HDMI versus Optical cable (loss of sound)

[Andredarryl]

Hello, again:
I realized the other day that the optical cord I have running from my receiver to 922 box is not transmitting the sound. I unhooked it and the sound was still coming through. The sound is generated by the HDMI cable. Is that the way it should be? I have one HDMI going from my Samsung television to the receiver and another going from the 922 to the receiver. The problem I am having is that I lose sound on Dolby Digital only and see only video. When it's straight analog I get sound. How to I solve this problem and have my optical cord generate all audio? Thanks.

 

[lakebum431]

It sounds like you don't have your AV Receiver setup correctly. We need a little more information about your components to give you a good answer, but in short, if your receiver supports HDMI input (which from your post, it sounds like it does) then that is all you need (no optical cable necessary). The HDMI cable carries both picture and sound.

Are you getting your sounds from the TV speakers or from speakers connected to your AV receiver?

If you are trying to convert the audio signal from HDMI to optical along the way then it is highly unlikely that it will work due to the copywrite restrictions built into HDMI. Your best bet is going to be to remove the optical cable and make sure that your settings are right.

 

[nismoman]

Hdmi is far superior to optical in bandwidth capabilities. Only hdmi is capable of transmitting lossless formats from bluray, so the sound will be equal or better than optical It does sound like you have it connected correctly the signal goes from the sat receiver to the audio reciever then out to the tv. Check the reciever settings for sure

 

[Andredarryl]

Thanks very much. I removed the optical cable and still had the same issues. When I watch something that is not full HD, the sound works great. For instance, I was watching a baseball game on ESPN last night, and the main sound was some being transmitted. When a commercial hit, I would hear correct sound coming from my center channel. I removed the HDMI and added component cable and an optical cord to see if that was the issue. Nothing changed. When watching full HD, I could hear only background noise -- no announcers. Same thing when watching a HD show on CBS. Any ideas?

 

[harshness]

It seems that the first thing you need to understand is that all the audio is transmitted digitally. Calling the sound "analog" doesn't really make sense. It is also folly to assume that commercials aren't recorded and delivered digitally.

There's probably one of two issues at play here:

• You're ViP922 isn't set up to provide what your AVR needs
• Your receiver is configured to ignore (or can't handle) the selected digital sound transmission protocols

Chances are pretty good that you've selected something in the configuration of one or the other device that is causing the muting.

The typical failure is enabling PCM mode in the satellite receiver. You need to check your Dolby Digital settings in the ViP922 setup menu. If the preference is currently set for DD/PCM, change it to DD only.

Note that these settings apply to both the HDMI connection and the optical audio connection so reconfiguring the inputs on your receiver to use the optical cable is a waste of time and optical cabling.

 

[Andredarryl]

Got this.
I have a fairly good receiver. It's a Yamaha 1600. So I think it is configured to handle digital sound. It always has in the past when I had U-verse and Cox Cable. One thing of note, when I select "stereo" as my audio source, the sound works fine -- just not ideal.
Also, I checked the setting last night and the preference is set to DD only. Still at a loss as to what the root of the problem is. Any other ideas? Is it possible I have a bad box? Thanks for the response.

 

[lakebum431]

Anything is possible, but I am still leaning to a setup issue. You need to go through the menus of the AV receiver and see what audio options are there.

 

[gdarwin]

I set both my Denon's to stereo. If a DD 5.1 signal comes in both will switch to DD. Optical or HDMI.

 

[nismoman]

I gotta say your problem is weird. I have a similar setup with a yamaha rx- v465 and a 922 hooked up to it then out to an LG lcd. It works flawlessly without any setup changes. I just plugged it up and it worked.

 

[harshness]

One thing of note, when I select "stereo" as my audio source, the sound works fine -- just not ideal.

While this certainly doesn't let out a problem with the ViP922, it suggests the receiver isn't helping you out by changing modes when necessary.

 

[cutrock]

Since last week, I've had a similar problem with my 922. I have an optical cable going to my Sony Receiver. All has worked well for about a year, but around two weeks ago the audio stopped transmitting through the optical cable. It still transmits through the HDMI cable to my television's speakers without issue. I found that ONLY if I unplug my 922, and wait a couple moments, then plug it back in, the audio returns via my optical cable. I suspect there might be an issue with a recent software update. Anyone else experiencing this issue as I described?

 

[sethwell]

Since last week, I've had a similar problem with my 922. I have an optical cable going to my Sony Receiver. All has worked well for about a year, but around two weeks ago the audio stopped transmitting through the optical cable. It still transmits through the HDMI cable to my television's speakers without issue. I found that ONLY if I unplug my 922, and wait a couple moments, then plug it back in, the audio returns via my optical cable. I suspect there might be an issue with a recent software update. Anyone else experiencing this issue as I described?

I haven't had that issue. My 992 is hooked to my tv by HDMI and I also am feeding my audio receiver by optical cable. No issue. Have you ruled out a bad cable?

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys