Turn off 'TV Volume is fixed' screen message.

[Mr_Sony_User]

Hi All.

I'm new here so please bear with me if I've posted this in the wrong location or it has already been answered, I did search for some time and have tried Sony Customer Support.

I recently purchased a Sony KDL-32W705B Bravia and couldn't get the sound to an acceptable level that I could live with, so rather than return the TV as Sony suggested, I bought a Denon DHT-T100 Sound base to compensate. I've connected it using the optical cable as suggested, and 'taught' the Denon to respond to the Sony remote control handset volume buttons. For the Denon to receive the correct sound from the TV, you have to select 'Audio System' and 'Fixed Volume' on the Bravia, but this then leads to the screen warning message 'TV Volume is fixed' every time you use the Sony volume control.

Is there any way to turn this message off? I would like to continue to use just the Sony remote as my wife struggles using 2 remotes just to work the TV's sound, and the warning message is a real pain in the bottom. We sometimes watch films with subtitles in and still need to alter the volume, and in doing so the error message appears on the screen and stays there for some time.

I hope this makes sense to you, and if you need any more info please ask.

Appreciate the help if anyones able to fix this for me.

Regards

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Welcome to the Community Forums

If you change the "Audio Out" setting on the TV from "Fixed" to "Variable", this should allow you to change the volume using the TV's remote control on the external audio system.

Press [HOME], goto Settings > Headphone/Audio Out > Audio Out > Variable

Hopefully that helps.

Cheers

[Mr_Sony_User]

Hi Quinnicus and thank you for your reply.

I have already tried the variable setting, and apologies I should have added that to the origional post. While set to variable, the error message is not present but the TV's sound output varies between high treble and bass output, and gives a constant varying level of volume which is quite annoying when watching, especially at night. It seems as the only proper optical sound output is supplied when the sound is set to 'Fixed'. I also tested this with the 3.5mm headphone output and had exactly the same issue.

In an ideal world there would be a setting to disable the screen message completely, perhaps Sony could address this in a future firmware upgrade, as the sound on their TV's gets gradually worse...

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Ok, lets try this

On TV

Set Audio-Out to "Variable"

Ensure Scene Select Mode is set to "General"

 - This may or may not have any effect on an external audio system and probably only for TV speakers, but doesnt hurt to try (cannot test myself, as someones watching my TV), but In the SOUND Settings on the TV, Turn OFF any post audio processing (ie Sound Booster, Auto Volume etc)

On DHT-T100

Turn OFF all sound processing options like "Virtual Surround" and any custom sound modes

Turn OFF (or even turn ON) Night mode and see what effect it has

Basically Im trying to turn off ALL additional audio processing as a suggestion.

Sony is adressing the audio quality on the TVs this year, but they are on the 'higher' end models so far, such as "long speaker duct" and "magnetic fluid speakers" etc.

In regards to suggesting a FW update to disable this message.  If you can reply to the following thread below, and add the suggestion, I do know that Sony monitors that thread

http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/future-bravia-features-requests-suggestions/m-p/224766

Cheers

[Mr_Sony_User]

Hi again Quinnicus.

Ok, I turned off all sound processing (I do get where you are coming from on this) on both the Bravia and the Denon and tried it again. Error message gone from the screen but the varying sound level is back, bass almost non existant and then it just returns in waves, if that makes any sense, phasing in and out? I've tried different optical cables and the same thing happens, along with the 3.5mm headphone option. Its as if the sound level output from the TV is constantly varying in output levels.

Another point I noticed is that I have a Sony BDP-S570 underneath the Bravia, and if I move the optical cable from the TV output to the BDP's optical output, the sound is much, much better on the Denon.  When playing music from an attached USB drive from either device to the Denon, again the player is infinately better. The same goes for streaming from my NAS with video or music files. The Tv's optical sound output seems much less capable or powerful than a much older BluRay players output. The player does have DTS and a load of other features, perhaps thats why. (Funnily enough I only upgraded the TV from an older Sony model, as iPlayer stopped working/was removed from the BDP).

I do hope Sony address the sound issues the current Bravia range. I'm aware of friends with the same complaint who've dropped Sony as their preferred brand, and I must admit to being less likely to recommend them to friends and family recently.

Thanks for your help and pointing me in the direction of 'Future Bravia Features', I'll be sure to add my views on there if it will help us consumers get a better product. Hopefully Sony listen to their customers

[Anonymous]

Your welcome

Unfortunately I am all out of ideas im afraid.  Unless another forum member has any others, I can only suggest that you try contacting Sony Support on this one and see if they can help.

By all means, post away on the suggestions thread

I have seen demonstrated and heard the quality of the audio from Sonys higher range of TVs, and you can definately tell the difference.  Hopefully this will trickle down to the rest of the model in time, for those that dont have deep pockets (like me! - but then again I love an AV Reciever)

All the best.

[rooobb]

As far as I know you can pilot an attached device by the TV remote only by connecting them via HDMI (CEC compliant). One possibility that you may think about is to buy a universal programmable remote (such as Logitech Harmony) that can manage the two devices together for your wife :).

The optical cable should work from tv to denon at least as well as the Bluray one. If I'm not wrong, TV should output only 2.0 via optical....

[Mr_Sony_User]

Hi there.

Thanks for the reply but we seem to be moving further away from the original point of my posting. I'd like to stop the on screen message that 'TV Volume is fixed', not spend even more money to bypass a problem that Sony could quite easily fix with an option within firmware.

The Sony remote works perfectly well on the Denon device, as does the sound (when set to 'fixed') raising and lowering the volume etc, the only issue is the annoying warning message that happens to be exactly the wrong location when watching a subtitled film. I know the TV volume is fixed, I fixed it in the menu, I don't need to be reminded every single time I use the volume buttons. A simple 'Turn off screen notification' option would do the job. With many more people using external sound devices it would be a popular decision.

While on the subject, I wouldn't need an external device if the Bravia had acceptable sound quality, and I'm not the only person who feels like this judging the Amazon's (or even the Sony website's) reviews. I did contact Sony support  firstly regarding the sound quality and they simply suggested a factory reset or return the TV and buy a different Sony model. Sony UK suggested I try on these forums for an answer as they've been asked this question many times before and don't have any answer themselves...

I'm losing faith in Sony in recent years to be honest and this will be my last Sony purchase, they don't seem to listen to their customers these days.

[Mr_Sony_User]

Hi Quinnicus

I've raised a call number with Sony who've asked me for a load of details which I've supplied. Hopefully we get a fix.

Do you mind if I ask a few questions while I'm here please? (You seem to know your stuff!)

Is there a way to organise the on board satellite channels to either resemble Sky or Freesat without having to manually sort them - which takes ages and is very complicated to get right? Each time you manually move a channel, it moves all the channels below it and you end up having to either move them all individually or move higher number channels in a lower number to put them back correctly. When you let the TV sort them, you get 0001 onwards and all the regions of BBC/ITV etc. I went in and manually deleted them. I used the TV Sideview app on my ipad but it in no way relates to how the TV sorts the channels - I changed them on the TV to reflect the Sideview app which took me a whole afternoon manually!

Another question, you mention an AV amp, I like the sound of this (!) but can you set it so that when you power the TV on, can it all turn on also automatically and the volume controlled from the TV handset, this would be important in my house? I'm looking at a solution for parents also. Do you have to use lots of speakers to get a surround sound or can you use a few small discreet ones and still get performance?

I appreciate your help on this

[Anonymous]

Hi there

In regards to the satellite EPG, this cannot be fixed due to the tv not being Freesat. You see, Freesat is the brand name behind the satellite EPG. Im currently in tje middle of listing these non-scrambled channels on a spreadsheet, but havnt completed it yet.

My Sony AV Receiver works great with my tv. With Bravia Sync on, tv switches amp on, everything controlled by one single remote - the tv remote. You can use it with 2 speakers - or like me a 7.1 system.

Hopefully Sony can fix your issue

Cheers