Connecting everything to soundbar

wallofbeans

Hi All,

I'm just about to buy a new TV and a soundbar to go with it. I would like the TV and blu-ray player and YouView box to all play their sound through the soundbar. How can I connect them all?

Is there some sort of pass through option? The TV (Panasonic 40EX700) has HDMI(Arc) and so does one of the soundbars I'm looking at (again Panasonic SCHTB488). I'm not sure what this 'Arc' thing does, but it might be what I'm after here..?

Can anyone give me any insight into how this could work?

Thanks!

Neil_Jones

Google is your friend:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/hdmi-arc-explained-works-care/

System

HDMI ARC is a passthrough option so if the TV and the soundbar support it then you can do that. HDMI ARC is how I have my LG OLED TV connected to my AV amp. Everything connects to the TV via HDMI and the TV sends the sound to the amp. I used to have it configured with everything plugged into the amp and the TV HDMI Simplink telling the amp which to switch to but it was always a bit flakey.

[Deleted User]

The simple way I'd have thought is to connect everything to the TV and change the speaker output through the TV settings to optical output which goes to the soundbar (presuming your TV does this). Certainly works perfectly on our Sony.

another_casualty

Just flicked through this thread. Good advice already .
What I do is have everything going through the tv connection sockets.
Then use audio lead to the soundbar .If you have not got enough sockets like h d m I , you could always buy a hub with more sockets.
If after that you are still struggling , consider Bluetooth from your device to your soundbar if your soundbar has Bluetooth

wallofbeans

OK. So I can do what I thought/ hoped Arc does? I.e. connect the Arc HDMI of the soundbar to the Arc HDMI on the TV. Then plug in the Youview box and blu-ray to other HDMI ports on the back of the TV. And the TV will then send all sound from all devices to the soundbar.

Is that right?

wallofbeans

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Google is your friend:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/hdmi-arc-explained-works-care/

Thanks for this.. I did already do some googling, and saw that link and video, but still wasn't sure if Arc would do what I wanted it to...

giraffe69

connect the Arc HDMI of the soundbar to the Arc HDMI on the TV. Then plug in the Youview box and blu-ray to other HDMI ports on the back of the TV. And the TV will then send all sound from all devices to the soundbar.

This works for me (or would if the soundbar didn't cut out every few days!). I suspect some incompatability between the soundbar and the TV as sound is fine if it is not plugged in.

almillar

Everything connects to the TV via HDMI and the TV sends the sound to the amp.

I'm sure that works, but it's not the way you're meant to do it. Everything should be connected to the soundbar or amp, then 1 HDMI between the soundbar and TV. Soundbar then does all the switching. If your TV and amp/soundbar both support ARC (Audio Return Channel), this simply means the TV can sent its audio back down the HDMI lead into the soundbar. Potentially saving 1 cable!
If you're routing everything though the TV into the soundbar, very few TVs will pass through 5.1 sound, so you may be downmixing proper surround sound into stereo. I'm sure it works and might be convenient, but it's the wrong way.

OP - what is this 'Youtube' device? If it's one of 3 devices, you want to get a soundbar with 3 HDMI inputs, and if you have ARC on both soundbar and TV, you're set.

The simple way I'd have thought is to connect everything to the TV and change the speaker output through the TV settings to optical output which goes to the soundbar (presuming your TV does this). Certainly works perfectly on our Sony.

See above, you might be accidentally downmixing.

Just flicked through this thread. Good advice already .

Disagree.

Is that right?

No, see above - connect everything into the soundbar, then the soundbar into the TV, is best.

wallofbeans

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Google is your friend:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/hdmi-arc-explained-works-care/

almillar wrote: »

I'm sure that works, but it's not the way you're meant to do it. Everything should be connected to the soundbar or amp, then 1 HDMI between the soundbar and TV. Soundbar then does all the switching. If your TV and amp/soundbar both support ARC (Audio Return Channel), this simply means the TV can sent its audio back down the HDMI lead into the soundbar. Potentially saving 1 cable!
If you're routing everything though the TV into the soundbar, very few TVs will pass through 5.1 sound, so you may be downmixing proper surround sound into stereo. I'm sure it works and might be convenient, but it's the wrong way.

OP - what is this 'Youtube' device? If it's one of 3 devices, you want to get a soundbar with 3 HDMI inputs, and if you have ARC on both soundbar and TV, you're set.



See above, you might be accidentally downmixing.



Disagree.



No, see above - connect everything into the soundbar, then the soundbar into the TV, is best.

Thanks for the reply. I'm still confused then. I'm not sure how can I plug three different devices into the soundbar as it only has one HDMI port. It does have optical as well but that only covers the TV and the blu-ray player or the YouView box. But not all of them. I assume it's more expensive (and probably too long for my 90cm width space) soundbars that have multiple HDMI ports.

I don't have a lot of devices, a blu-ray player and YouView seems like a standard amount of devices so surely there must be a way to connect them all and not have to downgrade the audio.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Youtube" device? Did you mean the YouView? It's a freeview hard drive recorder type thing.

I'm back to being baffled as to the helpfulness of 'Arc' then...

[Deleted User]

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

The simple way I'd have thought is to connect everything to the TV and change the speaker output through the TV settings to optical output which goes to the soundbar (presuming your TV does this). Certainly works perfectly on our Sony.

almillar wrote: »

I'm sure that works, but it's not the way you're meant to do it. Everything should be connected to the soundbar or amp, then 1 HDMI between the soundbar and TV. Soundbar then does all the switching. If your TV and amp/soundbar both support ARC (Audio Return Channel), this simply means the TV can sent its audio back down the HDMI lead into the soundbar. Potentially saving 1 cable!
If you're routing everything though the TV into the soundbar, very few TVs will pass through 5.1 sound, so you may be downmixing proper surround sound into stereo. I'm sure it works and might be convenient, but it's the wrong way.

almillar wrote: »

See above, you might be accidentally downmixing.

Not on my setup for sure. It's a Yamaha YAS-103 which doesn't even have HDMI inputs, connected to a Sony KDL-50W755C which passes through Stereo, Dolby Digital & DTS sound streams.

Obviously you may well be right about the OP's equipment as I don't know the specs.

very few TVs will pass through 5.1 sound

I don't have any stats to back it up but I suspect that's a very sweeping generalisation that's probably incorrect.