Frustrated: SPDIF Out on HDTV to Onkyo Recevier

[jagojago]

Hi All,

I have a Vizio E421VA HDTV with SPDIF optical out going to my Onkyo receiver's Optical In but my TV is still producing sound out of its own speakers, not my theatre system.

What gives? I tried to "Force PCM" in the sound setup on the TV too but no dice. Am I missing something here? I am also selecting TV mode on the receiver. Is it just plug and go or do I have to do more setup somewhere? My question is how the heck does the receiver know to take sound from the optical in when there are other inputs too. Hmm...

Any help will be so appreciated!

*edit*
Already tried with "PCM" set to "Auto". There is only Auto or Force PCM options on the Vizio E421VA HDTV.

 

[sdifox]

have you tried muting the speakers on the tv? was the digital input assigned to the right video input?

 

[jagojago]

have you tried muting the speakers on the tv?

I tried muting the TV speakers too. Then fiddled with forcing PCM. I read somewhere turning on PCM helps with sending sound to the receiver when using SPDIF. No dice there either..

Didn't try turning off TV speakers, then turning off the TV and turning back on and seeing if that works though..should I try it?

Sorry, but I do not understand your 2nd question:

was the digital input assigned to the right video input?

Do you mean is the digital out from the TV assigned to the right digital in on the receiver?? If so, yes, the HDTV's SPDIF out (the optical out, which is digital) is connected using a TOSLINK SPDIF cable to the receiver's optical in, which should correspond perfectly to the TV's optical out.

 

[sdifox]

I tried muting the TV speakers too. Then fiddled with forcing PCM. I read somewhere turning on PCM helps with sending sound to the receiver when using SPDIF. No dice there either..

Didn't try turning off TV speakers, then turning off the TV and turning back on and seeing if that works though..should I try it?

Sorry, but I do not understand your 2nd question:



Do you mean is the digital out from the TV assigned to the right digital in on the receiver?? If so, yes, the HDTV's SPDIF out (the optical out, which is digital) is connected using a TOSLINK SPDIF cable to the receiver's optical in, which should correspond perfectly to the TV's optical out.

usually, on receivers you can assign digital audio input to particular video input.

so it is possible that you assigned the digital input to the wrong video input.

Unless the digital audio inputs on your receiver is hard-coded to particular video inputs.

there is usually an option to turn off the speakers on the tv.

 

[postmortemIA]

you don't want PCM as it is usually stereo only.

 

[jagojago]

usually, on receivers you can assign digital input to particular video input.

so it is possible that you assigned the digital input to the wrong video input.

Unless the digital audio inputs on your receiver is hard-coded to particular video inputs.

there is usually an option to turn off the speakers on the tv.

Hmm, I am guessing this scenario is for a cable box, right? I am actually using regular 'ol cable TV from the wall to my HDTV's coaxial input. It is possible to program the digital inputs, I believe, you could be referring to HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc can be programmed to accept whichever video input?

But anyway, my setup is:

Coaxial cable from wall-->HDTV-->TOSLINK SPDIF Optical-->Onkyo HT-R680 receiver Optical In

Apologies in advance if I didn't understand your posts again.

 

[jagojago]

you don't want PCM as it is usually stereo only.

I also had PCM set to "Auto" before but it didn't work either.. Hmm..

 

[sdifox]

Hmm, I am guessing this scenario is for a cable box, right? I am actually using regular 'ol cable TV from the wall to my HDTV's coaxial input. It is possible to program the digital inputs, I believe, you could be referring to HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc can be programmed to accept whichever video input?

But anyway, my setup is:

Coaxial cable from wall-->HDTV-->TOSLINK SPDIF Optical-->Onkyo HT-R680 receiver Optical In

Apologies in advance if I didn't understand your posts again.

do you have a HD cable box? If so, both audio and video should go to the receiver then output from receiver to tv. But it sounds like you are just using regular analogue cable signal (yuck).

Bottom line is, does the optical in on the receiver map to a particular input set? Like DVD or something like that? There should be a setup section where you could assign Optical In 1 to DVD input. That would couple the optical In 1 with the video inputs marked as DVD in the back of the receiver. Or you just map to an audio input such as CD and you select CD when you want to hear sound from your TV.

 

[jagojago]

do you have a HD cable box?

No, I do not. I am using cable from the wall...shouldn't matter right?? Can't imagine not being able to enjoy home theatre just because of no cable box...but I have seen wilder things before!

*edit*

FWIW, theatre setup works like a charm on the Blu-Ray player, working well with the HDMI connection. Just watching regular cable TV is still from the stock speakers. I thought using the Optical Out on the TV to the receiver's Optical IN would fix that problem.

 

[sdifox]

No, I do not. I am using cable from the wall...shouldn't matter right?? Can't imagine not being able to enjoy home theatre just because of no cable box...but I have seen wilder things before!

*edit*

FWIW, theatre setup works like a charm on the Blu-Ray player, working well with the HDMI connection. Just watching regular cable TV is still from the stock speakers. I thought using the Optical Out on the TV to the receiver's Optical IN would fix that problem.

yes, but you have to select that optical in first on your receiver in order to listen to it. You need to map that optical in to some input set. I suggest CD.

Look in the setup section of your receiver, there must be a way to assign the optical in to a particular input.

 

[jagojago]

do you have a HD cable box? If so, both audio and video should go to the receiver then output from receiver to tv. But it sounds like you are just using regular analogue cable signal (yuck).

Bottom line is, does the optical in on the receiver map to a particular input set? Like DVD or something like that? There should be a setup section where you could assign Optical In 1 to DVD input. That would couple the optical In 1 with the video inputs marked as DVD in the back of the receiver. Or you just map to an audio input such as CD and you select CD when you want to hear sound from your TV.

Yep, so far I am only using regular cable signal. Haha. Still converting from my "ramen noodle esque" college days! But I shall go for the digital TV plung soon enough... but in the interim..

I get what you mean now, sdifox. I'll have to verify whether Optical 1's assigned to my receiver's TV selection since right now, I have no idea what the TV selection is accepting for the input.

 

[jagojago]

Thanks sdifox, this is good place for me to start. Without your advice I was pretty lost, but now that I know...seems so darn obvious to check!

 

[sdifox]

Thanks sdifox, this is good place for me to start. Without your advice I was pretty lost, but now that I know...seems so darn obvious to check!

no problem. continue asking question if you need to.

 

[novasatori]

this is why HDMI ARC owns

 

[sdifox]

this is why HDMI ARC owns

HDMI has its own shortcomings.

 

[Modelworks]

Another possibility is that the cable company is downmixing the audio to two channels to save bandwidth. I can view several local channels off the cable system but they have been stripped of most of the digital data, not even the program information for the channel shows without the cable companies box installed. Over the air it all works as it should.

 

[sdifox]

Another possibility is that the cable company is downmixing the audio to two channels to save bandwidth. I can view several local channels off the cable system but they have been stripped of most of the digital data, not even the program information for the channel shows without the cable companies box installed. Over the air it all works as it should.

should still be able to pass pcm anyway.

 

[Smoove910]

Reading Owner's Manual = problem solved...

 

[Matt1970]

Didn't try turning off TV speakers, then turning off the TV and turning back on and seeing if that works though..should I try it?

This is from your manual.

Turn off the power to the HDTV and Receiver/Amp.
2. Using an audio cable (optical cable), connect the cable to
the audio input connectors on the Receiver/Amp and
connect the other end to the SPDIF OUT audio optical
connector at the rear of the LCD HDTV.
3. Turn on the power to the HDTV and Receiver/Amp.
4. Then press the MENU button on the remote control to
bring up the On-Screen Display (OSD) menu.
5. Press any navigation arrow button on the remote control
to select the Audio menu.
6. Press OK on the remote control to enter the Audio submenu.
Press any navigation arrow button and select
SPEAKERS.
7. Press OK key to select Off so that the sound from the TV
will now be routed through your Receiver/Amp system.
8. Press EXIT key to exit the menu display.

 

[jagojago]

This is from your manual.

Turn off the power to the HDTV and Receiver/Amp.
2. Using an audio cable (optical cable), connect the cable to
the audio input connectors on the Receiver/Amp and
connect the other end to the SPDIF OUT audio optical
connector at the rear of the LCD HDTV.
3. Turn on the power to the HDTV and Receiver/Amp.
4. Then press the MENU button on the remote control to
bring up the On-Screen Display (OSD) menu.
5. Press any navigation arrow button on the remote control
to select the Audio menu.
6. Press OK on the remote control to enter the Audio submenu.
Press any navigation arrow button and select
SPEAKERS.
7. Press OK key to select Off so that the sound from the TV
will now be routed through your Receiver/Amp system.
8. Press EXIT key to exit the menu display.

Actually, that's not what fixed the problem..

What fixed the issue was mapping the optical out input on the HDTV to output sound. No wonder it didn't matter I was selecting Speaker off, because all along the HDTV didn't know where else to get the sound from, regardless if all the physical connections were correctly in place.

Thanks to all who helped.

 

[jagojago]

yes, but you have to select that optical in first on your receiver in order to listen to it. You need to map that optical in to some input set. I suggest CD.

Look in the setup section of your receiver, there must be a way to assign the optical in to a particular input.

Thanks this fixed the issue!

 

[sdifox]

glad to hear it's fixed.