Vizio 510, Vizio 210, JVC BA1 another Davyo shoot-out w/ pictures - Page 17

Newbie here, 1st post, pretty green to all this. guess it seems logical this question is aimed towards Davyo whom seems the like thee soundbar guy!

Coming from a 10 year old Sony rear projection dinosaur, I finally took the plunge and recently picked up a Sony 55 NX720 LED, Sony BD Player and finally got a HD TimeWarner Oceanic box. All I can say it's night and day comming from the setup I had.

I'm seriously considering on picking up the Vizio 510 5.1 Soundbar and take my chances regardless the volume indicator light issues. and don't want to wait for the 520 for which may never be released plus the price has come down some for the 510 at my local Costco.

The Question here is finding the Optimum hook up, for I've read somewhere in this long thread that it would be best to go straight to the source which would mean BD Player Optical to 510 Optical then BD Player HDMI to HDTV HDMI ARC and HD Cable box HDMI to HDTV HDMI???? VS 510 Optical to HDTV Optical and BD HDMI to HDTV HDMI ARC???? For I also read somewhere that the latter will only produce 2.1 going Optical to the HDTV??? Also I've saw where a Optical splitter would be needed to connect other devices such a cable box, 360 etc. all going to the 510 Optical. if this is true then would I need the splitter to receive 5.1 for Cable/TV and BD player for those are the only 2 devices I would interested in getting 5.1 effect.

Sorry if this all seems confusing but again excuse me for being so green, but I'm glad I've found this place for I have digested alot from the very short time I've been here.

That being said If someone can so kindly in elementary terms confirm the above or show the the way.

Thank You

Appreciate the quick response Davyo, are you here for 24/7 support? if so then you should get paid. kiddin aside. I'll pray that my Sony HDTV will output 5.1 if not I think I will put off the splitter option for awile and just concentrate on getting 5.1 for my BD player. If going this way ,Correct me if I'm wrong. BD Player Optical to 510 Soundbar Optical and BD Player HDMI to HDTV HDMI??? Also If I'm golden that my tv outputs in 5.1 would there be an somewhere on the soundbar indicating receiving in 5.1??

Again, Many Thanks!!!

Akira

If you end up needing an optical switcher for your audio, I bought this one to go with my Vizio 510 soundbar, it works great and even has a remote. :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...00_i00_details
This switch has my PS3, DTV, XBox, and my Vizio's TV audio out (for Netflix, Amazon, etc) all as inputs. Works flawlessly.


I bought a optical switch similar to this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Nyrius-SW100-D...ref=pd_sim_e_1
and did not like it at all. Too clunky to switch inputs.

The Vizio 510 does show if you are getting a DD 5.1 sound, DTS sound, or stereo. There are 4 lights on the display. The first one is blue if DD 5.1 is active or orange if DTS is active. No light means you are getting stereo sound. The next two lights have to do with other features of the sound bar, the 4th light is the orange power light.

Happened to be at Costco today and they had the Vizio 215 for 199.00 on display which was also hooked up, gave it a listen, sounded good to my ears but then again it's difficult to judge in those environments. Wanted to hear the 510 priced at 189.00which was right next to it unfortunately it wasnt hooked I was wondering if there was a sonic difference justifying the 90.00 price difference between the 2??
Also wondering if these Vizio's are considerately better sounding than the Sony 150 which is 299.00 at Bestbuy.
Anyone know of a good reliable optical splitter/switcher and it doesn't need to have a remote. It'll just be for HD cable box and BD player to Vizio 510 soundbar, of course if I decided to go that direction.
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wondering though has anyone has compared the 215 vs the 510? Sound wise I'm wonder

I got my second sound bar from newegg and I seem to have a new issue. I have a ps3 hooked up.via optical directly to the sound bar. OK with hulu plus the blue led in position one on the sound bar lights up showing that Dolby Digital signal is detected. With Dolby digital detected and srs trusurround HD enabled I get a weird scrobbling sound. Its kind of like a distortion that sounds like blurble blurb bluble its in the backround. This doesn't happen when its Dolby Digital and SRS TruVolume however. Can anyone replicate this? Could it be the brand new optical cable? Do these two modes (Dolby Digital and TruSurround) not work well together? I appreciate any help as I'm sick of this sound bar having problems. I don't understand why trusurround wouldn't work with Dolby digital? Thank

Edit: a better explanation for the sound would be if you rewind a VHS tape and you can hear the audio rewinding really fast.

Hi, Yes i get that strange sound too, it happens with both the optical and analog inputs. It's different depending on what I'm listening to. During a led zepelin Blu Ray Dolby disc i have it sounds like a reverb is added to the back speakers. But on my Chicago Blue Ray (NO Dolby used during their recording only DTS) the back speakers sound fantastic. Some other music sources do exhibit a wierd mish-mosh of delay or mis timed chanels. If I dont like the way that sounds, i just turn off the first blue light, turn on tru volume and crank it up. I've dont have a PS3.
ANY WORD ON THE VOLUME LED'S ?
Mine worked flawlessly for 5 weeks, then two days ago I thought it wasn't working, I got up real close to the soundbar and I could see the LED's were working, but so FAINT that I couldn't see them more than 2 feet away. I unplugged the power cord and held the power button in for 30 seconds and the lights are back to normal. Can't Vizio come up with some repair or replacement for this. I think they owe us owners an explanation. I guess I'll just return it before my 90 days is up at Walmart. Without the LED's I cannot get it adjusted properly. Any other ideas? Bill

PS. Concerning the Optical, direct from bluray or set top box, verses Optical thru the TV's HDMI versus analog, ...... they all sound the same to me, so don't waste your time with the opitical switch and a bunch of opitical wires all over the place. Just put all the devices thru the TV ( I have a Vizio E550VL) with HDMI's, then from the TV to the soundbar using the Optical input. Additionally I hooked up a red/white analog cable directly from the Bluray to the soundbar using input #1 (labeled "IN" on the remote). I can play MUSIC from the bluray to the soundbar with the TV off using the analog cable. The Bluray is also plugged into the TV with an HDMI cable for playing movies and other video, for this I use input # 2 (labeled "OPITICAL" on the remote).

Here's something, does this make sense. My original Soundbar Serial number bought Jan 2012 was SS AO JE BL 40015XX
the box it came in has a black "girl" on it, and the box end flap says Copywrite 2010.

I bought another one in March 2012 and the serial number is
SS AO AO BN 01002XX
the box it came in has a black "Man" on it, and the box end flap says Copywrite 2011.

I chatted online with Vizio and they said the BN is the newer of the two, but their credibility is low since they also said the led problem was fixed and I quote "was fixed some time ago".

Seems to me the JE would be newer than the AO????????

Does anyone have problems getting 5.1 on certain blue ray movies? It's almost like there are some formats of 5.1 that will not work on the vizio. For example; Inception BD will not play 5.1 in English but if I switch to French or Spanish it will play 5.1 with no problem. Anyone else experience this or have any suggestions.

I'm not sure if this will help your situation. But I've noticed that by sometimes just switching from input 1 or input 2 on the remote sometimes seems to invoke a different sound mix. I think this may somehow be related to another situation that when i watch TV and change channels, sometimes the sound will go missing. So i use the remote, punch input 1 or 2 and bingo, the sound is back. Maybe you could try switching inputs, instead of Languages.
I like the Vizio, for $300 bucks, it looks good, sounds great, and was an easy install. Too bad the LED volume lights don't seem to hold up. So far I had to reset them once by unplugging then holding the power switch on for 30seconds. I bought it approx Jan 15, and it failed once about 2 weeks ago...but the LED's are still working after my 30second fix.

ME TOO!! Vizio 215 or Sony 150??? I need sound quality and ease of use!! What do you think?

Here in Southern California the few Costcos that have the VHT 510 have display models for under $300.

Where are you all finding the deal on the 510?

Will there be a 520?

Davyo I want to get the 510 and would like to run optical from the tv to keep that as the switcher and keep settings for all inputs. My Sharp LC70LE845U has audio optical out with two settings, PCM and Bitstream. The Bitstream setting says it will output Dolby Digital so maybe that will output 5.1 to the 510?

Thanks, I was hoping to keep it simple. It is interesting that the Sharp 80 manual states;
"The optical output terminal outputs audio signal in Dolby Digital form. It reproduces sound from surround program of digital"

They must mean it reproduces 2 channel from surround digital. Is there any other simple way around this rather than getting a system with hdmi input/output ? I could use an optical switcher but then would have to change panel settings for each setup each time.

I have a Panasonic 50UT50 plasma and want to connect the JVC BA1 soundbar via optical out. But the audio out menu on the Panny does not let you select Bitstream or Dolby. So just getting stereo sound. To get full digital surround sound, should I use a HDMI to optical converter connected to HDMI ARC via HDMI? Then connect BA1 to the optical converter using the toslink. Will this work? TV is connected to OTA antenna, no cable box.

You should be getting Dolby output via optical when you are tuned to a digital channel that is broadcasting DD5.1. That's why you don't find any setting to change. Pannys send out Dolby if that's what they receive. They send out PCM from source devices connected to the TV. You certainly wouldn't need any type of converter going to a BA1 soundbar.

Well, I also have a Bose Cinemate currently connected to the optical output. But I get much better sound quality when connected to a Bluray player, and I read it was because the Bluray player allows bitstream audio decoding and apparently the OTA tuner in the TV itself does not. So I was wondering if an HDMI converter would be a workaround solution, as the optical connection would be coming from the HDMI converter via the TVs HDMI ARC connection.

Getting better sound quality from blu-ray isn't the same as saying you only get stereo output from the TV. Many blu-rays have better quality audio to start with, especially if they have a DTS track. Regardless of where the decoding takes place, it's the same audio.

I do not see how your converter idea could work for several reasons.
1. I could be wrong, but I don't think there is an HDMI-toslink converter meant to do what you're thinking about. HDMI switchers are designed for a different purpose.
2. Even if such a converter exists, it would have to be ARC enabled because ARC only works when both the output and input devices support ARC.
3. The Panny TV outputs exactly the same audio via ARC as it does via toslink. My previous Panny didn't have ARC so I used toslink. My current Panny does have ARC. Same audio from OTA either way.

So the UT50 should have the same audio decoding whether using HDMI ARC or optical out? One thing I like about the Panny soundbars is that they integrate very well with the TV remote, including powering on and off with the TV, and volume control. Works great when using HDMI ARC. Was wondering if the HTB 550 is much of an upgrade over the HTB 520.

Is the VHT510 compatible with a DirecTV remote?

My wife wants one remote to control everything and a logitech harmony remote may be an option but we'd prefer to stick to the directv one if possible to save a few bux.

Thanks,

Hello everyone.

I would love to be able to purchase a 510, but being in Toronto the only place I can find it is on Amazon.com and its listed at $599 brand new. I've checked costco.com and costco.ca and its never listed there. Pls Pls sum1 point in the direction of where i can order this online, or even drive to Buffalo and purchase in the US.

Listed as discontinued on NewEgg!!?? A friend purchased a refurbished one at a local Walmart for $199.00 a few weeks ago...

Good Luck,