Avid Contributor I

Question

Standalone soundbar

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
November 12, 2016
10 replies
594 views

I purchased the soundbar and don't have short term plans to add anything else (sub, surround). My TV does not output from HDMI to optical in Dolby

1) Will I get a different format or benefit if I still add a switch or am I only getting Stereo given my setup? I say this since when I play Netflix from the TV, it outputs to the soundbar as dolby and it seems to sound better. Should I be buying a switch?
2) Is there a small switch that you can recommend that can hide behind the tV that sits over my fireplace (not much space behind the tv)?

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Chris

Lead Maestro

think of the soundbar as what it is 3.0 (meaning 3 distinct channels left, right, center). When you feed it 2.0 Stereo it has to do its own mix for the center channel which means its not going to be as clearly defined. Your going to have to decide if its worth the hassle and cost of getting switch.

Now if you had a switch you would have to have HDMI ARC out of the TV (does it have that) so that you can get all back to one toslink cable.

I'm not sure of the size of the switches buy I know the monoprice switch has been popular.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

4

4x15mphAuthor

Avid Contributor I

I could go from the cable box (and other outputs, i.e. blue-ray) to the switch and then from the switch to the soundbar using optical cable, right? I think my TV does have HDMI out but the other option would also work, right?

Yes, worth the hassle to have the sound bar work correctly and separate the center channel. This is insane ... if the soundbar had hdmi input I would be fine

Chris

Lead Maestro

sorry I wasn't thinking. If got optical switch you would do that from all but prob best hdmi switch with all hdmi going to switch the. Single hdmi to tv and optical out to playbar.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

4

4x15mphAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Chris - can you restate this? I am not following your explanation but I think it might be fragmented from writing on a phone or other. Thanks in advance

Chris

Lead Maestro

Hdmi switch (like monoprice one) with all hdmi input to. Then single hdmi from the switch to projector and optical out of switch to the playbar.

The tv would need hdmi arc out tonsend to the switch as well for listening to Netflix generated from tv.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

4

4x15mphAuthor

Avid Contributor I

Chris, in that configuration, the TV could send out to the switch using optical as long as the switch supported multiple optical inputs. I know a new version of the soundbar is going to come out and make me very angry that I have this antiquated version. Apparently I have a "gen 1" play 5 now.

Anyhow, I just spent the $$ on the sub and the whole set up sounds decent. I am having a hard time comparing this to a real audio/video set up like I have in my basement, home theatre or like what I had in my family room before I lost a few wires

ratty

I know a new version of the soundbar is going to come out

If you did, you would be under NDA and could not disclose such information.

4

4x15mphAuthor

Avid Contributor I

I know a new version of the soundbar is going to come out

If you did, you would be under NDA and could not disclose such information.

Correct - sorry for any confusion. I am just speculating that obviously a new version will come out some day.

I am going to try the following to address the lack of Dolby Digital based on my HDMI configuration/limitation issues

I purchased the following optical splitter https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-TOSLINK-Digital-Optical-Switcher/dp/B00G188Z7A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 and will channel all of my audio sources to the opitcal splitter and then have the 1 digital optic (TOSLINK) output go to the soundbar. This should get me 5.1 surround sound for all of my needs. The setup will be:

Cable box video to TV
Cable box audio to optical splitter ---> soundbar

Samsung TV (smart apps)
Samsung TV audio optical out to optical splitter --> soundbar

DVD/BluRay video HDMI to samsung TV hdmi in
DVD audio optical out to optical splitter ---> soundbar

ratty

Actually that's a switch, not a splitter.

People should not be confused into thinking that an optical splitter -- a passive 1:2 "Y" device -- can be used in this context. We've had enough posters trying to use a splitter in reverse to combine two optical signals. It doesn't work.

4

4x15mphAuthor

Avid Contributor I

just an update - I received the following switch and hooked it up successfully. https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-TOSLINK-Digital-Optical-Switcher/dp/B00G188Z7A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

While doing this, I found that Comcast now supports NetFlix through the cable so I will no longer use NetFlix as a Samsung TV app. That means for now, I only need a single connection between my cable box and the Sonos soundbar to get dolby digital for cable AND Netflix which is what I needed. I went ahead and added the switch in place anyway for the few occasions that i want to use another samsung smartTV app (i.e. YouTube).

Glad this is working for now. I am over chasing the different video formats and trying to stay current. I will be limited to Dolby 5.1 at this point

Sign up

Login to the community