3.5 audio out to HDMI audio in, for sound bar?

Chris_N · #1 02-11-2021, 05:10 AM

A friend has asked me for some advice. He has a sound bar which does not have a 3.5 Jack plug audio in socket. It only has a HDMI audio in Socket and bluetooth capability. He want's to connect the 3.5 Jack audio out from an old analogue radio to the soundbar.

Is anyone familiar with a device that has a 3.5 mm jack audio input and a HDMI output?

After some searching, the only thing I could find is a VGA to HDMI converter. I am wondering though if just the audio would work without any video.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VGA-To-HD...gAAOSwuzlc-ld2

Someone may be able to suggest a better solution. Your advice would be appreciated.

Kind regards
Chris

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AV-To-HDM....c101196.m2219

lordsmurf · #2 02-11-2021, 09:36 PM

Can HDMI even carry audio without video?
- Officially, I didn't think it was supported.
- Unofficial, I still don't think it works often, if at all.

^ ... and I just checked with Google, which confirmed what I wrote. HDMI audio is in the video blanking area. It's not an audio signal. It'd need a conversion, at minimum.

Chris_N · #3 02-13-2021, 04:02 AM

Thank you Lordsmurf. I thought that might be the case. I do have one of these vga/audio jack to hdmi converters to test on this sound bar, but in view of what you have explained, it is doubtful that the audio will work without video. It's worth a try though.

The sound bar only has bluetooth, hdmi in and optical audio in. There are cheap bluetooth/analogue plug in receivers on the market but no plug in bluetooth/analohgue transmitters. So apart from opening the sound bar and performing an improvisation, there does not seem to be any practical way for it to accept an analogue in signal from a 3.5 mm jack.

Kind regards
Chris

latreche34 · #4 02-13-2021, 08:16 AM

I've used analog A/V to HDMI before with success and got both audio and video into an HDMI only TV however I never tried it without video, Try one of these devices I don't see why it should not work, Your sound bar is capable of extracting the audio stream. Or try one of these audio inserters but they may require an HDMI input signal.

Chris_N · #5 02-13-2021, 11:36 AM

Latreche34, thank you for your reply and for the links. Yes, those gadgets should also work to send audio to an HDMI input along with the video signal. Without the video, I don't know if the audio will work. I will have to do a test and see what happens. I will let you know how I get on.

Kind regards
Chris