[alanjmartiin]


Before I go crazy I am hoping that I will get some sense from some of you guys....

 

I have an LG 47LA860W TV and have recently bought a JBL SB400 soundbar.  With my sources connected to the TV, I am trying to extend the sound to the soundbar, not unreasonable I thought.

 

If I use an optical cable, between the devices, the sound is good.

However when I use HDMI(ARC) I get no sound through at all.  I have spoken to both manufactures and still no joy....

 

Does anybody know is this is possible?  Even better has anyone done it....?

 

The strange thing is when I first got the soundbar I connected my sources to the sound bar and then using ARC from there to the TV.  This worked, but with no passthru on the SB400 It meant I would have to have it powered all the time.

 

Can HDMI (ARC) compatibility be so bad or do I have a fault....?

 

Alan

 

[HDMI Guy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by alanjmartiin  /t/1517204/hdmi-arc-compatibility#post_24341560


Before I go crazy I am hoping that I will get some sense from some of you guys....


I have an LG 47LA860W TV and have recently bought a JBL SB400 soundbar.  With my sources connected to the TV, I am trying to extend the sound to the soundbar, not unreasonable I thought.


If I use an optical cable, between the devices, the sound is good.

However when I use HDMI(ARC) I get no sound through at all.  I have spoken to both manufactures and still no joy....


Does anybody know is this is possible?  Even better has anyone done it....?


The strange thing is when I first got the soundbar I connected my sources to the sound bar and then using ARC from there to the TV.  This worked, but with no passthru on the SB400 It meant I would have to have it powered all the time.


Can HDMI (ARC) compatibility be so bad or do I have a fault....?


Alan

The way you had it connected at first is the method that would be recommended. The soundbar goes into standby when no audio is detected for about ten minutes. Do you have a need to watch the TV with the soundbar off?

With the sources connected to the TV what is the disadvantage of the optical cable connection?

 

[HDMI Guy]

From the manual for the soundbar.

If the soundbar has automatically gone into the Standby mode 10 minutes after the audio signal has ceased, it will automatically turn itself on when it receives an audio

signal at either input connection .If you will be away from home for an extended period of time, or if you will not be using the soundbar for an extended period, set the

soundbar’s Power switch to the “Off” position.

 

[alanjmartiin]


Thanks for your response.

 

I think there are two or three issues....

1     With the sources connected to the sound-bar it means that the the SB400 has to be switched on if I want to view anything on the TV.  This is not always what I want.  This also introduces the lip-sync issue, which admittedly is something I can get round by tweaking the Sky box etc.

 

2     The difference between the optical and the HDMI (ARC) solution is minimal from a sound point of view, but I believe that the HDMI method would provide some OSD of not only volume but also bass on/off and surround/music settings.

 

3     I suppose my biggest gripe is that having done the research,spoken to "experts", I have paid a reasonable amount of cash to manufacturers who basically do not care whether there devices are compatible. 

 

I have spoken to both LG and JBL and LG suggest that the cable is the problem, JBL suggest that CEC may be the issue,  So basically there is not a lot I can do.

 

Thanks again

 

Alan (disillusioned by AV industry)

 

[HDMI Guy]

With regard to issue number 2 if you connect the sources to the TV the only way you would have an onscreen display of sound-bar settings etc on the TV would be to change the TV input to the one connected to the sound-bar. With the optical cable from the TV to the sound-bar there should be no difference in sound vs HDMI(ARC). Leave the HDMI cable from the sound-bar to the TV connected when you use the optical cable. Result should be exactly the same as connecting all devices to TV and using ARC.

 

[HDMI Guy]

Another thought. Have you turned on ARC in both the TV and the sound-bar? With all devices connected to the sound bar you would get audio and video with ARC off. With devices connected to the TV there would be no audio with ARC off.

 

[alanjmartiin]


Ok...  That makes sense.

 

So what you are saying is that on the TV, if I select my Sky box as a source (HDMI 2), I cannot possibly get OSD from the ARC input (HDMI 1)...

 

Think I will run that past LG to see what they have to say....?

 

Thanks again.... 

 

Alan

 

[alanjmartiin]



Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMI Guy  /t/1517204/hdmi-arc-compatibility#post_24349739


Another thought. Have you turned on ARC in both the TV and the sound-bar? With all devices connected to the sound bar you would get audio and video with ARC off. With devices connected to the TV there would be no audio with ARC off.

 

Yes.....  It is on everywhere I can see......

 

Although from what I can see you do not "turn it on" on the SB400, you just connect to the ARC connection and select HDMI TV

 

[HDMI Guy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by alanjmartiin  /t/1517204/hdmi-arc-compatibility#post_24351263


Yes.....  It is on everywhere I can see......


Although from what I can see you do not "turn it on" on the SB400, you just connect to the ARC connection and select HDMI TV

That is correct. From the manual for the sound-bar. "The ARC signal is active when the HDMI TV source is selected."