TV pros

[ten ocho recon scout]

Bought a new tv over the weekend (Sony). Bought a soundbar to go with it (Sony).

Never had a sound bar before. Assume it's simple enough.

I urged the soundbar in to the eARC slot (think I spelled that right) on the TV, and to the hdmi out on the soundbar. (Also tried it on the in).

For whatever reason, the soundbar is muted.

Won't play anything with the TV.

Got a 4K disc player to go with the TV, and tried a 4K movie. Again, silence.

Tried a bluray disc. Soundbar is loud AF.

So the soundbar obviously works. Just won't with tv or the 4K disc.

(And yes I know physical disc's are for old people. I'm only buying a few faves because I read streaming isn't the same quality, and when I watch TimeCop I want it to be in true 4K)

Any ideas what the issue is?

[Tank]

keep playing your blu-ray of Iron Eagle until it works. even sony is no match for chappie.

 

@nate is good with these kinds of things, so maybe he can help you.

[arch stanton]

If you see a little speaker with an X through it on your tv I can help you fix it. Otherwise, I'm out 

[gotbeer]

On my soundbar, there is different output types.  Play around with the outputs till your sound works.  For mine, it was Din, whatever that means.  

[katie]

Did you try restarting it 

[Blarg]

Did you try Google?

[Jay]

On the TV select the "receiver" input or maybe the name of your soundbar appears. But change the input on the TV.

[Jay]

Also make sure you are using a newer HDMI cable. The really old HDMI cables don't support ARC.

The soundbar probably came with an HDMI cable. Use that cable for the connection between the TV and the soundbar.

There's a chance you need to configure the audio output on the TV to use external speakers but typically if you are using ARC and you select the soundbar as the input on the TV this should happen automatically.

[ten ocho recon scout]

7 hours ago, katie said:

Did you try restarting it 

Yeah..... still no luck

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

Did you try Google?

Yeah.... did everything google told me to do... no dice.

 

The thing that kills me is I'm sure it's literally one stupid option I haven't seen yet.

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Also make sure you are using a newer HDMI cable. The really old HDMI cables don't support ARC.

The soundbar probably came with an HDMI cable. Use that cable for the connection between the TV and the soundbar.

There's a chance you need to configure the audio output on the TV to use external speakers but typically if you are using ARC and you select the soundbar as the input on the TV this should happen automatically.

The first part I'm wondering if it's the case. It was the cable Best Buy guy told me to get, so I assume it's the right one, but I'm wondering if 4K is the problem?

I've read Sony has issues with the eARC or whatever. Might be that.

Will it work if I use a regular HDMI plug on the TV? Shitty part in that is that I bought a boogie soundbar that's supposed to be surround sound... so I don't want to lose the effect. But might not have a choice

[T.G.]

38 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Best Buy guy

Call them.

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

The first part I'm wondering if it's the case. It was the cable Best Buy guy told me to get, so I assume it's the right one, but I'm wondering if 4K is the problem?

I've read Sony has issues with the eARC or whatever. Might be that.

Will it work if I use a regular HDMI plug on the TV? Shitty part in that is that I bought a boogie soundbar that's supposed to be surround sound... so I don't want to lose the effect. But might not have a choice

Just curious, but does your soundbar and tv have a slot for one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38

 

[gotbeer]

15 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

 

I urged the soundbar in to the eARC slot (think I spelled that right) on the TV, and to the hdmi out on the soundbar. (Also tried it on the in).

 

 

Welcome to the Asian brotherhood.  

[Jay]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

The first part I'm wondering if it's the case. It was the cable Best Buy guy told me to get, so I assume it's the right one, but I'm wondering if 4K is the problem?

I've read Sony has issues with the eARC or whatever. Might be that.

Will it work if I use a regular HDMI plug on the TV? Shitty part in that is that I bought a boogie soundbar that's supposed to be surround sound... so I don't want to lose the effect. But might not have a choice

If it's a new HDMI cable you just bought it should be fine.

Also set up your TV and soundbar on your home network so they can get the latest software updates.

Can you provide the model number of the TV, maybe I can look into it a bit more.

[Jay]

Also double-check to make sure the ARC input of the TV is connected to the soundbar HDMI output (ARC).

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Just curious, but does your soundbar and tv have a slot for one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38

 

It does, but they said I didn't need it if I have the hdmi hooked up?

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

If it's a new HDMI cable you just bought it should be fine.

Also set up your TV and soundbar on your home network so they can get the latest software updates.

Can you provide the model number of the TV, maybe I can look into it a bit more.

Sony a80k

And soundbar is htst-5000 or something like that

[gotbeer]

20 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

It does, but they said I didn't need it if I have the hdmi hooked up?

Looking on the interwebs, looks like HDMI is the better quality over optical.  

It's got to be a setting somewhere, either on the TV or on the soundbar.  Is it possible there is a specific HDMI audio slot, and you plugged into a HDMI port?

[gotbeer]

Looking at my cheaper Sony TV back.  There is an optical, analog, and LAN audio slot.  In addition, there is a HDMI and like headphone jack.  So there is definitely a HDMI audio jack.  So check to make sure you didn't put the HDMI into one of the HDMI video slots.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, gotbeer said:

Looking on the interwebs, looks like HDMI is the better quality over optical.  

It's got to be a setting somewhere, either on the TV or on the soundbar.  Is it possible there is a specific HDMI audio slot, and you plugged into a HDMI port?

Maybe? I dunno. I won't be able to play with it until Friday (during my work week I don't have time to do anything)

I'm assuming it's literally some stupid option I have to click on in the options that I haven't noticed... and when it works I'm gonna be "duhhhh"

Stopped by Best Buy today at work, explained the problem and my set up, and they said it should be working already

Frustrating..

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, gotbeer said:

Looking at my cheaper Sony TV back.  There is an optical, analog, and LAN audio slot.  In addition, there is a HDMI and like headphone jack.  So there is definitely a HDMI audio jack.  So check to make sure you didn't put the HDMI into one of the HDMI video slots.  

Are you familiar with eARC and ARC? That's the new thing (I guess), and what I plugged it into

Gonna try it with the regular hdmi and see if that works

 

I think it has something to do with dolby

[gotbeer]

2 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Are you familiar with eARC and ARC? That's the new thing (I guess), and what I plugged it into

Gonna try it with the regular hdmi and see if that works

 

I think it has something to do with dolby

Might be.  Not familiar with the two ARC's.   Looking on the webs.  Is your HDMI cable a new one or an old one?  I guess there is a difference.

https://www.lifewire.com/is-there-a-difference-in-hdmi-cables-5203901

Quote

Category 1 cables could offer 720p or 1080i resolutions at up to 60Hz, while Category 2 cables could handle 1080p at 60 FPS or 4K at 30 FPS. Those were later renamed to Standard HDMI and High-Speed HDMI, respectively. 

Quote

However, in 2021, you can throw all of that out the window. There are only three main types of HDMI cable you need to consider:

 

• HDMI 2.0: Often marketed as 4K-ready or a 4K HDMI cable. They support the full 18Gbps bandwidth of the HDMI 2.0 specification and can support 4K resolution up to 60Hz, or 1080p up to 240Hz. Its official name is Premium High-Speed HDMI cable, and it's entirely backward compatible with every generation of HDMI ports that came before. It also supports the audio return channel (ARC) technology.
• HDMI 2.0 with Ethernet: identical specifications to standard HDMI 2.0 cables, except with the addition of Ethernet over HDMI support.
• HDMI 2.1: Often marketed as 8K ready, or an 8K HDMI cable, it supports the full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth of 48Gbps, making it capable of transmitting 4K at 120Hz, as well as 5K, 8K, and 10K resolutions (some with Display Stream Compression, or DSC). It has built-in Ethernet functionality, supports the more capable eARC technology, and is backward compatible with every previous generation of HDMI port.

So if by the off chance, you are using a HDMI cable from decades ago that's a cat 1, according to the Sony site.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00012943

Quote

To connect an ARC-compatible audio system to an ARC-compatible TV, a high-speed HDMI cable must be connected from the TV HDMI (ARC) IN port on the TV to the HDMI (ARC) OUT port on the A/V Receiver or Soundbar:

 

[Lou]

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Might be.  Not familiar with the two ARC's.   Looking on the webs.  Is your HDMI cable a new one or an old one?  I guess there is a difference.

https://www.lifewire.com/is-there-a-difference-in-hdmi-cables-5203901

So if by the off chance, you are using a HDMI cable from decades ago that's a cat 1, according to the Sony site.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00012943

 

I keep thinking that might be it, but the Best Buy guy today said the one I got should work. (It's brand new)

But I'm wondering if that's the issue, and maybe that's why the 4K isn't working