Home theater in a box question

[Dave McFly]

my buddy bought one of those home theater in box, a samsung HT-Z320. it is a nice little set up, 1000 watts, 5 speakers with sub and a Ipod docking station that plugs in the back. we got it all set up but he only gets sound when he plays a DVD in the built in player. the receiver has the following on the back:

HDMI out
Component out
Composite in with RCA audio in.
Optical audio in

I ran a pair of RCA cables from the audio out on his TV into the RCA audio in on the samsung but got no sound. he has a HDTV box from the cable company when we ran the RCA audio cables from the out on the back of the box to the inputs on the samsung we got sound no problem. we called up samsung's 800 number and they told him that if he ran a optical cable from the tv (32" Vizio LCD) to the samsung that will fix the problem. I have my audio out from my tv going to my Pioneer and all the stuff that plugs into the tv automatically comes out through the receiver, so i am just curious why we get sound out of the HDTV box but not the tv directly, and will the adding a optical cable fix the problem or is samsung full of s***?

PS, the only reason why he wants to get the sound to come from the tv is he has his PS3 hooked up to the tv via the one of 2 HDMI inputs on his tv, he has one more free, but i don't think running the samsung to his tv via that HDMI will really help or will it?

[AlSuwaidi]

you probably have to change the input on the home thatre to av-1 or something similar to select the input

[Dave McFly]

tried that but that was when the output of the tv was going into the input on the samsung. but once we ran the audio out cables from the HD box to the samsung in the same input THEN we got sound.

[AlSuwaidi]

i have a similar setup on a tv at our place... its basically hd box,ps3,everything else -> tv inputs... and then a output from tv to the home thatre input(only sound wires, leave video wire hanging)... that way whatever is being inputted to tv you have the sound output to the home theatre.

then you just leave the home theatre on the av input to pick up the sound from the tv...

that way you also get two extra speakers from the tv as well.. but i usually mute the tv cause the sound can lag :P

[Dave McFly]

well that's how it is SUPPOSED to work, this is exactly how i have my home theater set up. but mine is not a home theater in a box but a stand alone Pioneer AV amp with speakers plugged into it. I have my PS3 running to it via Optical and my DVR up to it via Coaxial digital cable, the video plugs run to my tv (32" Sony LCD), and i run the red/white RCA cables from audio out on the tv to audio in on the Pioneer. My old PS2, and my old XBOX are hooked up via component AV cables into the 2 inputs on the said TV.

but alas the only times he gets sound is:

A: playing a DVD in the player that is built into the unit
B: if he plugs his IPOD into the docking tray and that is plugged into it
C: when he runs the red/white RCA cables from the output of the cable box to the red/white RCA inputs on the back of the samsung

funny if he puts it on tuner and tries stations he gets no sound either, but he has not hooked up the wire that acts as an antennae but he lives in the boonies in a trailer park and he could never get radio signals on anything that receives radio, but he could once he left his home, bizarre i i know.

[AlSuwaidi]

2 things that i think might be the problem.

1. the tv audio output isnt working (does happen) thats why there is no sound. this might be it as it the home theatre picks up sound from otehr devices.
2. tv output is working but he is running the wire from an input on the tv to an input on the home theatre...

[Mindz]

Originally Posted by AlSuwaidi

2 things that i think might be the problem.

1. the tv audio output isnt working (does happen) thats why there is no sound. this might be it as it the home theatre picks up sound from otehr devices.
2. tv output is working but he is running the wire from an input on the tv to an input on the home theatre...

My thoughts too.




As for your question about the sound. If you have PS3 hooked up via hdmi to the samsung, that will give you the surround sound that you're looking for. Then hooking the Samsung into the TV can be with any HD cable (component/hdmi/dvi) will work. If you hook the PS3 up to the TV, then the tv up to the samsung, you're going to have lagging sound as the PS3 sends out signals which is played through the tv visually, but then you have to send the audio signals out through the processor to the samsung unit which then processes that data and converts it to noise to be played through the speakers. I tried doing that with Guitar Hero 2 on PS2 and couldn't pass even the easy tracks because the sound was off by that much and messing with me.

Hook the PS3 up to the samsung, and then the Samsung up to the TV imo.

[AlSuwaidi]

Originally Posted by Mindz

My thoughts too.




As for your question about the sound. If you have PS3 hooked up via hdmi to the samsung, that will give you the surround sound that you're looking for. Then hooking the Samsung into the TV can be with any HD cable (component/hdmi/dvi) will work. If you hook the PS3 up to the TV, then the tv up to the samsung, you're going to have lagging sound as the PS3 sends out signals which is played through the tv visually, but then you have to send the audio signals out through the processor to the samsung unit which then processes that data and converts it to noise to be played through the speakers. I tried doing that with Guitar Hero 2 on PS2 and couldn't pass even the easy tracks because the sound was off by that much and messing with me.

Hook the PS3 up to the samsung, and then the Samsung up to the TV imo.

yeah I mentioned lagging but with a game like guitar hero hero it would be hell... I only play racing sims so i didnt think of it that way.. lag isnt so bad on a racing sim..
he has no hdmi input on the home theatre system .. he would have to use a seperate optical wire.. if there is one from the ps3.. i cant really remember

[Mindz]

My PS2 has an optical out, so the PS3 should as well. Racing sims aren't bad because most TV's have a 5+ns lag. most computer monitors do too.

You can get lower lag (2ns) but then you lose out on contrast ratio.

[AlSuwaidi]

ahh i dont go into that much detail.. 5 ns is fine for me... i was reffering to sound lag when you use the ps-tv-home theatre in Guitar hero and how for aracing sim sund doesnt need to be that accurate as you use your eyes more than your ears unlike guitar hero

[Mindz]

Yup. I was agreeing with you, and explaining why it's not a big deal for racers. I play Forza/GT as well. =)

[Dave McFly]

Originally Posted by AlSuwaidi

2 things that i think might be the problem.

1. the tv audio output isnt working (does happen) thats why there is no sound. this might be it as it the home theatre picks up sound from otehr devices.
2. tv output is working but he is running the wire from an input on the tv to an input on the home theatre...

as i already said in my 1st post we ran it from he OUT from tv to the IN on the receiver, i am pretty smart enough not to plug it into the IN on the TV . there is a possibility the output on the tv is bad as it is NOT a new tv its about 2 years old. i may have him unplug it and unhook the speakers and bring it to my place and try it on my new Sony to see if that is the problem. but still does not explain why he had no sound using the tuner, i will call him to ask him to attach the antennae to see if he at LEAST gets static.

[Urthman]

Hey...
I'm pretty sure that this will solve your problem. I have a Samsung as well.

Go to the menu on the TV.
Select "Audio" and turn the internal mute ON.
This prevents the sound from coming out of the TV speakers and sends it to the outputs.

Then, you should have sound when the receiver is set to the correct input.

Hope this helps.

[Dave McFly]

i am thinking it is something with the audio out of the TV, my TV has what is called a FIXED audio out meaning it cannot be turned on or off. if i want to watch TV in surround, i just hit the mute button on the TV remote (or turn it down with the remote). i plan on going over and messing with his TV, and try hooking up his samsung to MY TV via the audio out and see if we get sound out of it when the TV is on or the PS3 (hooked to my TV) will too.