Help with DVD sound please

[Ingwe]

Not in motorhome but at home. Finally succumbed and bought the full boxed set of The Wire. Have a Blu-Ray DVD player (not been used since watching Breaking Bad three years ago) and put disc in. Loaded and played as normal but no sound. Not muted, volume turned up etc.

Now the connections I have are as follows:
Cambridge Audio Sound Bar connected to Sony HD tv with optical cable.
TV connected to PVR with HDMI cable
TV connected to DVD player with HDMI cable

As I see it, the PVR is neither here nor there; it is connected to the TV and has no direct connectivity with the DVD player.

So if I select the DVD input on the TV, given that the Sound Bar is connected to the TV by the optical cable, anything played through the TV should play through the sound bar. But it doesn’t. I turn on the TV, select DVD on the input and turn on the sound bar. I get the picture and the DVD works as it should. Should the fact that the DVD is connected to the TV by HDMI mean that both sound and vision are connected via the HDMI and as the TV is connected to the sound bar by optical lead, I should be getting sound? Have tried different HDMI leads but made no difference. Confused!

 

[kevenh]

A summary: DVD to TV is hdmi for audio to video.

Then your TV is the video and then over a digital optical cable, sound goes to your sound bar, right?

Do you get sound via the TV with the optical cable unplugged?
Is the similarly connected PVR OK for noise on the sound bar?
Can you setup different audio routes per input on the TV?
Compare the PVR to the DVD

{on the TV} I think you need to look for a setting like “Audio passthrough” or audio out.

Update us with your findings.

Edit: some clarity. More later with updates

 

[kevenh]

Also, what audio type is the Wire DVD set to?
DTS and Dolby Digital need a different decoder setting / ability.

 

[TheBig1]

There are more than one type of HDMI port and compatible cable. Are you using the right one?

 

[TheBig1]

The best port to use is the eARC which has enhanced audio, if your TV has it

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[Lenny HB]

Should work, 2 things to try first one I don't think it will make any difference is there any sound if you use the tv speakers.
Next try the optical out on the DVD player straight to the soundbar, if that works could be a problem with the DVD player.

Stating the obvious you haven't by any chance got sound muted on the DVD player.

 

[kevenh]

try the optical out on the DVD player straight to the soundbar,

if that’s an option. Might be confusing things with DVD audio output settings. Although - if it does get audio working, highlight a possible setup mistake

Ingwe this DVD player was working before, with the same cables, right?

 

[Jev88]

Does the soundbar work with normal TV? Some TV you have to go into settings and say sound to go via Optical for example.

 

[63720]

In my opinion I would disconnect the optical and try hdmi instead.

 

[Ninjabob]

A lot of TVs will not pass through Dolby Digital from a HDMI input to Optical Out. If the Cambridge has HDMI inputs the use the one marked ARC or EARC to connect to the TVs Arc or EARC connection then connect the DVD player to the TV. You could try changing the DVD Audio to PCM out from DD, that might work.
"Even though HDMI is capable of carrying a 5.1 audio signal, HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) keeps the TV from passing decoded 5.1 audio content from the HDMI input to the optical output. Because of this, 5.1 audio output from optical is not available when using the HDMI input."

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[suavecarve]

Not that this helps but parts of The Wire need subtitles !!

Brilliant choice

 

[Ingwe]

Phew! Lots to go at there, thanks! It'll take me a while to go through some of the suggestions before I give feed back. But, in so far as I can, before trying things out, the answers I can give are as follows:
kevenh-your first two assumptions are correct. Third proposition is to be tried but it would need me to go into the TV settings so that the sound bar isn't the default audio. Fourth, yes the PVR gives sound on same connection. Fifth and sixth proposition-yes you can connect audio to the TV by alternative means: component video out, scart and coaxial. The DVD has fewer options. Has HDMI and component video out, digital out and line out (L&R&Video). The PVR has those but also has optical out.

"Also, what audio type is the Wire DVD set to?
DTS and Dolby Digital need a different decoder setting / ability." This I will need to check out. Is this a setting on the DVD player?

TheBig1 -re the HDMI cable, using the ones I've always used and believed worked when watching earlier although before I had the Sound base
"The best port to use is the eARC which has enhanced audio, if your TV has it"-don't believe the 20 year old Sony TV has this but I'll check.

Lenny HB-no optical on the DVD, not muted and don't yet know whether it plays through TV speakers but reluctant as they're so poor compared with Sound Base.

Jev88- Sound base does work with just TV but as you say, need to go into TV settings and select Sound Base as default.

I'll report back after further applying your suggestions.

Thanks all for your helpful input/suggestions. I notice not one of you said, "don't bother wasting your time with 'The Wire'!

 

[kevenh]

"Also, what audio type is the Wire DVD set to?
DTS and Dolby Digital need a different decoder setting / ability." This I will need to check out. Is this a setting on the DVD player?

Yes, the audio type choice is a DVD selection. You’re choosing what option available on the disk is needed later for the audio decoder in the TV/Sound bar.
On older Sony hardware, DD will likely be the easiest option - for a route through the TV.
For a direct DVD to sound bar connection, a fairly recent sound bar might have DTS decoding.

Optional: A little extra info: For most of us the benefits of DTS v DD aren’t too important. DTS marginally better compression quality (for the surrounds?).
But now we’ve Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD are lossless there’s evenless difference

 

[ChrisL]

Is your soundbar the TVB2 model? If so, according to a Cambridge Audio seller on Amazon it is only able to decode PCM stereo so you will need to select pcm on your bluray player.

 

[Ingwe]

Ok let me report back. I have managed to get sound using the TV, DVD and the sound Base by connecting line out L&R on the DVD player to Line in L&R on the TV. But you have to select AUX on the Sound Base. As it works (and one only has to remember that, to watch regular TV, Firestick or recordings on the PVR, one has to select OPT on the Sound Base) I don't propose experimenting further for the moment though I simply don't understand why the DVD didn't give sound whilst the PVR did. Both connected using HDMI. The PVR worked, the DVD didn't.

I may go back and play a little when it's not so close to SWMBO's viewing time. It could be fatal messing with the set up if we lose all sound.

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[Ingwe]

Is your soundbar the TVB2 model? If so, according to a Cambridge Audio seller on Amazon it is only able to decode PCM stereo so you will need to select pcm on your bluray player.

Yes it is! Right, Tomorrow I'll try checking this setting. Thank you.

 

[kevenh]

PCM is the audio format for shop bought stereo music CD.
You’ll not gain a huge difference switching from the analogue L+R cabling of your current test setup; except simpler connections and small audio quality gains,

 

[Rally man]

Had the very same problem with my blue ray player have you the option of updating the software?
My player would not connect to WiFi so I connected via cable to the hub updated and worked a treat a simple fix.
Like yourself had not used the player for a long time only found out it was not working after purchasing a new TV.
Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Reallyretired]

Put the subtitles on