Sound Bar Not Working With Sony KD55XD9305 Apps

[preeder1963]

Hi

I have a Sony KD55XD9305BU  Smart Android TV which is linked to a Cambridge TVB2 sound bar - both a few days old.  Linked via the HDMI 4 port which is ARC.

My Virgin Media box, a TV Media Box, and a Bluray player are also connected to the TV via HDMI.

The sound bar works faultlessly with the three boxes listed above.

However, when I use the TV's on board Apps, such as Amazon and BBC I player, the sound fails to make it to the sound bar and I either get silence or a loud clicking.  The picture will also stall when trying to watch apps with the sound bar selected and switched on.  If I switch to TV speakers then the apps work fine.

I can't really take the sound bar back as I would have to admit it works fine.  Is my TV maybe malfunctioning or is there some setting buried deep in the menus that I haven't found yet?  Spent most of Xmas on this so any help much appreciated.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi there

PCM is uncompressed audio.  Have a read of the following 3 links:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-pcm-1846928

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/home-cinema/dolby-digital-or-pcm-audio

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33699811

Cheers

[royabrown · Accepted solution]

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@preeder1963 wrote:

Hi Quinnicus - I think Roobb was pointing out that with the TV's digital sound output set to PCM I am going to be losing some of the sound properties DTS etc as I understand that PCM is a compressed format.

Cheers Paul

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Hi Paul

I think a read of this Cambridge Audio 'How To' may be illuminating.

It suggests a couple of reasons why you might be having issues with Netflix.

The first, that the TV might not output sound on Netflix at all, is not the case with these Sonys, I believe.

But the second, that the soundbar can only handle stereo and not any Dolby 5.1, DTS or Dolby Digital, which Netflix can output, is almost certainly the issue.

So PCM is your best bet here with this Cambridge 'bar, and you are not missing out on anything the soundbar can do.

You are missing on any 5.1 or 7.1 sound that Netflix and other apps on the TV can supply, of course; but to get that, you would need a full 5.1/7.1 surround system, or at least a soundbar capable of handling these, like the Yamaha YSP2500 or 2700. 

But these solutions are a long way north of £300; enjoy your soundbar for what it is, as a vast improvement on the TV's stereo speakers, with the TV outputting PCM to it.

i think this 'How To' is excellent by the way, setting out all your options very clearly indeed. You bemoaned that the issue you are having doesn't seem to be in the TVB2 help; is there no paper copy of this How To in the box with the 'bar, or at least referred to somewhere? It certainly deserves to be.

[preeder1963]

First Off - thanks very much indeed for the helpful responses, Quinicus, Royabrown and Roobb.  Much appreciated.

I have copied the instructions I received from Cambridge with the sound bar to show I am not completely barking.  There is a lot of overlap with the "How To" doc you linked to Royabrown but it does not include everything, and there is not a reference to the "How To" doc in the guide either. The "How To" does confirm that the soundbar only handles stereo. Having read the linked docs from Quinicus and your stuff Royabrown I am now happy that I am getting what I deserve from my £300 sound bar.  At least this query can stay here to hopefully help others if they try to use the same TV with a Cambridge sound bar running with the default TV settings straight from the box.  The "How To" doc wouldn't be much more paper than the "Quick Start" guide so Cammbridge could improve a bit, as could Sony with an explanation of what the sound output options mean.  I am still not completely convinced the TV is spot on as the auto setting on digital sound should detect that the sound bar doesn't want the DTS etc and flip to PCM.  Unless Auto means the user has to go into the settings menu and switch it over themselves

I am actually running a Sony STR-DG820 AV Amp with a HW45ES projector and Mission speakers in my back room so I don't need much more for the telly, but I would have been a bit annoyed if I'd been left hanging with that lot.

Anyway, cheers all for the heads up, and I will def not be buying anymore AV equipment for a while.  Not unless I have the Samaritans on standby on a secure landline.

[royabrown]

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@preeder1963 wrote:

First Off - thanks very much indeed for the helpful responses, Quinicus, Royabrown and Roobb.  Much appreciated.

I have copied the instructions I received from Cambridge with the sound bar to show I am not completely barking.  There is a lot of overlap with the "How To" doc you linked to Royabrown but it does not include everything, and there is not a reference to the "How To" doc in the guide either. The "How To" does confirm that the soundbar only handles stereo. Having read the linked docs from Quinicus and your stuff Royabrown I am now happy that I am getting what I deserve from my £300 sound bar.  At least this query can stay here to hopefully help others if they try to use the same TV with a Cambridge sound bar running with the default TV settings straight from the box.  The "How To" doc wouldn't be much more paper than the "Quick Start" guide so Cammbridge could improve a bit, as could Sony with an explanation of what the sound output options mean.  I am still not completely convinced the TV is spot on as the auto setting on digital sound should detect that the sound bar doesn't want the DTS etc and flip to PCM.  Unless Auto means the user has to go into the settings menu and switch it over themselves

I am actually running a Sony STR-DG820 AV Amp with a HW45ES projector and Mission speakers in my back room so I don't need much more for the telly, but I would have been a bit annoyed if I'd been left hanging with that lot.

Anyway, cheers all for the heads up, and I will def not be buying anymore AV equipment for a while.  Not unless I have the Samaritans on standby on a secure landline.

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Hi @preeder1963

We know you aren't doing dog impressions 😞

Here's the document you have, on the Cambridge website, As you say, it's like, but perhaps not quite as good as, the 'How To', which is why I referenced that,

Re 'Auto', this is the TV sending out the 'best' signal it can, and it will rate 5.1 over stereo. Expecting 'Auto' to imply a negotiation with the soundbar over what it can and can't handle is a big ask (even though this is what HDMI does with the 'up' video/audio) at present, for the something of an afterthought that ARC is.

(The people who designed HDMI clearly never looked at what SCART can do, or it would have been bidirectional, video and audio, from the start. In practice, bidirectional audio just about serves, though even here ARC is regarded as a bonus on certain HDMI ports, instead of the absence of it on every port being regarded as a negative).

So if your sound device can't handle the 'best' sound output, you have to take the sending device off Auto, as you have found,

Re buying any more AV, don't fret. As long as it is Sony, or hooked up to Sony, we are your good samaritans (small 's') on standby here, on a line as secure as your internet can manage 🙂

[Anonymous]

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@royabrown wrote:

Re buying any more AV, don't fret. As long as it is Sony, or hooked up to Sony, we are your good samaritans (small 's') on standby here, on a line as secure as your internet can manage 🙂

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Be a good Samaritan and get me one of those new OLED TVs.  I wont be too fussy, the 55" model will be fine. 

[royabrown]

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@Quinnicus wrote:

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@royabrown wrote:

Re buying any more AV, don't fret. As long as it is Sony, or hooked up to Sony, we are your good samaritans (small 's') on standby here, on a line as secure as your internet can manage 🙂

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Be a good Samaritan and get me one of those new OLED TVs.  I wont be too fussy, the 55" model will be fine. 

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I was kind of hoping you could get me one 🙂

[rooobb]

 if there should be one for me i'll get it too!!! 

[preeder1963]

Quick update.

Could not get 3D glasses to register so followed the instructions and powered down the TV at the wall socket for a minute or two.

Glasses registered fine but sound bar now completely dead.  Only works on optical.  HDMI 4 the ARC conn is not outputting any sound not even the loud hissing I used to get.

I am on PCM and have done everything else I can remember but zilch.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Try powering down the TV from the wall again ?  Could be just a simple HDMI Handshake issue.

Cheers

[preeder1963]

Yep tried it again Quinnicus and absolutely nothing.  Just the flashing bar on the sound bar that shows it is receiving no input.