Hdmi arc vs optical reddit So I'd miss out on some features if I were to play a game or Blu Ray via the Xbox? And if that's the case, there's no workaround? Like have the Xbox via HMDI to the TV and then TV-to-Bose via Optical? I’m running a kind of vintage hybrid home theater in my living room, with a 75” sony TV, optical into a musical fidelity dac into a luxman r117 and klipsch forte 2’s. Because HDMI ARC uses CEC, you will be able to use Sony's remote to control soundbar's volume, as well as switch it on. 1, rca will give you stereo. I think you are thinking eARC is just regular ARC as well as HDMI CEC. HDMI 2. 1. Hdmi gets you control over your audio device from the tv and compatibility with every surround format, optical gives you up to 5. I'm new at this so I might be wrong. With HDMI Arc it can pass DTS HD Master, Dolby True HD whereas Optical is limited to Dolby Digital. It is the general consensus of r/hometheater not to recommend these things and instead simply steer a user toward a 2. External devices --> HDMI --> Onkyo Receiver (circa 2006) TV Tuner --> Optical Out --> Onkyo Receiver (circa 2006) I then use a Harmony remote to switch to the correct inputs on the TV and receiver. But I'm not sure what that entails. I switched the HDMI source on my TV from ARC to HDMI 2. I wanted to know if there was any advantage to using the HDMI ARC over optical for how I use the tv. But apparently the only issue I would run into without using ARC is using the smart TV where I'll need the fibre cable for audio. OR should I just go optical out? Also does HDMI-CEC Anynet+ need to be on. Something seems off with your setup - those are both fairly recent pieces of hardware. I'm not sure 2. I noticed that, while watching TV content via ARC to the receiver/speakers, the audio becomes a lot dimmer, when compared to listening the devices connected directly to the receiver. 1, go PCM from your PS4. 24/48 was the baseline Atmos was designed for, and with HDMI already being ubiquitous, there just isn't a compelling business reason to try to get S/PDIF to support that. Some times, when I haven't used the TV in a while, adjusting to the volume of my vizio sound bar seems to turn the signal off for a few seconds before the picture returns. ARC is only stereo for lossless and lossy for over stereo. 99. Better Sound Quality: HDMI ARC provides superior sound quality compared to digital optical audio. 1 sound without compressing it. Even worse ARC can randomly just stop working. From everything you've said, sounds like I should be ok. However ARC comes very handy if you have a sound receiver and want to reduce your cabling. ARC is garbage. Yes, the technical specs ALLOW for lossy DD+ over ARC or lossless 5. Rather than run 2 cables (HDMI and optical) to get the tv sound to the receiver, I used the ARC to transmit the app audio to the receiver. 1 or what, but if its just a 2. Mar 7, 2019 路 You asked about HDMI ARC which is upstream from TV to amp on the HDMI OUTPUT only of your amp , not on HDMI inputs. When I say ARC I'm talking about the receiver being connected to the tv via hdmi arc. " from low to high-end hardware! I personally tested optical vs ARC and I couldn't tell the audio difference. But I'm confused and I always find contradicting information when reading stuff about ARC vs Optical here on reddit and other A/V forums Also, my Soundbar manual states this: Audio formats supported by this system are as follows. 1 eARC. Have Vizio Smartcast 5. HDMI ARC adds control over the TV from downstream devices (power, volume, etc). HDMI is 100% the way to go! Edit: now if you're talking about running audio OUT of the TV back to the receiver. This means those random weird issues above can happen. ARC can be harder to get working, and optical is very simple but needs an extra cable, so there's that. Optical / Coax if source has it for stereo only. If you are in fact playing TrueHD and it's properly outputting as 5. I know Optical supports 5. In your situation, connect the TV and soundbar with one HDMI cable between the ports labeled ARC on both devices. 1 system made of quality, Audio-Centric name brand components which are easy to assemble and cheap enough for low budget or space conscious buyers. Sound 99. It's especially helpful if you want to passthrough video from a gaming console or DVD player to your TV while playing the audio through your soundbar. If I understand correctly, the best quality would be from using the HDMI ARC. Feb 26, 2016 路 So yes, HDMI-ARC is better than Toslink (optical), especially for high-bandwidth audio codecs such as Dolby Digital+, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. ARC only requires HDMI 1. There might be some throughput differences. Most used receivers in my area are 10 years old so the HDMI standard is out of date, but could I just hook all the HDMI cables to the tv and use the TV's optical out or HDMI arc to provide 5. HDMI will use the DAC in the amp and typically also allow volume control with the TV/source remote. However, my questions regard quality. 1 for Bluetooth, 1 for Music, 1 for TV. Despite what some people are saying, HDMI ARC and optical support the exact same audio formats, and since they're digital, neither has an audio advantage. Ideally the less cables one has going to the soundbar the better as it’s visable but curious if it would make an auditable difference on a Samsung On mine, HDMI 2/3 are DV / Atmos(DD+) compatible, with 3(ARC) connecting eARC soundbar, while 1 and 4 are only Atmos(DD+) and won’t give DV. 1 and want lfe you will need digital coax or optical at a minimum. 5mm, Optical Out, and HDMI ARC. Besides those three formats, HDMI and Optical are identical since both can handle a digital audio signal. Next we have to change 2 settings, on one the receiver, and one on the TV. Anyways, I have a 5. In fact, you would be limiting yourself, since ARC can't handle even 5. Correct. So HDMI ARC is out. That's a lossless high quality signal in stereo format. eARC is an enhanced version that provides additional bandwidth to carry more audio. The Harmony does all that and more, so you would find no advantage to connecting your Beam by HDMI, you'd just be wasting an HDMI port. Sorry if this has been covered, I see tons of optical vs HDMI posts when I search Reddit but nothing that quite answers my question. Optical transmits Dolby Digital (5. - Compare the beep sound peaks in kdenlive VS video on screen I find a lag of about: ~ 150ms for TV speaker - Stereo ~ 180ms for an ARC sound bar on HDMI2 (ARC) port - Stereo ~ 250 ms for optical out to sound bar - Stereo ~ 350 ms for optical out to sound bar - Dolby Atmos Windows Spatializer 5. The TV button seems to control both the HDMI arc and the Optical, but no way to switch between the 2. HDMI ARC is capable of up to 7 channel Dolby Digital PLUS, as well as lossy Atmos. If I connect the Shield Pro to Hdmi 2 it plays DV/Atmos but will miss out on TrueHD formats that need eARC, the AppleTV4K won’t do either connected this way so needs eARC direct connectivity to Correct. For your requirement, I would suggest you connect the soundbar to the TV using HDMI ARC ('HDMI TO TV port' on the soundbar to the eARC port labelled 'HDMI 2' on the TV). 1 channels of lossy, compressed surround sound up to 16-bit/44. It's possible the optical is actually a true pass-through, while the eARC gets down-mixed somehow by the TV. ARC allows you to plug your devices directly into the TV and then run HDMI from the ARC ports of the TV and bar so that the sound will flow back from the TV to the bar. For standard 5. You have to use HDMI, and then turn on CEC to control connected devices with a TV remote. This subreddit is for the budget minded audiophile that wants to grow out of soundbars, boomboxes, mini systems, portable bluetooth, lifestyle speakers, and PC peripheral branded audio solutions. Hdmi is superior to optical. The problem is the reciver's HDMI output to my TV is in 1080p. LG NanoCell 50NANO756 TV - only has an optical or HDMI ARC output. Before I did not have ARC. Why use ARC at all? If you own a receiver it should have multiple HDMI inputs, and you get higher quality audio than ARC offers. HDMI ARC and Optical Cable deliver the same thing. Hello, quick question, I have my Xbox plugged in HDMI 3, and my ps5 to HDMI 4 to It's just that I read sound bar tests and all mentioned without exception "There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI, optical, analog, USB, and Bluetooth inputs. Optical can at least provide you with 5. So basically this box lets the eARC connection from your TV be treated as if it were a Blu-ray player or other source device. all of which are not supported via optical. It can carry a LOT more information through HDMI. My Xbox one and DVR are plugged into my recover currently. I have a 900 connected to my TV and other av through HDMI/ARC. You are just missing out the controllability. This is not an guarantee. The audio is exactly the same whether the Beam is connected by HDMI ARC or Optical. If the ARC is eARC, then either way is fine, if the ARC is just ARC, then HDMI from TV and check if there's digital sound delay options built into the TV. I So, even if I were to run an optical HDMI between the wall plates, would it be ok to run a normal HDMI from my computer/TV to the wall plate? I vaguely remember, my TV not liking the HDMI signal when I mixed the optical HDMI with an HDMI splitter + normal HDMI cable a few years ago. I have been using HDMI because I wanted to get Atmos, but knowing that the soundbar doesn't have "real" Atmos, I have switched over to optical in hopes that the buggy issues will go away. 1 or more, go bit stream, it might sound better that way (possibly clearer dialogue). I have bought myself a soundbar and with that comes an optical cable. HDMI (ARC) tends to be best/better, especially if both your TV and SB support HDMI (eARC), since this gives you the option of controlling the SB's volume using the TVs or a remote for a connected device that supports HDMI CEC. This way you will get audio from everything connected to I plan on connecting the xbox to my TV via HDMI and either using the optical out for the SA750 or the HDMI ARC for the SA30. Bluetooth can be used for a lot of things but the standard wasn’t designed to send high quality audio. I hope this made sense and was helpful. So, as an example, the Switch/Splitter would be on HDMI 1 (ARC) and the Lifestyle would be on HDMI 2. I was reading some reviews and they say, while the soundbar turns off automatically after a while with no sound, it will not automatically turn on when I turn For PC questions/assistance. hdmi 2. 5mm Analog, RCA, Optical, and Bluetooth, so I think I will use optical. For Receiver <=> TV connection, how does eARC work with "one-directional" Fiber HDMI cables. Set tv sound to HDmi ARC (passtrough in advanced) As for PS5 connect it to TV HDMI and set sound in PS5 options to AV receiver, 5. If you are using ARC (HDMI) the PS4 HDMI out needs to go to the TV FIRST to avoid video lag because the Audio Bitstream is ALSO present. I have audio equipment connected via OPTICAL input. The HDMI CEC which is what sends power on /off and volume commands to the sound bar, is problematic for my PS5 so I had to disable it and use optical on my LG C8. 馃し鈾傦笍馃 If you chose "HDMI ARC", the audio would first go with the video through the soundbar, then the TV would send it back to the soundbar over ARC after the TV processes it. 1 sound data to an old receiver? Optical audio will only get you 5. Same sound quality through ARC as Just wondering if there is any auditable difference if one runs optical off the tv to the soundbar (atv4k connected to hdmi on tv) vs running the hdmi cable off the atv to soundbar and back to tv. 1 will take the full advantage of hdmi unless you are trying to simplify your control. 5mm and Optical Out, when it comes to soundbars? eARC is clearly better for many reasons. 1 Surround rather than stereo. Ultimately, the choice between HDMI ARC and optical audio depends on your specific needs and the capabilities of your devices. I intend to use this with a desktop computer. ARC can be finicky, and optical is generally always reliable. Send the AUDIO output, via ARC (HDMI, Bidirectional) or optical to your sound bar. I want to move from Optical to HDMI Arc so I can get 5. my TV supports HDMI ARC and eARC and this soundbar I just bought supports only HDMI ARC and optical cable. I have a Yamaha SRC20A soundbar. I'm not to familliar with HDMI arc so any help would be appreciated. I think the HDMI is a safer bet as the 700 doesn't do Atmos/True-HD although in my opinion it sounds phenomenal and does given that sensation of sound coming from everywhere. And USB's on Samsung TV's do not output sound, believe me I tried. Don't forget if no sound change sound settings in the menu to bitstream. 1 but for some reason, my Samsung TV sticks to stereo even though it can support Dolby Digital and DTS and this isn't a problem with the Receiver cause it supports 5. Therefore I bought an optical to 3. HDMI provides ARC benefit if you are looking to reduce wires. It has a 3. There is no case where "HDMI ARC" would have better sound. What is HDMI ARC? HDMI ARC , or audio return channel technology, is the name given to the specific use of an HDMI cable for transmitting and receiving commands from an external A/V system. Now LG probably does some extra leg work to get better quality audio between their TVs and Soundbars when using Bluetooth (this is true of what Apple does with their AirPods and i I now have a Smart TV and a sound system with an HDMI ARC port (audio return channel). e. Seems straightforward enough. Which makes ARC moot. Basically Optical is from 1983 and is outdated so HDMI ARC/eARC is better and adds features like much higher bandwidth and HDMI CEC which means the Soundbar and TV can fully communicate with each other instead of the TV just passing out sound to an unknown device that it doesn't even know is there. So basically the only audio I'm passing via optical is the lower resolution audio from the TV's built in tuner. Such as Dolby Atmos, True Hd, dts hd master, dts-x, etc. Before ARC you had to use an optical cable to get sound from the internal apps on the TV. Is there any significant audio quality difference between 3. 1Khz CD-quality audio. However, if you have an Atmos soundbar, and the soundbar has an HDMI input and output with 4K video passthrough (which should be standard on an Atmos or higher end soundbar), then you'll want to use HDMI as an input for your streaming device. They do not cast/receive a Bluetooth signal either. If its 3. I have found most TV's have these settings turned off by default. Source -> AVR works. Both the Arc and Beam Gen 2 lack optical ports. On a soundbar you probably won’t hear the difference. You hook up one HDMI cable running from the Monitor Out port on your AVR, running to your HDMI 3 ARC port on your TV. For the 700 it can handle DTS but not Atmos. Is there a quality difference between an HDMI to RCA converter (I even saw HDMI / RCA cables for sale) or Optical to RCA in terms of audio quality? Nice TV it'll serve you well. Save Share Jan 11, 2023 路 Here's everything you need to know about HDMI ARC vs. if I use hdmi arc port on my tv do I need to connect my ps4 pro and other devices to sound bar ( losing 4k) or can devices still be connected to tv hdmi ports and sound works or will it only be normal tv using sound bar. Connect the Firestick and XBox to the remaining two ports on the TV. With ARC, any source connected to the TV can send audio over the HDMI cable to the soundbar. You should be able to plug at least one device into the HDMI input on the Q60R, then run an HDMI cable from the HDMI out on the Q60R to whatever input is used for ARC on the LG and get both video and audio. I am trying to free up a HDMI slot and understand that it can be connected via optical however I bought the beam preowned and it didn’t come with the optical cable and was just hoping to see if anyone had any insight into if there is any difference with the surrounds in HDMi vs 99. Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now ARC vs Optical from TV to AVR HDMI-ARC/CEC I have a slightly older AVR (Yamaha RX-V375) which does And the two rooms are far apart, so planning to use a "Cable Fiber Optic HDMI cable" (I got this one off Amazon). I have my TV setup via HDMI ARC input. Unfortunately when ARC was implemented, CEC was required for using ARC. I have it plugged up with HDMI ARC at the moment. Nov 2, 2024 路 Yes, it is possible to use both HDMI ARC and Optical connections at the same time. HDMI ARC offers many advantages over digital optical audio, such as: HDMI ARC can handle almost three times more data than optical, allowing for better audio formats. The TV has only optical and HDMI Arc outputs. However, ARC allows me to now connect up my system as shown in the RIGHT part of the photo. The only purpose of HDMI ARC is to send audio from the TV to the AVR. 1 over optical (verified using 'About this Sonos') then it would be dependent on the TV versus seamlessly done via any ARC port, thus better support on the latter. 1 and just Dolby Digital (NOT plus), and NO Atmos. Change to ARC asap, connect to HDmi TV ARC port. • Dolby Digital•Dolby Digital Plus* • Dolby TrueHD* • DTS • DTS96/24 • DTS-HD Master Audio* Dec 16, 2024 路 However, the quality difference between HDMI ARC and optical audio may not be noticeable to everyone, especially those who don’t have a high-end audio system. With HDMI ARC I could 'rely' on HDMI CEC to control the volume and power on the soundbar. It enables EAC3 that is much better than optical and also enables lossy Atmos from netflix etc. 0 on 3 ports and 2. AFAIK Atmos requires HDMI, Optical only gives you up to surround. I used to use an HDMI ARC adapter box - so I went from DAC to no (external) DAC - but that unit had a little louder "pop" into the speakers when I turned it on as opposed to the headphone jack. If your TV has it, of course. S/PDIF (optical and coax) only has the bandwidth for 5. I was thinking about buying this: Audio quality goes (highest to lowest) HDMI > Optical > Bluetooth. In your soundbar, look for the HDMI arc port. I noticed some sound lag when playing PS4, and have since plugged my PS4 into the bar. Using ARC and eARC, a receiver or sound bar can have multiple HDMI INs while only using one HDMI port on the TV to enable multi device switching, all while routing the audio to the receiver. The consoles were connected to the receiver at the time but as I mentioned there was a loss of quality in the picture and there was input lag on the pc. Mar 21, 2023 路 Also, HDMI ARC enables two-way data transmission between devices over a single connection, unlike Optical. With the Sharc, you basically plug the box into one of the HDMI inputs for devices on the receiver, not the HDMI out. Instead you get an Optical to HDMI converter for the single HDMI eARC input. 5mm cable from your TV you’re relying on the shitty TV DAC as an output. This is not true. That'll sound the best. My goal is to use Chromecast to stream music from my phone to the stereo amp. eARC fixes that, but the supported devices list is tiny right now. For streaming regular ARC supports Dolby Digital Plus which optical does not. 1 and 7. I have been using HDMI ARC but as others have noted, it has been very buggy with changing inputs, volume levels, etc. If you have a specific Keyboard/Mouse/AnyPart that is doing something strange, include the model number i. eARC introduces the TV into the chain. For Downstream, thats HDMI on your devices to HDMI INPUTs on your amp , HDMI is always better than optical as it can carry HD audio which your devices are capable of. Optical is worse than HDMI ARC in all terms. When you use the 2nd method you can simply go to your TV’s sound settings and change from HDMI ARC to the internal speakers. Coupled with the extra wire clutter and the fact that (presumably) the DAC in that thing is no great shakes either I just rolled with the headphone jack. Reply reply gguy2020 Sorry my dude. Trust me it will definitely sound better than optical:) Enjoy. Ok let me make some clarifications. I know HDMI 2 supported 4K, plus I already had all my picture settings dialed in on that source. 1 over eARC, but if the internal TV audio processing is junk, then that's what the receiver will get. What do y'all think? I simply don't trust a TV's internal sound processing via ARC or eARC. For your TV, you need to switch the Audio Out from Digital Out (or Optical Out, depending on what your TV manufacturer calls it) to HDMI ARC. OR am I missing something . 1 soundbar connected to a Vizio M437-G0 via HDMI ARC and CEC which has been mostly terrible. I much prefer the aesthetics of the SA750 but am wondering if the optical input will have a substantial impact on sound quality compared to the SA30s HDMI ARC input. So one goes to your TV (sometimes listed as main) the other goes to the AV20 (sometimes listed as audio Only). For the longest time, we only streamed Netflix and Hulu from the apps built into our TV. With optical you only get DD and standard DTS, with hdmi you get all formats including DD+ and lossless DTS-HD/MA, DTS:X, dolby trueHD etc. Like the TV can control the soundbar over HDMI, but not optical. Cheers! No, ARC and eARC only impact the audio quality. ARC/eARC is required for Dolby Digital+ and Dolby TrueHD (7. Most TVs only have one HDMI port that supports ARC/eARC. Optical cables so you can decide for yourself. Cambridge Audio AXA25 amplifier - no remote control I bought a cheap optical to RCA DAC from Amazon ( link ), which worked well and sounded great, but the TV doesn’t allow you to control volume through the optical output, so the only option would be to get up and control the HDMI w/ optical: ps3, xbox, home theater (not really needed) HDMI w/o optical: chromecast, pc component: wii, cable box (may also have hdmi, optical, not sure) The home theater supports both optical in as well as HDMI ARC. You can debate ARC for more advanced audio formats, though I would contend you're better off using something like a ShieldTV/AppleTV/Roku for streaming vs what's built into the Television. With ARC I cant tell if this soundbar is 5. But I'm curious if the 900 would also support additionally attaching an audio-only source via the optical in (FWIW, it's an old SliMP streaming device, optical out no bluetooth)? Basically, I want to use both inputs but not at the same time. If you are just going 2. Do I Need to Use HDMI ARC or Optical Audio for My Soundbar? When connected over ARC there is an HDMI handshake to ensure it always receives the correct format. 5 mm converter, it works allright but you can not control the volume level or do equalizer settings, which is a nuisance. For years now I have been using an HDMI receiver as shown in the LEFT part of the photo. Regarding ARC/eARC to a receiver you can still use it, you just need to pay attention to the ports on your TV. So my 4k TV is only getting a 1080p signal. 1 surround sound, but if you want to go further into Atmos or DTS:X then you'll need eARC HDMI. . HDMI CEC is what allows devices to control each other. I have a 4K TV with no optical output So I have the Bose and C9 connected via HDMI but if I were to connect an Xbox to it, it would have to go in to the TV. This allows you to use HDMI ARC for one device, such as a soundbar, and Optical for another, such as a Blu-ray player. My stereo amp only RCA inputs. I currently have a Polk Signa S2 2. Two of the units that seem pretty good both use Optical Currently: Samsung TV HDMI 1: Apple TV TV HDMI 2 (has Arc): Nintendo Switch TV Optical: Polk Signa S2 So, two sources into one TV with one speaker and one cable (sound wise). So, in your case, it's just a bonus cable. So if you have a modern preamp/amp, hdmi should be fine, but if you’re staying two channel you can more easily get optical ins on dacs. 1 soundbar with Xbone RB4. my question is, will I get better sound out of an HDMI ARC cable than an optical cable included in the package? or will it mean nothing for the sound quality?. Arc is convenient but my 75" hisense tv often flickers randomly almost like it lost the signal. Also supports uncompressed PCM, DTS and Dolby Digital, just not the latest and greatest Multichannel codecs. 1 system Optical will give you less headaches. 1 surround system that handles all my HDMI inputs for a 4k tv. If you mean optical out from TV to amp then realistically no noticeable difference to HDMI. Without question. Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now HDMI ARC supports Dolby Digital+ (with Atmos) and with eARC you can get lossless TrueHD (also with Optical is a fine connection. Source -> TV -> AVR FML. Better to use HDMI arc or optical cable for best performance? View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. Definitely keep the PS4 sound output as HDMI. I would always keep it on HDMI 1 and then connect everything to a switch. That's the least bit of Video/Audio lag you'll be able to attain. 1 on the last one I had to play around with mine for a bit to get it working as long as hdmi arc from bar to TV youll be good for Plex. Any advice would be much appreciated! In order of worse to best sound quality, it would go Bluetooth < Optical < ARC HDMI < eARC HDMI. Bluetooth, while great can only give you stereo realistically. Especially if you have multiple HDMI devices like PS4, Cable, Apple atV or Roku. It also does normal Dolby Digital, lossless stereo, etc Optical is limited to 5. While arc can transfer Dolby Digital +, and allows for lossy atmos; while optical doesn’t support atmos and stops at Dolby digital, u/cheesecakemelody is probably right in that you won’t hear much difference especially if you don’t have an atmos speaker configuration. From what I’ve read, you’re less likely to have lip sync issues using optical. Therefore I've been thinking of using the HDMI arc feature with an adapter. It mutes/unmutes randomly between programs and commercials and loses HDMI can handle Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master (formats usually found on BluRay discs) and also Dolby Digital+ with Atmos can also be sent over HDMI. So my question is. HDMI is definitely better than optical. 1 That is, HDMI ARC and Toslink optical should provide identical audio performance for Dolby Digital, DTS, and PCM. Hello all, I have a Sonos Beam that I use with two Play:1s as surrounds that is currently connected via HDMI arc. I'd like to be able to control both my TV and the soundbar with a single remote, so I'm wondering the benefit of HDMI ARC vs Optical Audio. Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now ARC vs Optical . Do NOT use this port for the long optical HDMI connection. Essentially, you can use HDMI ARC ports as both an input and an audio output. Hi, I have a Denon X1500h connected to several HDMI devices and a NU8000 TV connected via HDMI port with ARC. eARC supports all formats including lossless ones. 0 or 2. If not - ARC is your choice. 4, but the two devices will do a "handshake" and figure out what each device is compatible with) also brings with it HDMI CEC control, simplifying setup with one less cable and operation because you can control volume/skip/power with either TV or soundbar remote, and sync them up with easy one press power on/off. Completely forget about Optical and try to opt-in to HDMI 2. 1 and Atmos). Some menus will label it when you look at inputs. Many modern TVs and audio devices have multiple audio output options, including HDMI ARC and Optical. If you were using analog cables, you’d have to use one HDMI port on the TV for each device. Optical Out: HDMI ARC Extractor or USB Optical Out . On a soundbar, if you have an HDMI input for an external device (streaming device, game system, etc), you usually only have one unless you have a higher end device. 9% of the time Soundbars or HTiB (Home Theater in a Box) systems are not a good investment of your time and money. Option 3b: lists a few HDMI splitters with two HDMI outs. ARC functionally consolidates audio and video into a single cable rather than a HDMI to carry video between the AVR and the TV and then another cable (optical or coax digital) to carry the audio between the AVR and TV. The Chromecast Ultra supports DD+ so as long as your TV can passthrough the audio stream there’s no need for a HDFury Arcana. Also HDMI CEC for things like voice control or integrated volume control with the TV volume (Beam can learn your remote's IR without HDMI but some TVs can integrate the actual on screen volume level feedback with the Beam through the HDMI CEC feature) Send the PS4 to the TV via HDMI. When asking a question or stating a problem, please add as much detail as possible. 1). 0 ARC is worse than HDMI 2. Thankfully a lot of newer AVR's - Denon/Marantz & Yamaha allow for disabling HDMI-CEC on the AVR but ARC still working. It is usually marked but might be hard to read. AFAIK there is no similar way to do that via an Optical. Depending on your soundbar, if yours don't have HDMI arc port, the next best thing is to use the optical cable to connect to your tv. Also keep in mind, that with Optical and/or HDMI ARC you typically need to turn ON some settings to make sure the TV actually outputs in surround sound correctly. There is no single “Input” button on the remote, there are multiple input buttons. Connect that to HDMI eARC port on your LG CX. 1 audio if your TV or devices encode to Dolby Digital on the fly. AUX…depends what you mean? If you’re using a 3. HDMI without the fucking TV in the middle for everything else. eARC is the newest tech, but not a lot of soundbars out there support fully yet. With HDMI ARC: TV HDMI 1: external HDMI switcher for AppleTV/Switch TV HDMI 2 (has Arc): Polk Signa S2 One more HDMI & power cable for switcher, still getting “all HDMI cable with Ethernet is the best cable. 1 and formats like TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. thanks for the responses, very informative! I have my eye on a vizio soundbar with no HDMI (even though the tv supports HDMI ARC grrr ) - 3. 1, Bitstream (Dolby) it will work great. xtjz scrzly ukzftkm shkb reb tsvmli wzzw fuyrvyj tuvf qqopaq