Samsung HW-E450 Soundbar - Page 3

^^^
Jayou, from your post it's unclear to me what you have connected (cable box, BD player, etc.) and where/how you have those devices connected. I don't think your TV supports ARC, so if you have devices connected to the TV you need to connect an optical cable from the TV to the soundbar to get audio sent to the soundbar. The HDMI connection from soundbar to TV will send video from whatever device you've connected via HDMI directly to the soundbar. And, of course, it supports the Anynet+ functions.

Thanks Possumgirl - You are already more helpful from the store i brought it from....

I have an Apple TV3, Xbox 360 and a Media Centre (holds my Blu-Ray player) connected to the tv.

So if im understanding correctly HDMI will carry the audio to the soundbar only if the tv has ARC - Otherwise the optical cable is needed to transfer the audio?

If only i realised this 4 hours ago

^^^
That is absolutely correct. :Probably explains why you weren't getting any sound!

Hopefully someone can help.My power bar turns on and off when tv is turned on or off.But power bar doesn't turn on unless I turn the tv on.How do I use the blue tooth feature without having to turn my tv on??

I use optical out from tv to the E450; turn off anynet on the tv, turn off the speakers on the tv, on the sound bar remote turn off anynet with the little button labeled "anynet"... then hit auto-power on the soundbar remote. Turn tv off.

Now, with soundbar remote turn the tv on...in about 15 seconds the sound bar will power on as well.

When you turn the tv off, the sound ba will automatically turn off after 2o minutes with no digital signal coming in...Thats it.

Still, i am going to probably get a nice Harmony so I just use one remote unless I am calibrating the monitor.

Just got mine today, been very pleased with it so far.

Hooked it up with my 46" Sharp monitor and was actually expecting alot of issues regarding the ARC/CEC-funtionality based on what I read beforehand in this thread. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out they worked very well together, powering on/off through the Sharp remote, volume control etc.

Although the bar seems to be forcing the tv sound through all the time when ARC is activated, any way to bypass this? Curious because I've connected all my other devices to it via the monitor but I also ran an optical jack for background music and such from the PC to the E-450, and while the TV is on I can't seem to be able to activate the Digital In -input.

I just got the soundbar today, but have had some issues. Hopefully someone can help me out.

1) The soundbar won't sync up with my comcast standard remote. The box and TV will turn off, but the soundbar still stays on.

2) When I first tried the Blue Tooth with my iphone, it worked. Now everytime I try and connect I get the message, "Connection Unsuccessful". Any help with this? Thanks.

I just added the Harmony One. Amazing complete control of the soundbar and all original features of the Samsung remote without any programming....

I have connected the HW-E450 to my Samsung UE40ES6710 TV using the HDMI Out on the soundbar to HDMI IN 2 (ARC) on the TV. With Anynet switched on, the TV remote works for volume, mute and power off. Disappointingly it doesn't Power On without the soundbar remote - so much for buying everything from the same supplier!

However I have a more worrying problem; on the one channel that I watch the most - BBC One HD - the soundbar audio cuts out momentarily every 5 seconds or so. When the TV speakers are in use this does not happen. Anyone got any ideas?

UPDATE:

The audio dropouts on BBC One HD are caused by dynamic switching between 1080i and 1080p. This is a problem that was seen by many people in 2011 and fixed with firmware updates by Samsung, Sony and maybe others. It seems to have come back! I will report it to Samsung. In the meantime, the fix is to use the Freesat tuner which is only in 1080i. Strangely the dropouts do not occur with the internal TV speakers - only the Soundbar.
Edited by Olympian - 7/29/12 at 10:27am

Possumgirl, are you around? You seem to have all the answers, and I really could use some help. (This issue has not been discussed elsewhere in this thread.)

I have the Samsung 64E7000. My connections are simple: 1) DirecTV to Soundbar (via HDMI); and 2) Soundbar to TV (via HDMI to arc input). On the Soundbar, I need the "source" set to HDMI to get the audio and video working. Not really sure why the "TV Arc" source does not work, but that's irrelevant. As for Anynet, I have it enabled on both the TV and the Soundbar.

So, here is the problem. Every time I turn the TV off, and turn it back on, the Soundbar switches to "D. In." Kills me. Makes no sense.

By the way, I have the Soundbar setup so that turning the TV off will NOT turn the Soundbar off. So, this is what a typical process looks like: I turn the TV off, and the Soundbar remains with "HDMI" right on the front panel. I turn the TV back on, and audio and video works fine for 10 full seconds, but then inexplicably the Soundbar switches itself to "D. In" and shuts off all video and audio. Same is true for all HDMI inputs on the TV. What is going on? I just don't get it and I'm tearing my hair out trying to figure this out.

Just a bit more information on my post above. If I turn Anynet off on the Soundbar, then the issue goes away. So, I can turn the TV/Cable off, then turn it back on, and the Soundbar will not revert to "D. In." But, of course, the TV remote no longer operates the Soundbar. How frustrating.

Well, you've already tried what I was going to suggest you do and, sure enough, Anynet is the culprit. On page 16 of the soundbar manual, you'll find the following notes:
▪The ARC function is activated in D.IN mode if the unit is connected to an ARC supporting TV.
▪▪To turn off the ARC function, turn Anynet off.

I cannot fathom why it is designed this way. but I've seen posts about other soundbars and AVRs that always default to "TV" when using HDMI-CTL so it's not uniquely a Samsung issue. Sorry the news isn't better, but it looks like you either put up with D.IN, or keep Anynet+ turned off.

To answer your other question in your PM, you don't need to send audio out from a TV unless you have devices connected to it, or you watch OTA, or you use smart apps on the TV. So in your case, you don't need ARC or an optical connection from the TV. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Samsung provided a way to use the other HDMI-CTL functions without having ARC active as well.

Interesting. Thanks so much for your insight. Do you have any sense of whether this might work: Directv to TV via HDMI and Directv to Soundbar via optical. Will that work? I just don't have optical available at the moment. I just hope that my Directv box will play nice and output the optical audio even though an HDMI is connected.

**EDIT** Wait, that wont help. If I use optical from the Directv, then I won't be able to use Anynet. My last hope will be using my Harmony and somehow programming it to control the Soundbar.

Btw, another strange thing I learned while troubleshooting is that Anynet will work between my Samsung TV and Soundbar even if the HDMI is not connected to the ARC-specific HDMI input.
Edited by liquidsense - 7/28/12 at 12:59pm

Not strange. In fact that's the way it should work. Basic CEC functions came first and work on any HDMI port. ARC was added later and is specific to a designated port.

Since you already have a Harmony, I think that's your best bet.

HI,

I have an es8000 too and got the free soundbar. For you to get the volume to work via the TV remote control you need to connect your cable or satellite receiver into the soundbar HDMI IN, then connect another HDMI cable into the soundbar HDMI OUT to TV HDMI 2 (the one that said ARC). Be sure you turn ON Anynet+ on TV and Soundbar.

That will give you the following:

HDMI/ARC with Anynet+ on:
-soundbar turns off with TV
-soundbar does not turn on with TV
-can control the volume with TV remote

If you want to get the soundbar to turn ON when TV get ON then unfortunately you have to use the Optical cable solution ONLY:

Optical cable give you:
-soundbar turns on and off with TV
-can't control volume w/TV remote

I try to combine HDMI and optical to gain the auto soundbar ON, but it did't work.

Hope this help

A couple other points to help those that are searching for answers:

1) If you have a universal remote (e.g., Logitech Harmony), you can program the remote such that the Soundbar will always stay on. Unfortunately, if you have Anynet enabled, the Soundbar will automatically switch to "D. In" every time you turn on your cable box (see Possumgirl's post above). So, disable Anynet, and have your universal remote simply control the Soundbar. There are only two downsides: 1) The only indication that your volume is changing is in the Soundbar itself. There is no visual representation on the TV that your volume is changing; 2) once in a while, there is a handshake issue, and you have to restart the Soundbar.

2) It appears that with an HDMI going from my cable box to the Soundbar, and an HDMI going from the Soundbar to the TV, there is a slight delay in the audio. You can change the audio timing on the Soundbar remote, but unfortunately, you can only further delay sound, not advance it. I also tested using optical FROM THE TV to the Soundbar, and I got the same problem.

3) Because of the handshake issues that I've encountered, I'm probably going to use the following setup: HDMI from cable box directly to TV. Optical audio from TV to the Soundbar. (In reality, I'll have all sources feeding into an HDMI switcher, and the switcher outputting to the TV. That way, all audio can go into the Soundbar without having the handshake issue.)

4) Smart Volume is almost a must. It seems like the Soundbar is exacerbating dormant volume issues. Dialogue is too quiet, and action is WAY to loud. Turning on Smart Volume abates the issue almost entirely. But the thing is not perfect. I can hear random volume fluctuations when music is playing.

5) The Logitech Harmony has a tough time with the Soundbar. I have to press any input twice for the Soundbar to recognize it. I think I need to fiddle around with the Logitech key delay settings.

6) All in all, the Soundbar is sufficient. I would not recommend buying it. But, if you get it free with a TV, go for it.

Forgot to clarify mention that combining HDMI and optical will give you volume control using the TV remote control. TV ON is the one that wont work on this combination although you will think it should.

When you say "optical," are you referring to optical from your source (i.e., cable box) to your Soundbar? Or are you saying optical from the TV to the Soundbar? Both options are available.

Does anypne have a tivo remote controlling their soundbar's vol & mute? I have a HW-E350 and none of the tivo codes seem tyo work (there are only 3 1197-1199)

I have the HW-E450 and have the same problem with the tivo. Some people with older/different models of the sound bar have tried using the codes listed under the tv setup for the AV set-up and it has worked for them. I have not had success with that. If I could find a TiVo code that worked, all this would be fixed by now.

If I hook up the TiVo to go though the sound bar, I have the problem with the sound bar switching to D-in and I loose all signal to the TV. This was even more annoying that the lack turing on, cause you have to sit there remote in hand for 10 seconds until you loose signal in order to change it input back.

Therefore, I tried hooking up TiVo to TV through HDMI, did a HDMI from a different port to the sound bar outlet, then an optical cable from tv to sound bar, hoping to get the best of both worlds, volume controlwith HDMI and on/off with the optical cable by leaving the input on D-in. Unfortunately, the soundbar prevents anynet+ and "auto power" to be enabled at the same time. So you have to still use the remote to toggle anynet on and off.

And why can't the universal touch remote that comes with the es8000 and es7500 connect to the sound bar? It only hooks up to cable boxes and BDs, not AV equipment. It only controls the soundbar though anynet+, so it too can't power on the sound bar or change the volume depending on how it's hooked up. That doesn't seem to be very universal.

I guess harmony is the way to go.

Quoting my own post as it seems my luck has turned, and actually made quite a downfall to say the least. I was playing for some time on PS3 and had the 3D Sound mode turned to low, grabbed my remote to turn off the 3D sound mode, my clumsy-soon-to-be-cut-off fingers hit the Anynet+ -button, and all hell broke loose. After it initially turned off for the first time, I tried to turn it back on and the ARC -channel stayed mute, TV displayed a message for external av-system being detected but apparently couldn't push the sound through anyway.

When I finally got it to turn on TV ARC back again, I still couldn't control the volume or get it to power on / off through the remote although I had quite some success with it not even goddamned five minutes before the anynet+ incident. Now I'm stuck with the optical cable connection and I suppose I could give Samsung Customer Service my $0.02 tomorrow.

Anynet+ is evil, stubborn and to be avoided altogether. :-|

Also, anyone to figure a way to revert my soundbar to work the way it did an hour back wins a cookie. Homemade. Chocolate. Tried to fiddle around with the AQUOS LINK -settings which were quite pleasantly cooperating with the soundbar earlier too without any luck.

I mean TV to Soundbar.

I dont know if any one notice but on the Smaung website http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/HW-C450/XAA there is a new Firmware for the e450 sound bar.

All it said is that improve stability. Anyway latest firmware is usually good to have.

I will give a try as soon as I have a chance.

This is not new, it's dated May 2011.

Checking back with updates on my anynet-battle, if there's anyone who's interested; if not, nevermind, I'm posting it anyway.

After accepting my fate and simply connecting the soundbar to TV with an optical cable (left the HDMI ARC still in though), it's been a week or so I think, I left home last night and pulled plugs off walls since there were warnings of thunderstorms in the area. Plugged them back in today and was shocked in awe when powering my TV on: soundbar turned on through the tv remote and set itself in "TV ARC" -input automatically again.
I also have volume control through the sharp remote, and it powers off with the tv as it used to earlier on.

It's for the 2010 model, HW-C450, as the link suggests, not E450.

You are correct, sorry for the mistake. I glaze at name it too quick and missed the 'E'

I'm going to try this an see what happen, if it work like it did for you that will make me very happy. I want the sound bar to turn ON automatically with Anytime++ ON so I can control the volume with my TV remote. Just to confirm you still have Anytime ++ on correct?

Where should I position my soundbar and subwoofer for optimal audio quality? Any other hints to achieve the best sound, such as are people using the 3D option and/or smart volume? Thanks