Question HDMI Switch conundrum

MrNCFC

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Hi, I am hoping someone can help with some advice.

We bought the kids a Nintendo Switch for Christmas and then realised we had already used up the HDMI ports on the TV! so I went onto Amazon and picked up a cheap HDMI switch which arrived and I plumbed in. The switch worked fine for 'switching' the picture but there was no sound. This is a bit of a deal breaker obviously so the switch was returned. I figured asking for some advice would be the next sensible option before I simply buy another switch and possibly run into the same problem.

The setup I have is a LG TV with the HDMI ARC cable connected to a SONOS beam. HDMI 3 is connected to an Xbox and HDMI 1 is connected to the sky Q box.

I know this leaves an unused hdmi slot on the back of the tv but it was professionally installed with the cables being buried in the wall so taking off and running a cable outside the wall is also not an option.

Is there a reliable recommended switch that will allow the kids to switch between Nintendo and Xbox without loss of audio and without too much faffing around.

If I have omitted anything useful please let me know

Gary
 
I suspect your issue is with the Nintendo Switch not the HDMI Switch.

The Nintendo Switch only supports PCM audio when set to 5.1 - which the BEAM does not support, you need to ensure the Nintendo Switch is set to 2.0 PCM.

Joe
 
Thanks for the reply, the reason I assumed it was the fault of the switch was a direct connection to the tv via hdmi caused no loss of sound to either the Nintendo or the Xbox but placing the switch in the way so to speak caused both devices to lose sound.

If I simply repurchased the same switch do you think the xbox needs to have its audio similarly amended or is there a better switch that I could buy that would mean it would just work?

I don't want to spend crazy money but it doesn't have to be a ridiculously cheap solution say anywhere up to £50 could be considered.

Obviously worst case scenario is I just have to swap over the cable each time the other device needs to be used

Gary
 
You shouldn't "crash switch" inputs with the TV switched on, as this can cause the sort of problems you are seeing - sound not setting correctly or wrong resolution. You should power down the TV and sources before switching and it should all work as expected.

Crash switching can also damage the HDMI inputs, as you should not "hot swap" inputs - which is effectively what you are doing.
 
Ideally you would select a switch which allows you to set the EDID to force the Source to Output DD5.1 (Xbox) or 2.0 PCM Switch.

You could try a switch with no EDID management and try setting the Sources manually and hopefully they stay in the required mode every time you select them.

Joe
 
OK, thanks for the feedback I have selected a different HDMI switch off amazon and will post back with findings after it arrives.
 

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