Dolby Sound Off?

[OhioDon]

I have my Hopper connected to a HDMI splitter. The splitter splits to one 50" newer TV and also to a wireless sender that is an older 30" TV. Until I hooked up the ZVOX sound box on Saturday, all was good. But, I think it was on PCM sound only. When I changed the Hopper to Dolby, everything seemed good on the big TV that has the ZVOX connected to the digital audio output of the TV. When my wife tried to use the small TV tonight, there was no sound. She switched the Hopper back to PCM and still no sound.

I kept messing with it and sometimes Dolby will work until I turn off the Hopper and TV. When I turn it on, there is no sound. Usually, if it is on Dolby, and I change to PCM, the sound will not come on until I turn the Hopper off and back on. I think, if I start the TV with the Hopper on PCM, I can switch to Dolby and it will work.

Any thoughts???

 

[david_jr]

I have an HDMI splitter that will drop the sound. Have to pull the power on it and reset it. Also seems to be sensitive to the order that components are turned on. I think we have to turn on source first, splitter second, AVR then TV. I would leave the splitter on all the time except the lights on it are so bright I can't sleep when it is on.

 

[DishSubLA]

If one is splitting the HDMI, then only ONE output will have all audio data pass, while the other will be limited to stereo at best. This is intentional and part of the HDMI spec. However, this imposed limitation when splitting HDMI can also result in all manner of annoying problems with audio such as you are experiencing.

FWIW, I have my AVR now outputting from BOTH of its HDMI outputs: on to the big HDTV, and the other to the 23" HDTV for when I listen to music but need a TV to control the interface while audio streaming listening to SACD with Blu-ray player. Now, when I am watching TV, the little TV is off and the big TV is on. If I change an input of the AVR in this mode, then the big TV will NOT display a stable picture but blinks instead--UNITL I turn on the small TV and then both TV's display stable pictures. I can then turn-off the little TV and watch big TV again with stable picture.

HDMI spec is about protecting content FIRST, and everything else second and subsequent. I supoose if HDMI were a person it would say,

"We are HDMI; HDMI is designed to make such set-ups painful, and in the case of audio, to degrade one of the split outputs. This is HDMI; we make simple HONEST set-ups difficult by design. What? you want to SPLIT the HDMI out. What are you a pirate or crook? Who would have a possible need to mess with the copyright content we are designed to protect in such a way? Are you up to no good? Well, you can go back to analog for such shenanigans. What? Analog connections hard to find these days and offer inferior quality. Well, yeah! That's how we've planned and enforced it. You mad at me? Well, soon, you won't have me, HDMI, to kick around anymore as everything will be available ONLY on the cloud with all sorts of tech to make recording impossible. So, bet you want me to stay, after all, huh. We are HDMI!"

Although it provides the efficiency and cleanliness of a single cable connection for video and audio and bandwidth for sound with no loss when mixed at the studio, HDMI can also be a pig PAIN ITA. Your problem is exactly as HDMI wants it.