[GuitsBoy]

Just curious if anybody has found a solid workaround for receivers that do not have an HDMI standby passthough feature. I have a beautiful Harman Kardon AVR3600 that sounds beautiful, but lacks standby passthrough, and as such, I rarely bother using it at all due to the hassle of switching inputs and ironing out audio delay. Last year, I tried using an amplified HDMI splitter to split the cable box output into both the TV and the AVR, but this proved buggy, and after getting a few blank screens, I removed the splitter. Plus, my vizio e601i-a3 doesn't have auto switching, which is fine for me, but confuses the wife when she turns on the TV and is greeted with no signal.


I had hoped someone would have created an auto sensing HDMI passthough box by now, but alas, I cannot find anything of that nature. Is it worth trying another amplified splitter, and perhaps an auto sensing HDMI switch to give priority to the AVR whenever powered on, but otherwise default to the cable box output directly from the splitter?


Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Foxbat121]

Connect Cable box HDMI to TV directly. Connect coax or optical digital audio from cable box to your AVR. Connect your AVR to a different TV inputs. Get a universal remote like Logitech Harmony that automatically turn of devices and switch inputs. That will solve your problem.


When you don't use AVR, turn on TV and cablebox and switch TV to the input where cable box is connected.

When you use AVR for TV watching, turn on all three. Switch TV to the input where cable box is connected and mute the TV speaker. Switch AVR to the coax or optical audio input for sound.

When you want to watch BD or DVDs with AVR, switch TV to the input where AVR is connected.


A Logitech Harmony remote can greatly simplify these operations. I for one never even use my AVR's passthrough function at all.

 

[GuitsBoy]

I already have it setup exactly this way, and as you would imagine, it lacks on screen display from the AVR while watching TV. This is of course the lesser price to pay, but its still not ideal. Additionally, the delay in encoding and decoding the toslink adds noticeable lip sync issues. While the AVR has the ability to adjust thins through HDMI, it cant go back in time / speed up the toslink signal. And if they ever broadcast in 7.1, toslink limits me to 5.1 if I recall. Still, this seems to be the best option for now.


Its just so hard to imagine the glaring omission by HK in not including HDMI standby passthrough. What were they thinking (and still thinking, apparently)?! Its even harder to imagine nobody has come up with an aftermarket solution yet.


Poking around on amazon, I think Im going to roll the dice on another amplified splitter, and an auto switcher. They can be had for twenty something bucks together. If its still not bulletproof enough for wifely use, I'm not out any great chunk of change.

 

[Foxbat121]

You will have holographic TVs by the time they broadcasting 7.1

What's wrong with just using AVR all the time?


There is no such thing as HDMI standby passthrough device. Your HDMI passes into AVR which was not designed to be standby passthrough. That' the end of the story. Anything else you do is not in the HDMI standard and just a hack.

 

[GuitsBoy]

Using the AVR is overkill for casual TV viewing. Wife wants to press the "on" button and that's it. And to a point, I agree with her.


Yes, I understand workarounds are certainly a hack at best, but some hacks work pretty well. Then again, some are pretty poor. Figured I'd post to find out if any enterprising young lad came up with a solid idea to address this.

 

[Foxbat121]

That's why I suggested Harmony remote. You press one button and everything will be turned on and input selected correctly for you. I paid top $$$ for my AVR and speakers, why don't use it all the time? But that is personally preference.

 

[afrogt]

I agree with Foxbat. The Harmony remote is an easy solution.


I programmed a couple for my 80 yr old father and has no problem using them. One in the main room and one in his bedroom setup.