Not your ordinary plain Jane Problem

[lgb0250]

Had my new install of the Hopper 3 on Tuesday. I also have a severe hearing loss and have a Resound TV Streamer2 that was hooked up to the optical on the tv prior to the dish installation and worked flawlessly. I also have a Vizio 4051-C0 soundbar.

The current connections which work fine for the Hopper are HDMI from Hopper to HDMI2 on the TV. The installer told me this was the way he preferred it instead of hooking it up to the HDMI-ARC connection on the TV. I have run optical from the TV to the soundbar and watching tv with this setup works.

However, the problems start when I want to use my streamer. The streamer has an optical and a coax audio connection. But, now I have no optical place to hook it up to on the soundbar since the Hopper is using that connection. I imagine I could run a coax audio cable to the soundbar but then I would have to change the input source every time I wanted to watch tv but the real problem is that it would turn off sound to everyone except me.

I bought an optical splitter off of Amazon that came today but naturally it doesn’t work at all, much less properly.

I am very technically challenged so I would appreciate any help in solving this problem.

 

[HipKat]

Hook it up to the optical on the Hopper

 

[lgb0250]

I was hoping I wouldn’t be told that! LOL. That means I need to find a 25ft optical cable and go under the house! If push comes to shove I will but it will sure be ugly!

 

[HipKat]

I was hoping I wouldn’t be told that! LOL. That means I need to find a 25ft optical cable and go under the house! If push comes to shove I will but it will sure be ugly!

Does that mean your Hopper isn't next to your TV? I assume your TV Streamer doesn't have bluetooth?

 

[lgb0250]

Does that mean your Hopper isn't next to your TV? I assume your TV Streamer doesn't have bluetooth?

The TV is a Samsung with the One Box which is a pain. The streamer sits above the fireplace in an alcove behind the tv. No Bluetooth on streamer. My Hopper3 sits in an entertainment cabinet a few feet from the fireplace.

The HDMI cable is a 25’ one that goes down a hole in the alcove to my crawl space and comes back up to the entertainment unit a few feet away.

So I will have to do the same thing with the new optical cable.

 

[DishSubLA]

Here is the link to the Resound device's web page. When the page opens you'll see the device. Then swipe to the left and find the PDF logo to view the set up instructions for the ReSound audio device. it's only a few pages and is a very quick read:
www.resound.com/en-us/help/accessories/tv-streamer-2

The link above is for the benefit of others who are smarter than I in figuring out his problem.

It sounds like his Hopper 3 is in some other room of the house requiring a long HDMI cable run. Not at all and ideal installation for a number of reasons including his current problem.

He does have the option of using the analog left and right audio outputs of the TV or even the hopper connecting to his ReSound device. It requires the use of a breakout cable, which from the instructions, seems to indicate that it, the breakout cable, comes with the Resound device. It's a mini jack plug at the ReSound device. Then at the other end of that cord is the left and right white and red RCA pin plugs that go into the hopper3 or TV audio out. However my experience has been that if the HDMI input is active on the TV, the optical audio (ARC) will not output any audio. I don't know if any sound comes out of the TVs analog right left outputs if an HDMI input is active. He could try that experiment, but it would require the same problem of going under his house Etc.

Generally speaking the output of the optical from the television is for OTA, So if you want any audio from the TV's Optical output, then you need to select that as the source from the television itself, but, of course, that will only provide OTA picture and sound not any of the HDMI inputs such as for a Dish Hopper 3, and if one is using an input designed for ARC, well that creates more problems because the ARC input on the AV receiver or soundbar is not a straightforward input because if there is more than one device assigned to it, ARC will automatically prioritize signal coming from the TV itself and prevent any other devices using that same input from being accessed unless you turn off the television.

Also the ReSound device, I believe, uses the 5 gigahertz band and not the Bluetooth band somewhere around what 2.45 or something, I forget.

Of course 1 option for the OP would be to use the built-in Bluetooth of the hopper 3 or add Bluetooth to a joey, but considering his distance from the Dish unit providing the picture and audio, Bluetooth just doesn't have the range for is cited distance. Bluetooth at his distance would at best be spotty and unreliable or even worse not working at all.

 

[lgb0250]

Here is the link to the Resound device's web page. When the page opens you'll see the device. Then swipe to the left and find the PDF logo to view the set up instructions for the ReSound audio device. it's only a few pages and is a very quick read:
www.resound.com/en-us/help/accessories/tv-streamer-2

The link above is for the benefit of others who are smarter than I in figuring out his problem.

It sounds like his Hopper 3 is in some other room of the house requiring a long HDMI cable run. Not at all and ideal installation for a number of reasons including his current problem.

***It’s actually only about 3 feet away but the only way to run the HDMI cable is to fish it down and Nader the house and then bring it back up behind the entertainment cabinet.

He does have the option of using the analog left and right audio outputs of the TV or even the hopper connecting to his ReSound device. It requires the use of a breakout cable, which from the instructions, seems to indicate that it, the breakout cable, comes with the Resound device. It's a mini jack plug at the ReSound device. Then at the other end of that cord is the left and right white and red RCA pin plugs that go into the hopper3 or TV audio out. However my experience has been that if the HDMI input is active on the TV, the optical audio (ARC) will not output any audio. I don't know if any sound comes out of the TVs analog right left outputs if an HDMI input is active. He could try that experiment, but it would require the same problem of going under his house Etc.

I do have the analog breakout cable but my tv does not have any analog connections (Samsung KS8000).


Generally speaking the output of the optical from the television is for OTA, So if you want any audio from the TV's Optical output, then you need to select that as the source from the television itself, but, of course, that will only provide OTA picture and sound not any of the HDMI inputs such as for a Dish Hopper 3, and if one is using an input designed for ARC, well that creates more problems because the ARC input on the AV receiver or soundbar is not a straightforward input because if there is more than one device assigned to it, ARC will automatically prioritize signal coming from the TV itself and prevent any other devices using that same input from being accessed unless you turn off the television.

***Before I had DISH installed I was running an optical cable from the streamer to the tv and an HDMI cable from HDMI-ARC on the tv to the HDMI-ARC on the soundbar which at that time was also a Samsung. BUT, the Samsung does not play nice with the soundbar hooked up this way unless they are a Samsung soundbar. I no longer have that soundbar and am now using a Vizio 4051-CO. So now I have to run the optical from the tv to the soundbar, thus leaving no connection for the streamer! Tried an optical splitter and that didn’t work. If I run a Coax digital cable from the streamer it will probably work but I would have to change the input on the soundbar and then nobody else would hear what’s playing on the tv.

Also the ReSound device, I believe, uses the 5 gigahertz band and not the Bluetooth band somewhere around what 2.45 or something, I forget.

Of course 1 option for the OP would be to use the built-in Bluetooth of the hopper 3 or add Bluetooth to a joey, but considering his distance from the Dish unit providing the picture and audio, Bluetooth just doesn't have the range for is cited distance. Bluetooth at his distance would at best be spotty and unreliable or even worse not working at all.

***No luck trying to pair via Bluetooth.

Like I said, not your plain Jane problem but thank you very much for taking such an in-depth look at it. When I put the streamer into pairing mode the Hopper cannot find an devices.

 

[patmurphey]

I use optical out (converted to RCA - new Samsung doesn't have RCA) to my Bose sound system, no matter what the TV input is, Hopper3, Roku, DVD, etc. Optical out from the TV should work with any input that the TV accepts.

 

[lgb0250]

I use optical out (converted to RCA - new Samsung doesn't have RCA) to my Bose sound system, no matter what the TV input is, Hopper3, Roku, DVD, etc. Optical out from the TV should work with any input that the TV accepts.

I have my optical out connected to my sound system. The problem is that using this setup you still need a cable out from the streamer, whether it be coax audio or RCA. Then when I want to listen to the streamer I have to change my sound system input to one of those and nobody else can hear the tv because the sound will only go to one input at a time!

 

[DishSubLA]

Like, I said, you are probably too far away from the unit/DVR for bluetooth's limited range. Bluetooth is built-in the Hopper 3, but NOT built-in the Joey. The Joey requires a Dish Bluetooth dongle plugged into the USB port to have the Joey transmit in Bluetooth.

I would say that it is your EXTREMELY unconventional SET-UP that is the "Not the Plain Jane Problem."

What did you use to watch TV BEFORE your Dish installation? Were you watching OTA broadcasts only? Did you watch some other service like Cable TV or DirecTV or streaming service.

My solution to your problem is to have a tech come out and place the H3 feet away from your TV, like 95% of people do. That will get you able to listen to your Dish service using your Resound device OR at least close enough for the less expensive solution of Bluetooth earbuds for like $20. If you think you don't have room for the H3, there are many solutions such as "floating shelf space" that won't take up floor space or other such solutions.

Let me say, I understand your predicament. My hearing loss is "profound" with AWFUL word recognition, so I do know how important a solution is to your inability to enjoy TV, especially if you have Tinnitus, like I do. Other things to hear and focus upon, especially content on TV channels for entertainment or education, is very important.

The approach, I took was to create a space, shelving, audio piers, that put our TV/Dish/TiVo FIRST, top priority, and I wanted ACCESS to every piece of equipment when necessary to troubleshoot or ADD new technology or changes. It really is presenting downsides that your H3 is as far away where you view TV because it limits your options, and I can say that with my awful hearing loss, using Dish's built-in or add-on Bluetooth solution works AMAZINGLY well with the ability to hear speech very well and enjoy stereo sound.

Now there is ONE possible solution, but it would have you using Amazon's latest FireTV and then launching the Dish Anywhere app that access your H3 for playback of live TV and DVR--BUT using it can be difficult for some because using the Fire TV remote is NOTHING like the Dish remote, and I think it would frustrate you more than help.

So, again, unless someone out there smarter than I, my advice is to get your H3 in the same room as your TV and close enough to connect it to your Resound device. We don't have a lot of detail, so I apologize if this suggestion is not possible in your situation.

Let us know what happens.

 

[patmurphey]

I didn't understand your problem. Using Google I found a suggestion to use one of these or something similar:

Amazon product ASIN B00G191YL8

 

[lgb0250]

I didn't understand your problem. Using Google I found a suggestion to use one of these or something similar:

Amazon product ASIN B00G191YL8

Just what I thought. UPS just picked up my return a couple of hours ago. This didn’t work. Audio just didn’t work and then after reading all the reviews I see where it’s not an uncommon problem.

At this point I’m just going to do as suggested and move the streamer closer to the Hopper so I can hook directly up to it with an optical cable.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestion. Sorry for the bother.

 

[Miner]

I think there may be a second way to get audio to your sound-bar instead of toslink.
Older Samsung TVs have an analog audio out that is always on (possibly a menu setting) that could send signal to the sound-bar. Or if it has a digital out (spdif).

 

[lgb0250]

Like, I said, you are probably too far away from the unit/DVR for bluetooth's limited range. Bluetooth is built-in the Hopper 3, but NOT built-in the Joey. The Joey requires a Dish Bluetooth dongle plugged into the USB port to have the Joey transmit in Bluetooth.

I would say that it is your EXTREMELY unconventional SET-UP that is the "Not the Plain Jane Problem."

What did you use to watch TV BEFORE your Dish installation? Were you watching OTA broadcasts only? Did you watch some other service like Cable TV or DirecTV or streaming service.

My solution to your problem is to have a tech come out and place the H3 feet away from your TV, like 95% of people do. That will get you able to listen to your Dish service using your Resound device OR at least close enough for the less expensive solution of Bluetooth earbuds for like $20. If you think you don't have room for the H3, there are many solutions such as "floating shelf space" that won't take up floor space or other such solutions.

Let me say, I understand your predicament. My hearing loss is "profound" with AWFUL word recognition, so I do know how important a solution is to your inability to enjoy TV, especially if you have Tinnitus, like I do. Other things to hear and focus upon, especially content on TV channels for entertainment or education, is very important.

The approach, I took was to create a space, shelving, audio piers, that put our TV/Dish/TiVo FIRST, top priority, and I wanted ACCESS to every piece of equipment when necessary to troubleshoot or ADD new technology or changes. It really is presenting downsides that your H3 is as far away where you view TV because it limits your options, and I can say that with my awful hearing loss, using Dish's built-in or add-on Bluetooth solution works AMAZINGLY well with the ability to hear speech very well and enjoy stereo sound.

Now there is ONE possible solution, but it would have you using Amazon's latest FireTV and then launching the Dish Anywhere app that access your H3 for playback of live TV and DVR--BUT using it can be difficult for some because using the Fire TV remote is NOTHING like the Dish remote, and I think it would frustrate you more than help.

So, again, unless someone out there smarter than I, my advice is to get your H3 in the same room as your TV and close enough to connect it to your Resound device. We don't have a lot of detail, so I apologize if this suggestion is not possible in your situation.

Let us know what happens.

Finally was able to get the streamer moved close enough to my Hopper so that I could hook up the optical. Works perfect now. Thanks so much for everybody’s help.

 

[Bobby]

Finally was able to get the streamer moved close enough to my Hopper so that I could hook up the optical. Works perfect now. Thanks so much for everybody’s help.

Very cool!

 

[DishSubLA]

Finally was able to get the streamer moved close enough to my Hopper so that I could hook up the optical. Works perfect now. Thanks so much for everybody’s help.

I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! Glad this forum is here for people who need help.