Short HDMI cables

indyjukebox

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I read somewhere that short HDMI cables don't play well with the Vertex2/Arcana. Is this true? I want to use 2 X 0.5m cables. Vertex2 -> Arcana and Arcana -> Sonos Arc. Will this be ok? Dont really want to mess around buying and returning cables.
 
I can't think of any good reason why a short HDMI cable would have any detrimental effect on anything. Issues normally appear when you use lengths over 8M.
 
I've never read about short HDMI cables being an issue, it is true that short Ethernet cables could be a problem when used with Ethernet HDMI extenders. I had a twin ethernet extender back in the day that wouldn't work with 5m cables but would with 10m and longer.
 
Most of the time shorter than 2m HDMI cables are fine in a system - sometimes though folk report issues and reverting to a 2m cable will resolve the issue, it is all about voltages and some devices not EQ'ing the output voltage to match the short cable run.

It is not something you come across too often and was more of an issue 4 or 4 years ago.

I think too folk tend to put a fair bit of stress on short cables to make them fit into spaces and I find they tend to fail more often than the 2m variety.

Joe
 
I've tested short passive cables as well as short active hybrid fiber cables on my system and saw no difference in performance.
 
So my Arc arrived today. Set everything up. 1M Lindy HDMI cable between the Arcana eARC out and Sonos Arc ( HDMI cable link ).
In the final Sonos setup, it just doesnt seem to recognise a ARC connection, saying ARC connection not found. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Maybe I will give the Sonos cable that came with the Arc a try next?
 
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Actually, this is from the Arcana FAQ:

Do i need a special HDMI cable?
Yes, from your source to the Arcana and from the Arcana to the display you will need cables that can fully support transfer of 18Gbps/600MHz as long as your equipment is capable of sending such bandwidth.
We recommend HDfury, Cable Matters, Zeskit and Kabeldirekt brands with a min length of 6ft(2m) and max length of 12ft(4m) in copper. If you need longer cables, you should consider active or fiber cables. We recommend the 4K120 from Zeskit and Kabeldirekt on Amazon.
From Arcana to SONOS Arc, the HDMI cable only needs to support ARC/eARC, such as the HDMI cable that is already supplied with SONOS Arc.
 
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It could be that you need more than 0.5m to get the correct impedance on most cables which lines up with the post above from @indyjukebox.
 
ARC/eARC can be a real pain on some devices. eARC is not defined as being backwards compatible with ARC according to the HDMI 2.1 specs (even tho eARC is possible on some HDMI 2.0 devices). Compatibility for both is up to the individual mfrs. What that means is that some systems may still require CEC to be enabled for ARC/eARC to work. If the HDMI cable supports the unused ethernet channel, then eARC is possible because that's what eARC is going to use, so as far as the cable goes, if it's a High Speed or Premium High Speed HDMI cable with ethernet (certified, 18Gbps), the cable is good to go because it is just the data pipe, nothing more.

Does the Sonos support eARC?
 
It could be that you need more than 0.5m to get the correct impedance on most cables which lines up with the post above from @indyjukebox.
Hmmm, I must've missed the 0.5m part. Yeah, that's really short. I don't think I would try anything less than 1m and ideally 2m.
 
Does the Sonos support eARC?’ - the SONOS ARC like a couple of other Soundbars (from BOSE) have non licensed ‘HDMI’ sockets which will only work with eARC enabled sockets on TV’s, the premise of the HDFury Arcana being it can sit between a non-eARC device and the SONOS ARC and allow you to pass HD and Immersive audio to the Soundbar.

Without the HDFury Arcana if you connect a non eARC device to the Soundbar nothing will happen as the Soundbar ‘HDMI’ socket will not enable.

Joe
https://www.avforums.com/posts/28531980/react?reaction_id=1
 
@Joe Fernand
I do have the Arcana and the Vertex2. I worked out the issue. The plug socket on the Sonos Arc is a odd shape/recessed and the short HDMI cable I had was not being fully inserted into the slot as a result. Used the Sonos provided cable and all is well. Also, like you said, I used a 0.5m cable between Vertex2 and Arcana and it is working fine with no issues and transmitting Atmos effectively.

I have also connected up the LAN cable and truly the Vertex2 is a stunning piece of tech with so many features. Probably a lot more than I can use.

Any suggestions for a universal remote?
 
Most of the time shorter than 2m HDMI cables are fine in a system - sometimes though folk report issues and reverting to a 2m cable will resolve the issue, it is all about voltages and some devices not EQ'ing the output voltage to match the short cable run.
This was why even HDMI.org used to recommend the use of 2m (or 6ft being a US org) or longer cables. Lumagen too. I write 'used to' as the last time I looked, I couldn't find the web page for the former.

Paul
 

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