Solved! Sonos playbar 5.1 signal + no sound through playbar from Smart TV apps

[Cal M]

Hi,

I'd like some help with getting the best out of my new sonos playbar.

First of all my set up is as follows:

Samsung 48J5500 Smart TV (w/ Netflix, Amazon prime etc)
Xbox 360
Youview box
Chromecast
HDMI splitter with optical out (https/www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HLUBJJ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

The Youview box, chromecast, and xbox are connected to HDMI input 1,2 and 3 on the splitter respectively. The TV is then connected to the HDMI arc output on the splitter with the optical cable connected from the optical output on the splitter to the playbar.

I'm aware that it is possible check the input to my playbar through the sonos app (settings > About my sonos system > Audio in).

My first question is that provided my source is in 5.1 Dolby Digital, can I expect to see this within the Audio in line within the app, or do I need to have a subwoofer and 2x Play 1's/Play 3's in my set up?

Secondly, as soon as I open Netflix on my smart TV, the sound plays through the TV and not the soundbar, how can I correct this? Is there a problem with my physical set up or perhaps TV settings?

If I can get netflix audio (programme in 5.1 Dolby Digital) to play through the soundbar then I can check if the playbar audio in is also 5.1 Dolby Digital.

As you may have gathered i'm new to all this and any help would be most appreciated.

 

[boosted1g]

Does your TV not have optical out?
The much better option then some no-name brand converter box is to run HDMI sources to TV, and then use optical out to go from TV to sonos soundbar.

 

[VincentP]

You likely have to enable ARC in the TV, and only one HDMI input on the TV will support it.
If the sound bar is receiving 5.1 Dolby Digital, this should appear whether you have additional speakers connected or not.

 

[Cal M]

Does your TV not have optical out?
The much better option then some no-name brand converter box is to run HDMI sources to TV, and then use optical out to go from TV to sonos soundbar.

Yeah this would be the ideal scenario but unfortunately my TV does not pass DD5.1 from other sources out through optical cable but does pass DD5.1 out through HDMI. This is why I have to use the splitter connected to the TV using HDMI (arc).

 

[Cal M]

You likely have to enable ARC in the TV, and only one HDMI input on the TV will support it.
If the sound bar is receiving 5.1 Dolby Digital, this should appear whether you have additional speakers connected or not.

I have a HDMI cable running from the TV's HDMI arc slot to the HDMI arc output on the splitter, which I believe is correct. Do you think there is also a setting within the TV's menu that has to be enabled?

 

[Cal M]

To update:

I've confirmed I can get DD5.1 to play through the soundbar by simplifying the physical set up so that it resembles the SONOS recommended set up, i.e. having all sources connected via HDMI to the TV and then the TV connected to the playbar via optical cable.

With this set up my smart TV apps e.g. Netflix play in DD5.1 and I can see my playbar has DD5.1 in the Audio in line within the app settings.

However, I still need to find a way to make everything work with original configuration (the HDMI splitter) so that DD5.1 can be passed from ALL my sources to the playbar. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[VincentP]

You likely have to enable ARC in the TV, and only one HDMI input on the TV will support it.
If the sound bar is receiving 5.1 Dolby Digital, this should appear whether you have additional speakers connected or not.

I have a HDMI cable running from the TV's HDMI arc slot to the HDMI arc output on the splitter, which I believe is correct. Do you think there is also a setting within the TV's menu that has to be enabled?

On my Samsung TV I had to enable the option for ARC to work. I only use the digital tuner in the TV and everything else comes through the AV receiver so I can't comment on how apps work with this setup. Audio through ARC is only stereo from my TV.

 

[Cal M]

You likely have to enable ARC in the TV, and only one HDMI input on the TV will support it.
If the sound bar is receiving 5.1 Dolby Digital, this should appear whether you have additional speakers connected or not.

I have a HDMI cable running from the TV's HDMI arc slot to the HDMI arc output on the splitter, which I believe is correct. Do you think there is also a setting within the TV's menu that has to be enabled?

On my Samsung TV I had to enable the option for ARC to work. I only use the digital tuner in the TV and everything else comes through the AV receiver so I can't comment on how apps work with this setup. Audio through ARC is only stereo from my TV.

I''m struggling to find such an option within my TV settings, do you remember where about within your TV settings you found the option to enable ARC?

 

[americanaudiophile]

I would suggest you get an HDMI audio extractor like this one
https/www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Extractor-Support-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG
That way any audio that the TV outputs over HDMI-ARC can be connected to the Playbar.
The Sonos Playbar is a 3.0 so using a 5.1 output might give you better clarity than the optical audio output of the TV if that is stereo only. Either way you need to get the audio from the TV for the TV apps.

 

[Cal M]

I would suggest you get an HDMI audio extractor like this one
https/www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Extractor-Support-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG
That way any audio that the TV outputs over HDMI-ARC can be connected to the Playbar.
The Sonos Playbar is a 3.0 so using a 5.1 output might give you better clarity than the optical audio output of the TV if that is stereo only. Either way you need to get the audio from the TV for the TV apps.

Hi americanaudiophile, shouldn't my current HDMI splitter (link in original post) serve the same purpose as the audio extractor you linked? Both of them involve connecting the TV to the splitter via HDMI and taking the audio onwards via optical to the playbar. Although the audio extractor you linked is fairly cheap, i'm reluctant to buy it in case it just replicates the problem.

For some reason, my digital TV signal (video and audio) reaches the playbar when I have the HDMI splitter in place but only the video of my smart TV apps reaches the playbar not the audio. The ability to be able to distinguish between the in-built digital TV signal and the smart TV apps is missing from the configuration. Not sure if its due to a missed setting within the TV itself or that the HDMI splitter is incapable of differentiating between the two sources from the same physical connection?

 

[VincentP]

I would suggest you get an HDMI audio extractor like this one
https/www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Extractor-Support-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG
That way any audio that the TV outputs over HDMI-ARC can be connected to the Playbar.
The Sonos Playbar is a 3.0 so using a 5.1 output might give you better clarity than the optical audio output of the TV if that is stereo only. Either way you need to get the audio from the TV for the TV apps.

Hi americanaudiophile, shouldn't my current HDMI splitter (link in original post) serve the same purpose as the audio extractor you linked? Both of them involve connecting the TV to the splitter via HDMI and taking the audio onwards via optical to the playbar. Although the audio extractor you linked is fairly cheap, i'm reluctant to buy it in case it just replicates the problem.

For some reason, my digital TV signal (video and audio) reaches the playbar when I have the HDMI splitter in place but only the video of my smart TV apps reaches the playbar not the audio. The ability to be able to distinguish between the in-built digital TV signal and the smart TV apps is missing from the configuration. Not sure if its due to a missed setting within the TV itself or that the HDMI splitter is incapable of differentiating between the two sources from the same physical connection?

What you have is a HDMI switcher, not a splitter.
Since you get audio from digital TV and not apps through the playbar, the issue is in the TV.
You could try updating the firmware in the TV to see if they have fixed this issue, but they may only support audio pass through for these apps through the optical output.
Doesn't one of the devices attached to your TV support netflix?