Suitable HDMI switch? Don't want to over (or under) spend

Hadouken

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So I've more things requiring HDMI ports than I have HDMI ports on my TV. I wasn't even aware of HDMI switches until recently.

My BT box is via HDMI
The Sonos Beam - I think this has to go direct in to a specific port on the TV marked up Arc or something to that effect
DVD player
Nintendo
Firestick
Have recently picked up a Nvidia Shield Pro 2019. Haven't yet got it set up though.
May or may not end up with an Xbox/PS at some point. Haven't fully decided yet.

And that's just for now. Who knows what may or may not end up getting purchased in the future.

I don't really know where to start tbh. I just Google good HDMI switches and I see recommendations but as I say in the title, I don't want to be spending £100 if for my needs a £60 one will do fine. I don't want to get one for £30 if i'd actually be better off getting one at £55 because of XYZ.
 
Cheers.

Your TV supports ARC as does the SONOS BEAM - the BEAM also supports eARC.

If you connect your Source devices via the TV, direct of through a Switch, you will be limited to the capabilities of the TV ARC connection, which may or not be an issue for you.

Where you have Sources with audio capabilities the BEAM supports but the TV ARC does not support you can add an HDFury Arcana between the TV and the BEAM and add a Switch ahead of the Arcana. (a suitable/compatible Switch will cost around £50.


There is also an integrated 4 Input Switch with Arcana features to support the BEAM and other eARC capable Soundbars due in December.


With the HDFury Arcana or Vertex3 (VRRoom) you can utilise the full audio capabilities of your Source devices.

Joe
 
Thanks for response.

My understanding was that my TV has 4 HDMI Ports. Port #2 is this ARC thing (can you tell how little I know about this stuff yet?) and had previously been advised to connect my Sonos Beam direct in to that.

My thought process then was that ports 1, 3-4 are the same as each other, so to connect a switch to any of those 3. So let's say:

port 1: switch
port 2: Beam for reason given
port 3: some device
port 4: some other device

But any additional devices then go in to the switch. Is that ok?

So as I say, current devices are:

BT YouView
Nintendo Wii U
Blu-Ray Player
Amazon FireStick 4K
** Also have a nVidia Shield TV Pro 2019 that I'll be getting set up at some point when I get round to it.
 
Your connectivity plan will ‘work’ - where you face a question is around the capabilities of the ARC enabled TV potentially limiting the audio capabilities of some of your Source devices as ARC cannot support uncompressed Atmos which your eARC Soundbar can support.

The HDFUry Arcana (plus a suitable Switch) or the HDFury Vertex3 (VRRoom) is the workaround when your TV does not support eARC (eARC is the ‘enhanced’ version of ARC and does support uncompressed Atmos).

Joe
 
Holy moly, sorry for the delay, I'm just fresh out of hospital after having a heart attack looking at the prices of those links :eek:

While I don't fully grasp the difference between ARC and eARC, I have Googled it and understand enough that eARC is better. Your post prompts me to ask a serious question though...

Anyone could buy the latest and greatest top of the range [insert gadget here] and obviously it's the best. The question is does that person need that though for their useage?

Which brings me to the question - would I notice the difference between ARC and eARC connection enough to warrant spending high figures? As I understand it, I'm connected via ARC right now.

It makes me think of my Plex setup. Where possible I try and watch the movies in their original quality (blu ray rips) but on occasion these buffer so I'll drop it down a notch or even two notches on the video quality and I actually can't tell a difference in the quality.

So am I likely to tell a difference with something that would enable an eARC connection?

And to keep on the topic of switches:

1) We can go pretty cheap.
2) Got recommended through one page when I Googled good HDMI switch.
3) And dearer.

Is there a reason why I should buy one over another really? Obviously there's other switches available. I just picked 3 at random to ask the question.
 
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You are on a Forum for fully paid up, anorak wearing members of an 'AV' community and you ask do we really need to try and eek out the optimum performance :)

eARC wins out over ARC on two counts - 1. It is not reliant on CEC and 2. It handles higher bandwidth audio formats.

If your Source content and devices can deliver higher bandwidth than ARC supports only you can say if it is worth chasing the higher performance or not for the type of content you view/listen too.

Price is no indicator of a good or bad Switch - the ability to pass uncompressed audio to an eARC socket on certain Soundbars is not widely catered for whilst the ability to switch multiple Source devices into an HDMI Input on your TV is widely catered for.

Joe

PS Always wary of AMZ ratings as once you start digging you realise they aggregate all of the ratings across a whole shop, which means the ratings may have little or no relevance to a particular device you are looking at!
 
I appreciate your comment about the anorak wearers. I have an interest in cars myself, however if someone said to me I'm looking for an Audi in a size like the A3 version, i wouldn't instantly recommend them the RS3 if you get me? What's their budget, what do they want from it, is speed even a factor so on and so forth.

I know absolutely zilch about this world of sound which is why i'm coming to who are the experts (or at least you're experts to me :)). I started out just thinking my TV sound quality is poor and I want better. I was aware of soundbars but not really how much they can improve your sound. My specification for a recommendation was that I wasn't about to install surround sound speakers so it had to be a soundbar (no base either). I was recommended the Beam and I'm happy with the sound output.

I don't know if that was connected via eARC would it transform my experience once more? Maybe. Would it be to a level that warranted the cost or would it be satisfactory as it currently is? I don't actually know. I put my trust in you guys. Would be handy to know someone with such a setup where I could experience the difference.


And thanks for the tip on Amazon ratings. I totally wasn't aware of that at all. I thought the ratings were specific to the items, not the shop.
 
Plenty folk are more than happy routing Sources via an ARC enabled TV to the SONOS ARC or BEAM - others prefer to add the HDFury Arcana and optimise one or more Sources via the Arcana to get the most out of content encoded with uncompressed Atmos.

Joe
 
Thank you for your input Joe.

Any idea how someone would go about experiencing the difference without actually shelling out and then going well that was/wasn't worth the cash?
 
Purchase the Arcana online in the UK and you have thirty days to try it out!

Drop me a PM to discuss.

Joe
 
Thank you for your input Joe.

Any idea how someone would go about experiencing the difference without actually shelling out and then going well that was/wasn't worth the cash?
For £600 I'd think about putting that towards the purchase of a new TV, a switch which is capable of 4k @ 60hz will do what you want it to unless you want atmos which as I say I'd put the money towards a new tv with earc built in rather than spend a fortune on boxes that you may not need in the future, just my opinion.
 

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