So I had run into an issue with getting my Sonos Beam to get Dolby Digital audio from my Fios VMS1100. Long story short after a lot of troubleshooting I figured it out that no matter what setting I changed on the hidden/non-hidden menus on the VMS1100 -- it would not output Dolby Digital audio from the HDMI wire. The TV would not allow me to set Dolby Digital audio for the input and the Sonos app reported Stereo coming in. I've seen it work with my Fire TV connected to the same TV that allows me to set DD on the TV and it reports it in the Sonos app.



During my testing I noticed the Optical Out on the VMS outputs Dolby Digital everytime. And when connecting it directly to the Beam with the HDMI adapter, it sounds exceptionally better (especially on Dolby Digital content). So after searching I found this audio inserter:



https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13347



With the Fios outputting optical and HDMI to this device, I have the joined signals passing to my TV which now allows me to set Dolby Digital. And that DD signal passes back to the Beam via ARC as reported in the Sonos app. For weeks I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure this out. And I also don't appear to be running into the random Fios audio issues with mixed content channels (which the recommendation is to set the box to stereo from the hidden menu).



So for those trying to get their Fios box or some other device to pass the audio properly over a single HDMI, definitely check this out. It works and it really is passing a Dolby signal not just stereo masking itself as DD. With all the research I did I wanted to pay this forward so everyone can experience the Beam in its glory. Best purchase ever!