Help! Problem with TV and Soundbar.

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Aug 18, 2009
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For starters, I am somewhat technologically challenged. I have a problem that I can't figure out the answer to.
Have a Sharp Aquos LC-60LE550U TV that until yesterday was hooked up to a Tivo and a Vizio soundbar.
Got rid of the cable, and are streaming with a Amazon Fire and YouTube TV.
Streaming is fine. The problem is with the soundbar.
Disconnected the Tivo and hooked the set directly up to the soundbar.
Soundbar did not work despite best efforts.
In the interim, went shopping tonight and ended up buying a new soundbar (LG SN4A)
Hooked up the new soundbar per the instructions: Optical cable from optical out on TV to back of soundbar.
No sound out of the new soundbar. New bar had new optical cable, which I used.
For some reason, neither soundbar will work with the TV now.
Don't know if it is a problem with the optical jack on the TV, or some setting on the TV, or what is going on.
Any help is appreciated in advance.
 
There are settings for external speakers on your TV. You need to use your remote and go in to your "menus". If that doesn't work-yes the optical jack could be bad. External speakers are not plug and play. They need to be setup in the menu on your TV.
 
Yep, just as CKN said. My Sony tv had to be configured for external speakers. Just plugging it in to the tv does not make it work
 
After you turn on the external sound, you might need to disable the TV sound if there is a noticeable delay. My previous TV sounded almost like an echo when using a sound bar.
 
UPDATE: Went into the menu on the set. Under "Audio", the only selection for anything having to do with speakers is "Surround." That is on. However, the bar does not work with "Surround" on or off. I can find nothing else in regard to speakers. I may have to try doing a full reset on the set ( Haven't had time to play with that.) Only other thing that I can think of besides the jack on the TV or some setting, is the fact that in the initial setup, the TV asks whether set is going to be OTA or Cable (It is presently set for Cable.) Just saw some info regarding setup menu that may apply regarding signal. Will need to mess with set again, because it says that you can rerun the "EZ Setup" again, even though it does not specifically inform how to do so.
 
As is the case with every TV with an optical output, digital audio is not output from a HDMI source. The optical digital output is only usable with tuner (broadcast or cable) sources. This is for copyright protection to prevent a digital copy being made from the unencrypted S/PDIF stream.


Page 12, footnote 4:
The DIGITAL AUDIO OUT terminal does not output the audio signals from external equipment connected to the HDMI IN
terminals. In this case, make analog audio connections to the AUDIO OUT terminals.

You can buy an (unlicensed) "HDMI Break Out Box" to tap the audio off before it reaches the TV.
 
As is the case with every TV with an optical output, digital audio is not output from a HDMI source. The optical digital output is only usable with tuner (broadcast or cable) sources. This is for copyright protection to prevent a digital copy being made from the unencrypted S/PDIF stream.


Page 12, footnote 4:


You can buy an (unlicensed) "HDMI Break Out Box" to tap the audio off before it reaches the TV.
Well… there’s the answer. It’s your TV, the sound bars are fine.

Though I’ve NEVER experienced a TV behaving like this. Toshiba, Hisense, LG, TCL, and Samsung have all output sound from the sets optical port just fine when displaying content from an HDMI source. I’ve had Xbox, PlayStation, and DirecTV boxes all connected to the TV via HDMI and the sound bar connected to the TV via optical in all those cases and always had sound.
 
As is the case with every TV with an optical output, digital audio is not output from a HDMI source. The optical digital output is only usable with tuner (broadcast or cable) sources. This is for copyright protection to prevent a digital copy being made from the unencrypted S/PDIF stream.


Page 12, footnote 4:


You can buy an (unlicensed) "HDMI Break Out Box" to tap the audio off before it reaches the TV.

There is the answer. Everything went through the Tivo. Take away the Tivo, and nothing works together.
I'm kind of interested in the break out box concept. Found a few circuit boards doing a Google, but nothing that looked like an entire unit.
Looks kind of like I may be going TV shopping.
Replaced the 80% worn out soundbar, guess I may as well go all in and replace the TV. It's pushing 8 years old, and neither Mrs. Tdbo or myself can stand the audio without a soundbar.
 
I have a Samsung TV and sound bar.
The sound bar works with all the sources I have.
OTA
Disc player
Directv
5 streaming services.
Internet
I always buy the TV and sound bar from the same manufacturer to eliminate any conflicts.
And yes you do have to go into the TV settings and set it for external speaker.
 
As is the case with every TV with an optical output, digital audio is not output from a HDMI source. The optical digital output is only usable with tuner (broadcast or cable) sources. This is for copyright protection to prevent a digital copy being made from the unencrypted S/PDIF stream.


Page 12, footnote 4:


You can buy an (unlicensed) "HDMI Break Out Box" to tap the audio off before it reaches the TV.

This is not true with all sets, I have an optical input driving my sound bar and HDMI sources feed through the TV to the sound bar without issue. In fact, I haven't had an issue with this setup with multiple TVs.
 
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