Connect Shield thru TV or soundbar?

[justinrh 259]

Why would I want to connect my Shield to the soundbar?  Why would I want to connect it to the TV?  What's the diff?

(This assumes ARC is already in play.)

Edited January 12, 2023 by justinrh

[Luke 42077]

Hi, most soundbars don't have that many hdmi inputs, so the most common method is to connect your devices to your TV, and then connect your TV to your soundbar. When connecting the TV to the soundbar, you'll have to use the specific hdmi input on the TV that is designated for ARC or eArc (audio return channel).

 

[justinrh 259]

Thanks.  I added a note in my post about ARC being assumed.

[Luke 42077]

OK. There isn't a reason I can think of to route the shield through the soundbar first.

[justinrh 259]

I just found this.  I tried it briefly for a specific test (before I saw this article) and it didn't help.

"To achieve the best output experience, always remember to connect the source device directly to your Atmos-enabled audio system.

For instance, if you want to use your Blu-Ray player with your TV and soundbar, you must connect the Blu-Ray player to your soundbar instead of the TV.  ...

According to Dolby, to achieve the best possible audio quality, users must ensure that the final device in the chain is responsible for the audio decoding."

Edited January 13, 2023 by justinrh

[ebr 16169]

Yep, the reason to connect directly to the soundbar is to be sure to get proper audio support.  Depending on the TV, it may not be able to pass all the formats the soundbar supports.

[rbjtech 5283]

On 13/01/2023 at 01:36, justinrh said:

I just found this.  I tried it briefly for a specific test (before I saw this article) and it didn't help.

"To achieve the best output experience, always remember to connect the source device directly to your Atmos-enabled audio system.

For instance, if you want to use your Blu-Ray player with your TV and soundbar, you must connect the Blu-Ray player to your soundbar instead of the TV.  ...

According to Dolby, to achieve the best possible audio quality, users must ensure that the final device in the chain is responsible for the audio decoding."

Exactly - the same with an AVR - always connect the source to the AVR/Soundbar (where possible in the case of a soundbar) - never use ARC or eARC unless you are forced to - as going 'though or passthrough' involves potentially altering the raw Audio signal or having compatibility issues.

A classic example of this is trying to play uncompressed HD Audio - True-HD or DTS-HD - via ARC this will be impossible, via eARC this is also very unlikely via an App - but plugging the source into the soundbar directly will play HD Audio without issue as ARC is not involved.

The 'downside' is you are then having to passthough the Video - but this generally seems to have much fewer issues as the HDMI standards are well defined.

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by rbjtech