Question

Which Sonos product to connect to projector/Nvidia Shield

  • 16 November 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 837 views
J
  • JC80
  • Contributor I
  • 0 replies

Hi all.

Thanks in advance for reading. I have looked through previous posts but there seem to be so many different set ups that I want to be sure I get the right product.

I am setting up a home cinema system. At the moment I have an Nvidia Shield (2017), an old Optoma projector (which will be replaced in next 12 months so not a fixed part of set up), a Gen 1 Play 5 and two Play 1s.

I have a shelf at the back of the room with space/plugs to house the projector, Nvidia Shield and any speakers or other equipment needed there.

Ideally, I was hoping that I could connect the Shield to the projector and a Sonos product and then stream the audio from the Shield/projector to the Play 1s or another Sonos product at the front of the room.

Will that work if I connect a HDMI from the Shield to the projector and then connect an optical cable/HDMI to any Sonos product? Or do I need something like the Connect or Connect Amp? Would that even work to relay the audio to the other Sonos speakers in the room?

As a fallback, Id be happy in the short term to just get audio coming from a speaker connected to the projector as the room is not that large - so I dont definitely need front speakers/surround sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3 replies

Airgetlam

I’m not sure I understand all of your post, so let me just state some concerns.

First, without checking, I’m not sure the NVIDIA shield has the capability of generating a Dolby Digital signal...or a stereo one. I seem to recall it is only Dolby Digital Plus, although I may be confusing it with the whole Roku stick line. Certainly something to double check.

Second, Sonos doesn’t really have a system that is designed for projector use, i.e. source at the back, sound at the front. All of the Sonos solutions that can be even close to lipsync require either HDMI-ARC, or an optical TOSLink connection. Does your projector have either? If not, you’re going to need to use some sort of device to extract the audio signal before it reaches your projector, such as an HDMI switch with an optical out. There are many threads about this in the Home Theater area of this forum. Any other Sonos device with a line in would have a minimum of a 75 ms delay in it, such as the Port, or even a PLAY:5. 

So you’re going to end up needing to run a cable from where the projector is to where the image is. Putting a speaker anywhere else would be disconcerting to the listener. 

Third, you should be aware that there’s a significant difference between HDMI, which your Shield generates, and HDMI-ARC, which the Sonos is expecting, and is not created by any “source” device, but instead usually by the display device. If you’re planning on using HDMI-ARC, you’re going to need a device that generates that type of signal.

I hope this answers some of your questions, and gives you more to think on. 

Bruce
M
Userlevel 3
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I’m not sure I understand all of your post, so let me just state some concerns.

First, without checking, I’m not sure the NVIDIA shield has the capability of generating a Dolby Digital signal...or a stereo one. I seem to recall it is only Dolby Digital Plus, although I may be confusing it with the whole Roku stick line. Certainly something to double check.

Second, Sonos doesn’t really have a system that is designed for projector use, i.e. source at the back, sound at the front. All of the Sonos solutions that can be even close to lipsync require either HDMI-ARC, or an optical TOSLink connection. Does your projector have either? If not, you’re going to need to use some sort of device to extract the audio signal before it reaches your projector, such as an HDMI switch with an optical out. There are many threads about this in the Home Theater area of this forum. Any other Sonos device with a line in would have a minimum of a 75 ms delay in it, such as the Port, or even a PLAY:5. 

So you’re going to end up needing to run a cable from where the projector is to where the image is. Putting a speaker anywhere else would be disconcerting to the listener. 

Third, you should be aware that there’s a significant difference between HDMI, which your Shield generates, and HDMI-ARC, which the Sonos is expecting, and is not created by any “source” device, but instead usually by the display device. If you’re planning on using HDMI-ARC, you’re going to need a device that generates that type of signal.

I hope this answers some of your questions, and gives you more to think on. 

Couldn’t you just connect a Sonos AMP to the Shield with HDMI > TOSLINK adapter and it’s simple as that?

 
Airgetlam

No, the Shield doesn’t generate an HDMI-ARC signal. That’s usually generated by the display, and not the source device. 

Bruce
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