TV & Home Theater

[carterbwi]

Is it possible to hook up a game console/streaming box to the soundbar if I used an optical cord to connect the soundbar to the tv instead of the HDMI ARC connection?

[bobberuchi]

I am going on the assumption your TV only has one HDMI input?

Most newer consols will allow yout to pass your video signal through your consol.

Does your soundbar have multiple hdmi inputs

[Alyssa-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Hey there, carterbwi,

Thank you for taking the time to connect with our team here on the Best Buy Forums! Getting the perfect setup is a game changer, and I can understand wanting to check on the best connection options available for your setup. As bobberuchi mentioned, it would be best if we had more insights on the connections available on your soundbar. If you have the model number for that soundbar, please let me know so I can look further into the possibilities we may have.

Best Regards,

[AnthonyDiTano]

So they're are two ways to do this, and they have the same benifits except using ARC would let you control the soundbar's volume using the TV's controler. Either, use HDMI to connect the TV and game console and optical for the soundbar, or use the ARC in the soundbar to connect to the TV and then plug the console into the HDMI passthrough on the soundbar. ARC dosent take a hole HDMI port, you can still send audio and video thru that HDMI, while also using it to output sound to the soundbar. I suggest doing more research on ARC and how your soundbar implements it.