You don't say what connection your headphones have? But an HDMI splitter will work assuming that's your connection. Have a look at this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FX6C7TP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_B9A4FbSY2AMAD

Thank you for the suggestion. I tried one of those and it didn’t work.  Not even passing through the sound to the Sonos Beam.  It’s ready to be sent back but I’ll have a fiddle around again with it today.  There are two slide switches - one is ARC ON/OFF and the second  has three positions.  PASS, 2.1, 5.1

ARC should be on and select PASS 

As an alternative option, if your TV outputs its audio via its optical port at the same time as it sends the audio to the Beam over HDMI-Arc, then perhaps look at a DAC to convert that feed to whatever connection your headphones require. This is just one example (there are many others):

www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Converter-Bluetooth-Receiver-Coaxial/dp/B07W5Y64KB/ref=sr_1_1

Thank you, UKMedia...will give those settings a try.

@Ken_Griffiths  No, in their infinite wisdom Samsung decree that only one audio output can be selected at any one time. One of those functions that you don’t realise isn’t there until you’ve bought the TV !  

OK...looks like this unit is yet another example of C-cubed.  Cheap Chinese C***

Doesn’t work at all with those settings. In fact doesn’t work at all with any settings and reading reviews it looks very much as if this is a generic device and rebadged a lot and that a lot of other people have similar issues.  As I say, C- cubed.

I don’t mind paying extra for quality.  Any British or European made gadgets like this ?

What is the ‘gadget’ connected to the TV that you are trying to extract the audio from and what is the headphone connection - Bluetooth, wired etc?

You could buy a Port, group that with the Beam and use it to feed the headphone. The sound will have a 70ms delay though…..

The ‘gadget’ requires the functionality as suggested by UKMedia.  It needs an HDMI input socket that passes through to the HDMI output socket ….supporting ARC so that it will continue to feed the Sonos Beam.

The ‘gadget’ also needs to supply an audio feed to my headphone amplifier at the same time.  The headphone amplifier has simple RCA phono sockets. So since the unit that UKMedia suggested has a 3.5mm stereo jack then it’s simple to connect the audio to the headphone amp.  The fact that it happens to be analogue by this time is academic since if the audio was still in the digital domain then I’d simply get a DAC.

What I’m struggling with at the moment is the mis-labelling and poor search function of Amazon.  I need a splitter and not a switch. Yet so many listings say ‘switch splitter’, which is a nonsense.  Regardless of the semantics, it also needs to support ARC...and again, impossible to find out from the listings.

@106rallye.   Way outside my budget !  Out of curiosity is a 70mS delay noticeable ?  At the moment, my workaround is to feed the headphone amp from the two audio sockets on the back of the Humax YouView.  The trouble with that is that, not surprisingly, the sound in the headphones is ahead of that coming from the Sonos Beam and so if the Beam volume is up a bit then I do get an annoying echo.

countryman,

A couple of further examples for you to perhaps consider:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tendak-Switcher-Optical-Toslink-Extractor/dp/B07YD2CLMY/ref=sr_1_16

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROZOR-Extractor-SPDIF-Coaxial-Converter-Compatible/dp/B087BMJDYL/ref=sr_1_6

I appreciate your suggestions, Ken.  But they are both the same item ...just rebadged..and the same as the useless one that I have sitting on the floor and ready to go back.  It really is so frustrating that there only seems to be just the one factory in the world churning out this stuff.

The first audio extractor linked above explicitly says “Note: Not support HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel)”. The two that Ken linked, which are not the same item, do claim to support ARC.

If HDMI-CEC is not essential another option is to simply output optical from the TV into a two-way active optical splitter, and thence into the Beam’s dongle and the headphone transmitter. The Beam would have to be trained to suitable IR remote codes, ideally of a different make from the TV.

The one that Ken linked to is the one that I have.  The one that comes out of the same Chinese factory as all the others.  The one that doesn’t work.

Any recommendations for a good active optical splitter, please ?

@countryman That’s why I placed the warning. If you notice any delay is very personal, though your case could be worse, as you seem to want to play both headphones and the soundbar at the same time…..

I’ve given up trying the HDMI route.  Tried another of those extractors.  They might work if they are inserted between a picture source, such as a Blu-Ray player and the TV.  But inserted between the HDMI-ARC socket on the TV and the Sonos Beam, it’s a resounding FAIL.  

Also tried an HDMI splitter, thinking that if that worked and it fed the Sonos beam OK then I’d find a gizmo to plug into the second HDMI output socket and extract the audio. That was a FAIL as well.

These things do NOT want to play nicely with HDMI-ARC

So it’s down to the optical splitter route.

Can anyone please suggest a good optical splitter ?

At last!  Success.

I post the solution here for the benefit of others.

1. Avoid the passive optical splitters.  You get what you pay for.
2. Buy an active optical splitter such as this one. Note that the identical unit on Amazon is about 3x the price of this one !
3. Buy a simple DAC such as this one
4. Connect up the Samsung to the IN of (2), the Sonos Beam to one of the (OUT) and the DAC to another (OUT)
5. Job done.