HDMI to 3.5 ???

[dirty boy]

I've done some googling, but i'm not 100% on my terminology as to whether I can do what I want to do, so help appreciated.

Basically, I have a PLAY 5 that has a 3.5mm jack....

I have a TV 6m away (as the crow flies) and am not allowed a playbar or beam on the wall (wife says so), however, there is an HDMI cable that runs from behind the TV to the corner of the room where the PLAY 5 is located.

Using the HDMI Arc from the TV, I can send that signal to the corner and potentially, using some sort of adapter, plug it into the PLAY 5 and boom, I have my TV audio via Sonos and then to the rest of the speakers in the lounge (2 more PLAY 1s) so movies should sound pretty reasonable then (not fancy dolby or anything I know...)

However, what 'gadget' do I need that take the HDMI Arc so that it can go into the PLAY 5 please?

Will this do the job? https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/converters-...

I'm reading about the cable needs to carry video and audio to work, i'm just confused.

Thanks in advance
Stay Safe

[Autopilot]

Does the TV have a headphone socket and would it be possible to run a thin cable where the HDMI runs or is it buried somewhere?

[VEX]

You will need some sort of audio de-embedder to strip audio off a HDMI signal. However I am not sure I have ever seen one that strips the ARC out.

Let me ask a few questions on one of my suppliers.

V.

[Zirconia]

How is the existing cable run, and is there an old school scart on the TV?

If I read this right.

[Autopilot]

Vex,

Have a look at the link he posted, that's what that device does, clever little thing! The one review on the page sounds like it should do what he needs.

Cheers

[dirty boy]

Hi,

It's this "stripping out" people kept talking about....I wasn't sure.

The HDMI cable is buried in the wall and ceiling, so can't run another cable unfortunately.

The only other option I thought was to buy a BEAM and run HDMI straight from the Arc on the TV, but a) that's expensive and b) not sure how a beam would be in a corner of a room on a dresser (although it would fit....obviously i've measured lol!)

Thanks for the prompt responses

[Autopilot]

Going back to basics, isn't is supposed to be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, so probably should have just gone out and bought a new gadget and put it on the wall a bit quick

[Autopilot]

The review from the link you posted said 'Great item which takes audio from HDMI and out to another source. I have had it working well to take audio out to Sonos amp', so sounds like it should do what you need. Probably best to wait for Vex to come back and have his 2p as he knows this stuff.

[Davetheraver]

Just a heads up.

Every time I have stripped audio from on HDMI there has been an audio delay and so in this instance I would foresee lip sync issues.

[dirty boy]

Davetheraver said:

Just a heads up.

Every time I have stripped audio from on HDMI there has been an audio delay and so in this instance I would foresee lip sync issues.

This is the sort of valuable info I love. Thanks..

Maybe a Beam then ...(although that would kerb by new road bike hankerings a litle lol!)

[VEX]

Ok, if you want the answer you want - then it is this.

I have never really played with ARC settings much, for us installers we tend to take audio from the sources only and as others have said, there is likely to be a far bit of processing delay between the Video Image and the sound after the sound has had to pass through the de-embedder and then the encoder side of the Sonos Play:5 - So I would push for (or ask forgiveness for) a Beam.

If you want the 'is it possible' answer, then it is 'yes it looks like it'

But the device you linked to is not the right device, that is for audio and video flowing to the screen, not from it. However Lindy are good and inovative so I did a quick search in the site and found this.

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/converters-...

Which, in its decription, will do what you need from it.

Caveat - I have not used these and this is only my understanding of functionality from the description.

V.

[muppetman74]

Just to add, I use the device linked by Vex for exactly the same reason as you. No lip sync issues here, it was just plug and play. I bought it from Amazon due to their return policy as I was sure it wouldn't work but it's great.

[dirty boy]

Vex/Muppetman, thanks for that, much appreciated.

I'll give the decoder a billy whizz, if it doesn't do the job, i'll send it back, might give them a call and have a chat first.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Where are you planning to place your speakers ?

You may get a higher quality of sound, but if it appears to come from the wrong place then you may end up with a worse result. The Dolby setups all rely on a centre speaker as you still want the majority of the dialogue to come from the screen area. Stereo speakers will work, but with too much physical separation, may just sound odd. If I switch a Dolby receiver to stereo, it doesn't sound right....

[megaphone]

OP where are you located? I have a spare Startech HD2A https://www.startech.com/uk/AV/Converters/Audio/hd...

It runs off a USB for power, no plug in PSU.

[VEX]

megaphone said:

OP where are you located? I have a spare Startech HD2A https://www.startech.com/uk/AV/Converters/Audio/hd...

It runs off a USB for power, no plug in PSU.

Unfortunately that is the wrong extractor. The OP wants to extract the ARC audio, not the standard audio within a source HDMI.

V.

[megaphone]

VEX said:

megaphone said:

OP where are you located? I have a spare Startech HD2A https://www.startech.com/uk/AV/Converters/Audio/hd...

It runs off a USB for power, no plug in PSU.

Unfortunately that is the wrong extractor. The OP wants to extract the ARC audio, not the standard audio within a source HDMI.

V.

Yes, should have read the thread properly!

[megaphone]

What about Bluetooth? If the TV has Bluetooth can it output audio? A simple Bluetooth receiver into the Play 5 may work?

[Autopilot]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Where are you planning to place your speakers ?

You may get a higher quality of sound, but if it appears to come from the wrong place then you may end up with a worse result. The Dolby setups all rely on a centre speaker as you still want the majority of the dialogue to come from the screen area. Stereo speakers will work, but with too much physical separation, may just sound odd. If I switch a Dolby receiver to stereo, it doesn't sound right....

I read an article once that said to chuck that centre speaker away as a good receiver running a 'Phantom' centre is amazing. Ironically, I've been running my L & R channels without a centre and I got a really good result. I have since added a centre speaker and will say that while my phantom centre worked well.....it's not the same!!