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Beam: Keeps Switching Back to ARC from Bluetooth - How to Stop? (not solved)

  • December 27, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 127 views
J

 

 

I have an LG BX OLED TV and a Beam connected via HDMI ARC, and I also use Sony Bluetooth headphones. Every time I try to play TV audio through Bluetooth, it switches back to ARC after 2 seconds. The only solution I’ve found is to physically disconnect the HDMI cable from the Beam, but that’s obviously not ideal. Turning off HDMI-CEC (Simplink on LG TVs) has been suggested, but it doesn’t really solve the problem because Simplink and HDMI-CEC keeps reactivating automatically. This forces me to go into the connection menu repeatedly to disable it, which is frustrating.

 

The fact that this issue persists after years is unacceptable. The Beam and the TV keep prioritizing ARC, completely ignoring the user’s preference to play audio through Bluetooth. It’s infuriating that neither LG nor SONOS has addressed this problem properly. If I want to use Bluetooth headphones to avoid disturbing others in the room, I shouldn’t have to deal with my soundbar reconnecting to ARC and blasting sound at full volume against my wishes.

 

It’s a clear oversight in coordination between these companies, and it’s disappointing that no real fix has been implemented. 

Best answer by Corry P

Hi ​@JaviY 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of this issue you are having when trying to use headphones with your TV.

When your TV is turned on, it creates a HDMI-CEC network and interrogates the abilities of the connected devices. Your Beam will identify itself as an audio sink. So, the TV will then select it as the intended destination for audio.

Generally, when using headphones connected to the TV, the answer is indeed to disable HDMI-CEC to prevent the TV from reselecting the soundbar as the audio output. I have never understood why this is needed - if you select headphones as the output device, it should stay that way until you tell it otherwise, in my opinion. However - if the TV is turning HDMI-CEC (what LG call SIMPLINK) back on again, I don’t see what else you can do other than physically disconnect the Beam - apart from reporting this strange behaviour to LG of course, as what is the point of supplying you with options in the TV menu if they are ignored?

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing that Sonos can do that will alter the behaviour of your TV - only LG can do so. Please check your TV for software updates, and if there are none, I can only recommend you report this abnormal behaviour to LG directly.

I hope this helps.

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3 replies

Corry P
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  • Corry P
  • Sonos Staff
  • 8646 replies
  • Answer
  • December 31, 2024

Hi ​@JaviY 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of this issue you are having when trying to use headphones with your TV.

When your TV is turned on, it creates a HDMI-CEC network and interrogates the abilities of the connected devices. Your Beam will identify itself as an audio sink. So, the TV will then select it as the intended destination for audio.

Generally, when using headphones connected to the TV, the answer is indeed to disable HDMI-CEC to prevent the TV from reselecting the soundbar as the audio output. I have never understood why this is needed - if you select headphones as the output device, it should stay that way until you tell it otherwise, in my opinion. However - if the TV is turning HDMI-CEC (what LG call SIMPLINK) back on again, I don’t see what else you can do other than physically disconnect the Beam - apart from reporting this strange behaviour to LG of course, as what is the point of supplying you with options in the TV menu if they are ignored?

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing that Sonos can do that will alter the behaviour of your TV - only LG can do so. Please check your TV for software updates, and if there are none, I can only recommend you report this abnormal behaviour to LG directly.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
controlav
1 person likes this
  • controlav
    controlav
buzz
  • buzz
  • 24002 replies
  • December 31, 2024

Try inserting a CEC blocker between the TV and BEAM.

106rallye
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  • 106rallye
  • 6233 replies
  • December 31, 2024

Or use the TV swap feature on a Sonos Ace.

Corry P
1 person likes this
  • Corry P
    Corry P
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