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Using HDMI Audio Out to Drive External Speakers

Last updated September 22, 2026

Contents

  • What this article covers
  • Which devices this works with
  • When this setup makes sense
  • Two ways to play the audio
  • What you’ll need
  • How everything connects
  • Which HDMI port carries the audio
  • Setting it up
  • Adjusting the volume
  • Good to know
  • If something isn’t working

What this article covers

Generation 2 Neat Bars and Neat Boards can send far-end and content audio out over the HDMI output to drive external speakers — the ceiling or wall-mounted speakers already installed in large boardrooms, training rooms, and all-hands spaces. A small third-party box called an HDMI audio de-embedder sits between the Neat device and your existing amplifier or active speakers, pulls the audio out of the HDMI signal, and feeds it into your room’s speaker system.

This article walks you through the setup: what hardware you need, how to connect it, which HDMI port to use, and how to switch between having both the built-in and external speakers play together or only the external speakers.

The capability was introduced in Neat OS 26.3.0, extending the earlier Assistive Listening Device (ALD) HDMI audio output.

Which devices this works with

  • Supported on medium to large room Gen 2 Neat Bars and Neat Boards running Neat OS 26.3.0 or later firmware, with Neat Bar Pro and Neat Board Pro as the primary target for Large and XL room deployments.
  • Medium to large room Neat Gen 2 devices with HDMI outputs include Neat Bar Gen 2, Neat Bar Pro, Neat Board 50, and Neat Board Pro.

When this setup makes sense

Use HDMI audio out to drive external speakers when:

  • The room is larger than Neat’s built-in loudspeaker was designed for — Large or XL boardrooms, training rooms, all-hands spaces.
  • The room already has in-ceiling or in-wall passive speakers driven by professional AV processors from Extron, Crestron, QSC, or Biamp.
  • You need an Assistive Listening Device output for compliance.

Skip this setup if:

  • The room is small or medium — the built-in loudspeaker is a better fit.
  • You want to amplify people speaking in the room (voice lift / sound reinforcement). HDMI audio out carries remote-participant voices and shared content only — not in-room audio. Voice lift requires a third-party DSP over USB audio. Adding a Shure or equivalent DSP over USB offloads all audio through the DSP — this disables both HDMI audio out and Neat’s own audio path. You cannot combine the two setups in the same room.

Two ways to play the audio

Pick the mode that fits your room:

Internal + external (default). The Neat built-in loudspeaker and the external speakers both play. The built-in speaker keeps far-end voices anchored to the screen, while the external speakers extend coverage across the rest of the room. This is the right choice for supplementary coverage or Assistive Listening.

External only (new in Neat OS 26.3.0). The built-in loudspeaker is muted and HDMI is the only audio out path. This is the right choice for larger, AV-integrated, rooms where the external system is the primary audio source.

You’ll switch between the two modes in the device’s audio settings — see Setting it up below.

What you’ll need

  • Generation 2 Neat Bar or Neat Board on Neat OS 26.3.0 or later.
  • A third-party HDMI audio de-embedder. Options we’ve tested with positive results:
    • Lightware 91330008 – HDMI 4K de-embedder
    • Extron DA2 HD 8K AE (or DA2 HD 8K AI) — replaces the older Extron HAE 1004.
    • ATEN VC882 — a 4K HDMI repeater with a built-in audio embedder and de-embedder.
    • QSC NV-32-H — a natural fit if you’re already running Q-SYS.
    • An AV receiver with HDMI audio de-embedding — a good alternative for rooms using passive speakers, since the receiver also gives you a built-in amplifier.
  • Either an amplifier and passive speakers, or active speakers with built-in amplification.
  • An HDMI cable between the Neat device and the de-embedder.

Before you install, ask your AV integrator to confirm that your chosen de-embedder handles EDID and pass-through cleanly on your setup.

How everything connects

The audio path looks like this:

Neat device → HDMI audio de-embedder → amplifier or DSP → passive speakers

or

Neat device → HDMI audio de-embedder → active speakers

Video keeps flowing to your main display over HDMI 1. The de-embedder sits inline on a separate HDMI output — usually HDMI 2 — and hands the audio off to your amplifier or active speakers.

Which HDMI port carries the audio

  • Two displays: HDMI 2 always carries the audio. Connect the de-embedder to HDMI 2 out between the Neat device and the second display. This works the same way on Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom.
  • Single-display rooms and Neat Boards running Microsoft Teams/Google Meet: Turn on Screen Mirroring in the Neat device’s display settings before connecting the de-embedder to a secondary HDMI port. Screen Mirroring makes all HDMI outputs carry the same signal, so the de-embedder gets audio and Neat device doesn’t try to treat the extra port as a second display. Without Screen Mirroring, the device may try to send separate video content to that port. *Please note that a hot plug of the HDMI out cable or a restart/reboot is required after enabling Screen Mirroring. 

Neat Bar Pro specific:

  • If HDMI 2 is connected, HDMI 2 always outputs the audio, even if HDMI 3 is also connected.
  • HDMI 1 and HDMI 3 only: In this rarer setup, HDMI 3 carries the audio. *Please note for Neat devices running Zoom specific display settings should be configured at the Zoom level, or Neat Screen Mirroring should be enabled for this setup.  

Setting it up

  • Connect your main display to HDMI 1 out.
  • Connect the HDMI audio de-embedder to HDMI 2 out — or, if you only have one display, turn on Screen Mirroring first and connect the de-embedder to a secondary HDMI out port.
  • Connect the de-embedder’s analog audio output to your amplifier (for passive speakers) or directly to your active speakers.
  • With all equipment powered on and connected, confirm the display shows video normally.
  • Start a test call and check that you hear the far-end participant through the external speakers.
  • To switch from Internal + external (default) to External only, mute the internal loudspeaker in the Neat device’s audio settings. You can do this on the device (System Settings → Audio & Video) or centrally through a Neat Pulse Profile.

Adjusting the volume

Volume is controlled from Neat device — adjust it directly on the Neat Board or from the paired Neat Pad and the change applies to the HDMI audio out as well.

Set your amplifier or active speakers to a fixed reference level that suits the room, and leave them there. During meetings, adjust volume only on the Neat device. Trying to balance both ends at once will make the room hard to tune.

Good to know

  • HDMI audio out and audio over USB can’t be used at the same time. If Audio over USB is already enabled on the device, turn it off before switching to HDMI audio out. See Using USB Audio with Neat Bar Pro and Neat Board Pro.
  • HDMI audio out only carries remote participants and shared content — not people speaking in the room. If you need to reinforce in-room voices (voice lift), that requires a third-party DSP over USB audio, which routes all audio through the DSP. Combining voice lift and HDMI audio out in the same room isn’t supported.
  • Latency on the external path is the responsibility of the external equipment. Configure your amplifier or DSP to stay within the audio-latency limits the meeting platform expects.
  • Avoid non-linear processing and audio distortion in the external path. Distortion degrades the echo canceller and affects how you sound to the far end. As a rule, external loudspeakers should be noticeably larger and more powerful than the Neat device’s built-in speakers.
  • The ports on the Neat devices are HDMI 2.0. The audio signal is a 2-channel, 48 KHz LPCM signal.

If something isn’t working

No audio at the de-embedder. Confirm the de-embedder is connected to HDMI 2 (for two-display setups). If it’s a single-display room, confirm Screen Mirroring is turned on. Check the HDMI cable and pass-through mode on the de-embedder.

Far-end speech is cut off for the first few seconds after long silences. This is a known interaction between the echo canceller and the external playout path. If you see it in your environment, capture logs and open a support ticket.

Echo at low volume. Turn Neat Bar Pro up to a mid-range level and check whether the echo clears. Very low playback levels can cause a mismatch with the echo canceller’s reference signal.

Audio plays back in mono instead of stereo. The de-embedder’s channel pin-out may not match Neat Bar Pro’s output. Confirm the stereo channel mapping on the de-embedder and swap channels if needed.

No audio through a Lightware 4K HDMI de-embedder. Some Lightware units pass video correctly but don’t extract audio on HDMI 2 or 3. If you run into this, try one of the recommended de-embedders in What you’ll need as a workaround.

If none of the above resolves it, capture logs from Neat Bar Pro and open a support ticket — include the de-embedder model number and a brief description of how the room is wired.