a 2015 UHD model.
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154 replies

Lyricist I
August 5, 2019
Same problem LG B7 + Beam + Sony Wh-1000xm3.
Wish we could just activate/deactivate the ARC connection in the app.
Thanks for the thread and the many voices for this concern.
Lyricist I
August 5, 2019
All Sonos has to do is simply add a toggle to turn on or off the TV, HDMI port. If you turn off the port from the App, the TV will disconnect the ARC / HDMI Connection and then you can toggle it back on again in the app.

You essentially, most likely can do this my making the Sonos Beam play from a different source, which turns off the TV's sound, and frees up the TV. When its time to play another source, the Sonos sure can avoid the TV, now cant it?

Anywho, make a source that plays nothing at least.... so it jacks it from the TV...

If i were Sonos, i would fix it, its easy, stop annoying your client base with such a silly thing. Customer is always right, period, end of story, fix it or create a work around using code you already have written.
Lyricist I
September 4, 2019
Because I have exactly the same problem (Samsung TV, Sonos Beam, Bose QC35 headphones) I found this Tread.

However, it is frustrating that this problem became known more than a year ago and no viable solution has yet been found.

In today's era of automation, the headphones should be able to be taken off the charging station (once set up) and turned on. Then the audio output of sonos should move immediately to the headphones. No adjustments must be made in menus.

😫I can not suggest the proposed solution to my wife, who would ban the sonos from the house.
ratty
September 4, 2019
In today's era of automation, the headphones should be able to be taken off the charging station (once set up) and turned on. Then the audio output of sonos should move immediately to the headphones. No adjustments must be made in menus.
Sonos doesn't contain any means of driving headphones, Bluetooth or whatever. The headphones make a connection to the TV, and it's how the TV behaves that's the issue.

😫I can not suggest the proposed solution to my wife, who would ban the sonos from the house.

If you really care about fixing this then, as mentioned a number of times in this thread, just get a little, separate Bluetooth transmitter and hook it to the optical output of your TV. Your wife can then just turn on the headphones and they'd work. Turn down the volume on the Sonos player if it's not required for other viewers. The Bluetooth transmitter can most probably be powered from a USB port on the TV, so no need for another power socket.
Lyricist I
September 5, 2019
My Setup: 2019 Samsung TV w/ smart remote + Sonos Beam + Sennheiser 185 wireless headphones

Problem: I can't quickly turn off the sound to my Sonos Beam so I can listen to the TV privately using wireless headphones so the rest of my family can sleep.

Methods Tried and Passed On:
I tried most of them... optical switch w/ remote, wireless on/off receptacle plug w/remote, Bluetooth transmitter, etc. I was able to get these various methods to work but they were too cumbersome, too many buttons, and/or took too much time.


BEST SOLUTION FOR MY SETUP

To Turn OFF Sonos Beam and Turn ON Wireless Headphones - Follow Two Steps:
Step One: Using your Samsung smart remote, press the microphone button** and say the following exactly: "Settings Any Net Plus". Say it slowly like a robot. Brief pause between "settings" and "any net plus". It will bring up the correct settings menu. Press select (that's the center round button inside the round navigation ring). Done. You have just turned off the HDMI ARC connection with the Sonos Beam.

Step Two: Using your Samsung smart remote, press the microphone button and say the following exactly like a slow robot: "Sound Select Optical". Immediately upon hearing the verbal command the Samsung TV will makes the switch for you. No button to push. You are done! Sound will now go only to your wireless headphones and sound to your TV speakers is turned off.

**Note: To use the Samsung's smart remote verbal commands button you can't be inside Netflix or Amazon Prime or similar apps. So before you do step one and step two above do this: press the home button on the remote (the button that has a house on it!) and then toggle to the left and select the app tile that looks like a white TV with light blue background. When in this app, you can give verbal commands with no problems. This is the fastest way to get out of an app that won't take verbal commands and into an app that allows for verbal commands.


To Turn Back ON the Sonos Beam - Only One Step:
Step One: Using your Samsung smart remote, press the microphone button and say the following exactly: "Settings Any Net Plus". Say it slowly like a robot. It will bring up the correct settings menu. Press select (that's the center round button inside the round navigation ring). Done. That's it. You have just turned on the HDMI ARC connection with the Sonos Beam. Sonos Beam is up and running automatically.

Commentary
With this method you don't have to buy any additional gadgets. For fun I timed how long this method takes. It takes less than 18 seconds to turn Sonos Beam off and your headphones on and less than 10 seconds to turn the Sonos Beam back on. Hopefully this will help those of you looking for a solution with a setup like mine. Headphone Auto Detect it is not. One button press solution it isn't either. That said, this is a fast and user friendly solution that I can do on a regular basis without having to hit my head against a wall and laugh at the irony of paying extra for an intuitive, user friendly tv/sound system that won't support how I use my TV. I have used this method for a few weeks now and I can report that I am happy enough and there is enough distance between my discovery of this lack of functionality and this workable solution that I can get back to enjoying my Sonos Beam purchase without giving it the evil eye and mumbling under my breath.
ratty
September 5, 2019
My Setup: 2019 Samsung TV w/ smart remote + Sonos Beam + Sennheiser 185 wireless headphones

Problem: I can't quickly turn off the sound to my Sonos Beam so I can listen to the TV privately using wireless headphones so the rest of my family can sleep.

Your solution seems amazingly convoluted.

Your RS185 'phones have both optical and analog input. I assume you're using optical, which would receive a signal from the TV at all times. All you need to do therefore is pick up the headphones and turn them on.

As for the Beam, why on earth don't you just mute it. If the 'smart remote' somehow has trouble passing the command through the HDMI-CEC from the TV then simply train the Beam to respond to IR codes and use that. Heck, if even that's a problem you could just long-touch the volume-down button on the Beam to mute it when you walk up to the TV to collect the headphones.
Lyricist I
September 5, 2019
+1 also waiting for a proper solution which doesn’t include me having to get up from the sofa unplugging anything. This missing feature is something I would think that you could toggle, especially since you’ve coded the beam to override whatever else me as an user tries to connect. Should be easy to toggle in the Sonos App!

Happy with the product otherwise, but as of right now it is hijacking my TV and solely claims ALL the rights to be the only soundsource. Just like an overly attached girlfriend. Actually really annoyed by this.

I was actually looking for a way to just turn off the beam, but that’s not possible from the app is it? does anybody know?
Lyricist I
September 15, 2019
I was thinking about recommending this product to my father who needs a soundbar (that supports headphones flawlessly) but sadly, I can't recommend Sonos Beam because of this issue.
Lyricist I
October 7, 2019
I think the solution is for Sonos to allow a bluetooth connection from the Beam. As there is no bluetooth radio in the beam, this is not possible. They could have an off button in the app though. Then you wouldn't have to unplug it.
Airgetlam
October 7, 2019
The issue seems to be an HDMI-CEC issue, and not technically a Sonos issue, as near as I can tell. If you connect your Sonos via optical, I don't think you'd be having this issue. It's just the way that HDMI-CEC was designed to work, with a single set of outputs, not two.
Bruce