[flyfisherman733]

I got this new flat screen Samsung "SmartTV" for Father's Day and I having heartburn get all the components to work right. Here's my system:


Blu/Ray Player: Playstation 3

Receiver: Pioneer VSX-519v

Cable "DVR" box that connects to cable TV

Sony Wireless Headphones via RCA cables for cable TV and optical for PS3


Current connections: PS3 HDMI-> BD HDMI port in the receiver; HDMI out from receiver -> DVI port on Samsung TV.


Problems: I can't get sound through the receiver so I have set the receiver to "pass thru" the sound to the TV speakers. This okay for netflix. When I want to watch a Blu-Ray DVD I don't get all the channels of the sound on the TV. The Blu-Ray plays back the DVD in 7.1 stereo. Also when the HDMI cable is plugged into the PS3, I don't get sound to the headphones. I am able to get cable TV sound and picture (not HD) by leaving the sound cables connected to receiver and running the RCA cable to the back of the HCTV.


I've tried running the HDMI directly from the PS3 to the Samsung and don't get picture or sound.


I really love the Samsung TV and the picture is outstanding. The wiring and sound situation is something left to be desired. I read somewhere on the internet that the Pioneer HDMI is verion 1.3 and the Samsung HDMI is version 1.4.


I can usually figure things out by trial and error but this one has me stumped.


Any suggestions on how to get the receiver to handle the audio and the hopefully keep the wireless head phones working?


Thanks...

 

[Beerstalker]

That Pioneer receiver appears to just have passthru switching of the HDMI signal. That means it can't extract the audio from the HDMI signal, and you have to hook up the optical audio out on your PS3 to one of the optical inputs on the Pioneer receiver and tell it which one to use along with the BD HDMI input.


Hook your headphones up to the zone 2 out on the back of the Pioneer receiver.


Without knowing what cable DVR you have I can't really tell you the best way to hook that up.

 

[flyfisherman733]

Thanks so much for your reply.


I tried what you suggested and didn't work (or I didn't do it correctly). I plugged the digital optical cable into the #1 input. I then went thru the menu on the receiver until I got to assign component. There's a sub-menu for #1 and #2 ports. I selected #1 and assigned it to the BD. I set #2 to OFF. I then went to the HDMI setting and switched from PASSTHRU to AMP. Turned everything on but no cigar. I switched the HDMI back to PASSTHRU and I got sound on the TV speakers.


The DVR I mentioned is not a true DVR. It's a device that allows me to get extra channels through my cable hook and on-demand movies. It hooks up just like a VCR and the actual cable coax is connected to this box. I was getting sound and picture. Now, I only get the picture and no sound. Tommorrow I'm going to hook it directly to the TV and bypass the receiver altogether.


I also managed to get the dialog to work on the blu-ray. It so happens the PS3 has numerous settings on how to playback a blu-ray. I just changed the settings and set them to bit stream or something like that. I didn't have time to delve into it deeper today.


I can say this though-- the process of figuring out the various setting/options on the PS3, receiver and TV is VERY confusing and real bear to debug. Not to mention very time consuming. For this particular mix of equipment, the Pioneer VSX-519V doesn't seem to be the ticket.


Maybe this question should be a new thread but I'll ask it anyway: Is there a reasonably priced equipment configuration (excluding the new TV of course) that is more PLUG and PLAY? All this tweaking takes the fun out of getting a new TV.


Thanks.

 

[Beerstalker]

A newer AV receiver that decodes audio from the HDMI signal would make things much simpler. Most now days can upscale/transcode other video inputs and send them out over HDMI as well. This way you could have your PS3 hooked up to the AV receiver over HDMI only, and hook your cable box up to the AV receiver with whatever the best connectors it has, and then just run one HDMI cable from the AV receiver to the TV. Then you no longer have to change inputs on the TV anymore, you just change them on the AV receiver. Here's a couple of the newer ones around the same level as your current one. I'm a fan of Denon, but I included the newer version of your Pioneer if you prefer them.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/VSX-522-K

http://usa.denon.com/US/Product/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?PCatId=AVSolutions(DenonNA)&catalog=DenonNA_US&CatId=AVReceivers(DenonNA)&Pid=AVR1513(DenonNA)

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR313&class=Receiver&p=i

http://www.harmankardon.com/EN-US/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?PID=AVR%201565

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v373_black_u/?mode=model#tab=product_lineup


As far as your current setup goes, did you make sure to go into the PS3 settings and tell it to use the optical ouput for audio instead of HDMI? That is the only reason I can think of why you couldn't get audio from it out of the AV receiver.


As far as your cable box goes, a model number would really help. There should be one right on the front, but if not there will definitely be one on a sticker somewhere, usually on the bottom or back. All cable boxes hook up directly to the coax, what I really need to know is what kind of ouputs it has. If it has HDMI and optical or coax digial output you should hook those up to your AV receiver.

 

[flyfisherman733]

Thank you for all the great information.


I did reset the audio out of the PS3 to optical connection to the AVR. The amp and/or the speakers made a menancing sounding crackle noise. So, reset the PASSTHRU option back on the HDMI setting on the receiver. So, I just about have given up for now. I get sound through the TV out of the PS3. As a matter of note the PS3 has a slew of sound streaming options from PCM to various bitstream options. The same is true for the blu-ray playback options. I went with the PCM because I thought that would probably most likely what the receiver would understand and the receiver is probably not equipped to handle the gaming functions (I'm not a gamer).


The cable box is a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250. It only has RCA (video, right & left sound jacks) and a s-video coming out of it. My receiver doesn't have a s-video jack. I finally gave in on this one too and hooked the RCA cables directly to the back of the TV. It works great.


I appreciate the suggestions for for various receivers. The Pioneer 552 can be purchased on NewEgg (at least for now) for about $200. There is an Onyko that looks pretty good too. I did read a comment on the Onkyo unit about some incompatibility with a PS3. That's a decision for another time when the frustration level receeds and I can think clearly again. It's good to know that there are systems out there can process all the hook ups throught the one HDMI cable going to the TV.


Thanks for all your help!