AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Soundbars › Samsung HW-E450 Soundbar
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Samsung HW-E450 Soundbar - Page 13

post #361 of 661
1/10/13 at 1:14pm
Thank you Doctego.

So just for clarification, If I route all my devices through the sound bar via an HDMI switch, then to the TV with HDMI chord, everything will work? Does this only achieve stereo sound?
Reply
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #362 of 661
1/10/13 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smithpr12 View Post

Thank you Doctego.

So just for clarification, If I route all my devices through the sound bar via an HDMI switch, then to the TV with HDMI chord, everything will work? Does this only achieve stereo sound?

Everything will work. This shouldn't only output stereo sound. If you connected everything to the TV and then connected the TV to the soundbar via optical, you would probably only get stereo sound. Using the switch and connecting everything directly to the soundbar, you can potentially output Dolby Digital/DTS audio, aslong as your source can output those formats.
Reply
Reply
post #363 of 661
1/10/13 at 1:45pm
Doctego and Possumgirl,

Thanks for all your help, you have been more helpful in a couple hours than Samsung support has been over two weeks.

Lastly, I am going to pull the trigger on this sound bar. Would you think it wise to get a refurbished one through TigerDirect?
Reply
Reply
post #364 of 661
1/10/13 at 2:09pm
I have never ordered anything from them but I wouldn't worry as long as they have a good return policy (just in case). $140 is a good price.
Reply
Reply
post #365 of 661
1/10/13 at 2:45pm
Actually just got it refurbished from Amazon for $180. Had a longer warranty, much better return policy, AND free 2-day shipping since im an Amazon Prime member tongue.gif

I'll post in a few days with an update when its all setup and give a review. Thanks guys!
Reply
Reply
post #366 of 661
1/10/13 at 8:48pm
For those interested in buying one..... Costco has an instant $50 rebate offer right now until January 27th. I just picked one up.... $219.99. Model HW-E450C which comes with both optical and HDMI cables. smile.gif
Reply
Reply
post #367 of 661
1/11/13 at 11:36am
Quote:
Would you think it wise to get a refurbished one through TigerDirect?
That's where I bought mine, no problems. It has the 90-day warranty and came with HDMI and optical cable.
Reply
Reply
post #368 of 661
1/12/13 at 7:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Possumgirl View Post

How do you have the TV & soundbar connected? AFAIK, you should be able to control volume as long as you have an HDMI connection between the two and have Anynet+ turned on. If you're using an optical connection though, volume control doesn't work that way.

Sorry, late to return to this thread as I have been traveling. I am using the optical connection -- that is how the earlier model was connected. In fact, I just swapped the soundbars and reused all of the wiring. With the earlier model, the soundbar turned on and off automatically, and the remotes all controlled the soundbar volume. Sounds like Samsung went backwards in features and compatibility.
Reply
Reply
post #369 of 661
1/12/13 at 1:24pm
ah dang.. picked this up on sale from Canada Computers (had it on order during boxing day) was expecting HDMI & Optical cables but no dice.. guess it depends on the version! :/ I just got a regular audio cable that I can't plug in to my TV. So do I want optical or hdmi? I have an older Samsung TV (don't think it has ARC) it'd be nice if it powered on/off automatically..
Reply
Reply
post #370 of 661
1/12/13 at 7:01pm
In case anyone else has been playing along at home, I have retired my Monoprice HDMI switch for the time being and am running optical from my TV to my soundbar. While using the additional remote is a slight nuisance, it's a much cleaner connection. Once I get the new switch from Monoprice in the mail, I will consider hooking it up the old way. HDMI can be very moody and, lately, it's been more trouble than it's worth.
Reply
Reply
post #371 of 661
1/12/13 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cutcopypaste View Post

ah dang.. picked this up on sale from Canada Computers (had it on order during boxing day) was expecting HDMI & Optical cables but no dice.. guess it depends on the version! :/ I just got a regular audio cable that I can't plug in to my TV. So do I want optical or hdmi? I have an older Samsung TV (don't think it has ARC) it'd be nice if it powered on/off automatically..

Only HW-E450C comes with optical and HDMI cables. How you connect it depends on how many sources you have and what audio outputs the sources have.
Reply
Reply
post #372 of 661
1/13/13 at 9:47am
I don't want to send my Samsung HW-E450 back to Amazon because the sound is great and it fits our room requirements perfectly. However, I've posted here several times about the system's inability to sync the video and audio. I've tried all different settings with the Soundbar remote (i.e. Smart Volume on/off, Sound effects on/off, Sync up 25ms, 50ms, etc. Moving up toward 100ms makes it worse). On some occasions its almost on the mark and in others there is this infernal delay. I've talked to Samsung and they had no advice other than what I've tried and to pull plug power off and on. That seemed to work OK for a while, then back to the delay while watching a cable movie. Its disconcerting listening to the news and watching/hearing this delay while the newspeople are moving their lips! I have an optical digital cable running from the Soundbar to my Samsung HDTV (LN-S4041D). Is there another suggestion for a hookup that might solve this problem?
Reply
Reply
post #373 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldadmark View Post

I don't want to send my Samsung HW-E450 back to Amazon because the sound is great and it fits our room requirements perfectly. However, I've posted here several times about the system's inability to sync the video and audio. I've tried all different settings with the Soundbar remote (i.e. Smart Volume on/off, Sound effects on/off, Sync up 25ms, 50ms, etc. Moving up toward 100ms makes it worse). On some occasions its almost on the mark and in others there is this infernal delay. I've talked to Samsung and they had no advice other than what I've tried and to pull plug power off and on. That seemed to work OK for a while, then back to the delay while watching a cable movie. Its disconcerting listening to the news and watching/hearing this delay while the newspeople are moving their lips! I have an optical digital cable running from the Soundbar to my Samsung HDTV (LN-S4041D). Is there another suggestion for a hookup that might solve this problem?

Can you remind me what sources you have connected to your TV that get outputted to the soundbar? I figure that you have an HD cable box but is there anything else?
Reply
Reply
post #374 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:05am
HD Cable box, Magnavox DVD player, Sammy HDTV...Optical digital cable from TV to Soundbar...HDMI from Cable box to TV. Boy, I hope you have the answer, this is frustrating!!
Reply
Reply
post #375 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldadmark View Post

HD Cable box, Magnavox DVD player, Sammy HDTV...Optical digital cable from TV to Soundbar...HDMI from Cable box to TV. Boy, I hope you have the answer, this is frustrating!!

It seems like the biggest issue for you is when you're watching TV. Does this happen with the DVD player as well? Either way, I would try certain things with the cable box. I would first try to connect the optical cable from the cable box to the soundbar directly. If that doesn't work, I would try connecting the cable box to the soundbar via HDMI and then the soundbar to the TV via HDMI. See how that does with synching up the audio and video.
Reply
Reply
post #376 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:17am
Thx I'll give those a try.
Reply
Reply
post #377 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldadmark View Post

Thx I'll give those a try.

If you decide to go the HDMI route, you should be able to use your Comcast remote to control the volume and turn the soundbar off. You will probably need to use the soundbar remote to turn it on (like I do). This should work but, if memory serves, your TV is an older model.
Reply
Reply
post #378 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:29am
I bought a Logitech Harmony remote and that solved the issue of too many remotes.
Reply
Reply
post #379 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:39am
I have the E450 soundbar and a new Samsung 46" LED HDTV with ARC capability.

So far I've not been able to get the E450 power on when I turn on the TV (apparently a very common problem). My solution was to add SPPWR button to my MX-500 universal remotes (we have three of them). But no problem controlling speaker volume with the TV remote, nor just letting the speakers shut down automatically.

FWIW I have both the optical audio and HDMI cables connected.

Except for the power on oddity, the E450 is a huge improvement in sound. Being deaf in one ear the 3D effects are lost on me; but my wife likes them smile.gif

BUT -- one odd thing: While the Blue Link light on the subwoofer is illuminated, there appears to be a power LED next to it which is not. Is this a common issue or do I have a defect?

Phil
Reply
Reply
post #380 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:47am
Pulled Optical Digital out of TV, plugged to Optical Digital port on cable box and I think you nailed it!!
Reply
Reply
post #381 of 661
1/13/13 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldadmark View Post

HD Cable box, Magnavox DVD player, Sammy HDTV...Optical digital cable from TV to Soundbar...HDMI from Cable box to TV. Boy, I hope you have the answer, this is frustrating!!

I seem to have a similar set up, though not sure if your Samsung TV does the Anynet thing or not. I have the cable box connected to TV via HDMI1, the sound bar to TV via both optical cable and HDMI2 (ARC). So far audio and video sync have been perfect. But I set this up recently (TV two days ago, sound bar added yesterday) and mostly have watched football and have not yet played a BD disk since having connected the sound bar to TV.

Phil
Reply
Reply
post #382 of 661
1/13/13 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldadmark View Post

Pulled Optical Digital out of TV, plugged to Optical Digital port on cable box and I think you nailed it!!

Awesome! Now, this does nothing for you if you want to watch a DVD. Not sure if it's a blu ray player or standard DVD player but how you connect that depends on the outputs on the player.
Reply
Reply
post #383 of 661
1/13/13 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Wheeler View Post

I seem to have a similar set up, though not sure if your Samsung TV does the Anynet thing or not. I have the cable box connected to TV via HDMI1, the sound bar to TV via both optical cable and HDMI2 (ARC). So far audio and video sync have been perfect. But I set this up recently (TV two days ago, sound bar added yesterday) and mostly have watched football and have not yet played a BD disk since having connected the sound bar to TV.

Phil

Having the HDMI and optical connections from the TV to the soundbar is unnecessary. Either/or will work just fine.
Reply
Reply
post #384 of 661
1/13/13 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctego View Post

Having the HDMI and optical connections from the TV to the soundbar is unnecessary. Either/or will work just fine.

Perhaps. But after a fair amount of testing I found the HDMI to be important for using the TV remote to control the sound bar's audio level. However, I may have missed some better combo -- but connecting the added HDMI cable was easy and I still have come new ones left over: If it works, don't fix it smile.gif

Phil
Reply
Reply
post #385 of 661
1/13/13 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Wheeler View Post

Perhaps. But after a fair amount of testing I found the HDMI to be important for using the TV remote to control the sound bar's audio level. However, I may have missed some better combo -- but connecting the added HDMI cable was easy and I still have come new ones left over: If it works, don't fix it smile.gif

Phil

I agree but my point is that if you properly connected the soundbar via HDMI (ARC), you can safely eliminate the optical cable. To check this, what SAT SOURCE do you use when watching TV? Probably HDMI. If you don't change it to D.IN, you don't use the optical connection. Disconnecting that cable will free you up in the future if you ever need to connect anything else to the soundbar.
Reply
Reply
post #386 of 661
1/14/13 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctego View Post

I agree but my point is that if you properly connected the soundbar via HDMI (ARC), you can safely eliminate the optical cable. To check this, what SAT SOURCE do you use when watching TV? Probably HDMI. If you don't change it to D.IN, you don't use the optical connection. Disconnecting that cable will free you up in the future if you ever need to connect anything else to the soundbar.

My best recollection is that when I connected the sound bar via HDMI (ARC on TV) and removed the optical table, it would not stay on HDMI input but went back to D.IN -- where nothing was connected. I don't expect to need anything else connected to the 450 at this time (have BD player connected to TV). But I may refine things in time. For now I'll keep both cables connected.

The only quibbles are: 1) Reading that I could have saved $50 by buying it at COSTCO; 2) The unlit power light on the Subwoofer; 3) Soundbar does not turn on with TV.The second is solved (comes on red when unit is off) and not worth $50 to return to Amazon. My MX-500 remote is now programmed to control Sound Bar, so that issue is gone.

My wife likes the sound much better with the 450 connected and on. I find the sound better, but with only one good ear I'm not an audiophile. So all is good smile.gif

Phil
Reply
Reply
post #387 of 661
1/14/13 at 8:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Wheeler View Post

My best recollection is that when I connected the sound bar via HDMI (ARC on TV) and removed the optical table, it would not stay on HDMI input but went back to D.IN -- where nothing was connected.

This is just an FYI. The soundbar uses the D.IN input for both optical and ARC connections. So as long as there's an HDMI cable connecting soundbar to TV and the TV supports ARC and Anynet+ is enabled, the bar considers ARC as being in use whether it is or not. So you did have a connection, you just didn't know it. smile.gif
Reply
Reply
post #388 of 661
1/14/13 at 10:56am
Hi, I'm considering to buy HW-E450 and I'd like to get some information of this bar if this bar is connected with LG TV with CEC/ARC supports. I've seen some posts that when this bar is connected to Samsung TV the bar does not turned on automatically when TV is turned on.

How about when hooked up with LG TV? I have 55LM6700 which supports CEC/ARC.

1. Does ARC work? If not, it's still okay because getting one optical cable is not a big problem for me.

2. However, CEC is important to me. I really want to power on/off and control volume with LG remote.

3. Is it technically possible that ARC doesn't work but CEC does? In that case, do I need one HDMI cable (for CEC) and one optical cable (for sound from TV)? For example, when I'm using smart apps from tv, those two cables are doing their jobs at the same time?
Reply
Reply
post #389 of 661
1/14/13 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwchoi View Post

Hi, I'm considering to buy HW-E450 and I'd like to get some information of this bar if this bar is connected with LG TV with CEC/ARC supports. I've seen some posts that when this bar is connected to Samsung TV the bar does not turned on automatically when TV is turned on.

How about when hooked up with LG TV? I have 55LM6700 which supports CEC/ARC.

1. Does ARC work? If not, it's still okay because getting one optical cable is not a big problem for me.

2. However, CEC is important to me. I really want to power on/off and control volume with LG remote.

3. Is it technically possible that ARC doesn't work but CEC does? In that case, do I need one HDMI cable (for CEC) and one optical cable (for sound from TV)? For example, when I'm using smart apps from tv, those two cables are doing their jobs at the same time?

1. ARC should work, but there are never any guarantees. smile.gif

2. Power on will not work. The other CEC functions should. LG, like Samsung, does not provide "auto-on" as part of their CEC implementation. Other brands like Panasonic and Sharp do have "auto-on".

3. Yes that's possible and yes, if ARC doesn't work using an optical cable solves the problem.
Reply
Reply
post #390 of 661
1/14/13 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Possumgirl View Post

This is just an FYI. The soundbar uses the D.IN input for both optical and ARC connections. So as long as there's an HDMI cable connecting soundbar to TV and the TV supports ARC and Anynet+ is enabled, the bar considers ARC as being in use whether it is or not. So you did have a connection, you just didn't know it. smile.gif

I learned something new today. Too bad that my TV doesn't support ARC so that I would have known this sooner. My guess is that the fact that his sound bar always went to D.IN. Also has nothing to do with his connections and everything to do with the fact that the sound bar always goes to that by default. Many people have commented about that.

Does this ever cause a problem if someone has their TV connected utilizing ARC and another component connected via optical? Both use D.IN, correct?
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Soundbars

Gear mentioned in this thread:

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Soundbars › Samsung HW-E450 Soundbar