HDMI Audio Extractor with Optical Out.

SauRoNZA said:
I don’t know of a single modern tv that doesn’t have ARC.

And I would apply that to almost anything manufactured in the last three years.

Sure if you have older tech it’s a different story, but you did advocate buying a new TV which is why the comment didn’t make sense.
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My advice is to get a new TV, and I was talking about the issues he will have using the ATV as his audio source rather than going directly into a TV, especially his old one that probably doesn't have ARC.
 
cerebus said:
My advice is to get a new TV, and I was talking about the issues he will have using the ATV as his audio source rather than going directly into a TV, especially his old one that probably doesn't have ARC.
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It’s definitely something to confirm before assuming as ARC could sort it all out.

He mentioned Plasma but even those had ARC in the last few generations.

Of course if the sound system or sound bar doesn’t support HDMI it’s all irrelevant.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I don’t know of a single modern tv that doesn’t have ARC.

But I do know plenty of people who don’t know how it works and therefore skip it’s use.

And I would apply that to almost anything manufactured in the last three years.

Sure if you have older tech it’s a different story, but you did advocate buying a new TV which is why the comment didn’t make sense.
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I think you're missing the point where I said I was talking about his older TV.

Also the optical output doesn’t support anything but stereo output so is generally a wasted effort anyway and it would be better to “go direct” to your sound system anyway.
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Optical toslink supports 5.1. I have my system hooked up via optical.

https://www.cnet.com/news/hdmi-vs-optical-which-digital-audio-connection-to-use/
 
Also a lot of TVs don't do 5.1 over ARC if the source is HDMI, it will only do 5.1 with ARC if you use the TV's tuner or apps.
 
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SauRoNZA said:
Optical toslink as a medium supports 5.1.

Optical toslink fitted to TV’s as an output converts everything to 2.0 due to digital rights restriction.
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My TV has perfectly good 5.1 surround sound with the optical toslink.
 
Soul Assassin said:
Also a lot of TVs don't do 5.1 over ARC if the source is HDMI, it will only do 5.1 with ARC if you use the TV's tuner or apps.
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They don’t do PCM 5.1 but should do Bitsteam in most cases.

If they still don’t then this would only be the case if you plug your sources into the TV.

Ideally you want to plug them into the receiver/sound bar directly and just send the video on to the TV.

ARC by definition is to return audio down the same cable from the tv, and the remove the age old need for inputs and outputs.
 
cerebus said:
My TV has perfectly good 5.1 surround sound with the optical toslink.
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Are you 100% sure of this? Have you ever confirmed it’s not just Pro Logic or other virtual surround technology making it use all surround speakers?

If indeed the case then you struck it very lucky as it’s not the norm.

Which is why I recommended skipping the TV and going direct from the source to the sound device.

****

Should have clarified this applies to third party sources connected to the TV as per ARC restrictions.

Not the TV content itself or Apps running on the TV.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Are you 100% sure of this? Have you ever confirmed it’s not just Pro Logic or other virtual surround technology making it use all surround speakers?
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100% sure.

If indeed the case then you struck it very lucky as it’s not the norm.
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Do you have a link for this information? It's the first I've ever heard of it. I also used to get 5.1 from coax.
 
cerebus said:
100% sure.



Do you have a link for this information? It's the first I've ever heard of it. I also used to get 5.1 from coax.
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Sorry was slow to update.

You’ll get 5.1 from the TV itself or Apps and stuff running on it.

The problem comes in with passing through audio from a source connected to the TV.

And yes Coax like Optical can support digital 5.1 in SD bitstream formats. Neither supports HD audio.

It’s an age old problem but I see Rtings has started to add it to their reviews on newer TV’s.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough

Makes sense as I believe with the change to Atmos support on newer TV’s the problem is generally gone.
 
SauRoNZA said:
They don’t do PCM 5.1 but should do Bitsteam in most cases.

If they still don’t then this would only be the case if you plug your sources into the TV.

Ideally you want to plug them into the receiver/sound bar directly and just send the video on to the TV.

ARC by definition is to return audio down the same cable from the tv, and the remove the age old need for inputs and outputs.
Click to expand...
What do you do if you have a soundbar that only has one HDMI port, then you have to plug everything into the TV and then you find out your TV can't do 5.1 with ARC from an HDMI source.

So you go to this list and check before you just willy nilly buy a TV:

5.1 Surround Sound Passthrough on TVs
 
Soul Assassin said:
What do you do if you have a soundbar that only has one HDMI port, then you have to plug everything into the TV and then you find out your TV can't do 5.1 with ARC from an HDMI source.

So you go to this list and check before you just willy nilly buy a TV:

5.1 Surround Sound Passthrough on TVs
Click to expand...

Yeah pretty much that, you research it beforehand and buy accordingly.

Or buy a better sound bar in the first place. :)

But in most cases I’ve seen it’s a case of miss configuration and not usually a lack of support as it takes a bit of trickery to get ARC and HDMI-CEC or play nice.

As you see in that last Dolby Digital over ARC is almost never an issue. It’s DTS that can be problematic.

And like I said above Dolby Atmos TV’s generally mean that it all works as long as you are happy with Bitstream and understand you can’t have PCM over optical.

****

Also as it the case with LG sets I’ve experienced you can be in for audio delay issues if you are that sensitive as I am.

Which is why I sadly use Optical at present until I upgrade my receiver to a UHD+HDR compatible on and can go back to HDMI like I did on my 1080p TV.
 
cerebus said:
My TV has perfectly good 5.1 surround sound with the optical toslink.
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Mine to, switches to Dolby Digital or DTS depending on the source, I can also set the TV to send pcm or bitstream.
My older TVs I couldn't but the newer one does.
 
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