[SamDude]

All,

I am a relative noob at setting up a HD TV/Home cinema, I'm a long-time lurker and have read up as much as possible before buying my kit.



I have bought the following items:

• Sony BRAVIA TV (46W5710)
• Sony Home Cinema/DVD (DZ680W)
• Sony Bluray player (BDP-S363)
• I also have a Sky+ box

The kit has been connected as follows:

• TV <-- SCART --> Home Cinema/DVD
• TV <-- HDMI ---> Home Cinema/DVD
• TV <-- HDMI ---> Bluray player
• TV <-- SCART --> Sky+

I have a Digital optical cable that I've tried to use - when I connect it to the Bluray output and into the Home Cinema input - I get no sound from the Bluray.
When I connect it to the TV output and into the Home Cinema input - I get no TV sound at all (the sound via the SCART returns when I unplug the digital optical cable).

Just to declare all information, the HDMI cables were bought from Amazon for £1.00 each (link) and the digital optical cable has been lying around for a while.



My questions/issues which I hope someone could help me with are:

• Am I doing it right?! Can someone straighten me out with regards to the correct cables/connections if I've missed anything?
  
• I only get sound from the Home Cinema/DVD if the SCART is connected - is there a way of passing the sound via the HDMI cable and taking out the SCART cable?
• The Bluray player only outputs sound via the TV, not the Home Cinema system. Am I wrongly thinking that the sound should pass from the Bluray to the TV and then to the Home Cinema (via HDMI)? (The Sky+ manages to pass sound via SCART to the TV and then via HDMI to the Home Cinema).
  
• Is the digital optical cable faulty? there is a red light when plugging it into the TV or Bluray connection indicating that there is 'signal throughput', but no sound when connecting either to the Home Cinema.
  Is there a setting that I need to change/set to use it for audio?

I also have an Xbox 360 (non-HDMI) that I'll connect to the TV/home cinema when its all running smoothly.

If I have missed anything, I would be happy to give it a go.

Thanks in advance,
Sam

[davepuma]

1. Did you change the settings on the Bluray player for optical audio output? Perhaps it is not active by default. Check the audio menu, change to optical output and set to 'bitstream'.

2. Did you select the optical input on the home cinema system? The home cinema system will by default, output audio from the built-in player only. You will need to either cycle through the various inputs (look for D-In or similar) or press a button on the remote to go straight to the optical (D-In) input. As you didn't get audio from either the TV or the bluray player, this is what I suspect is the first thing you should check.

3. I think that the audio you're getting from the sky+ box on the home cinema system is actually coming via the SCART cable, not HDMI. This is why you're only getting audio when the SCART is connected. SCART is bi-directional, HDMI is not yet bi-directional (it will be in version 1.4) and the only output from the TV should be CEC control functions (Bravia sync etc.). With your present setup, you're only getting 2.0 stereo from all your sources and not true discrete multi-channel surround sound i.e. DD5.1 from Sky and DD5.1/DTS from your bluray player.

4. Ideally you will need to connect the sky+ direct to the home cinema system via optical (Set to DOLBY D under Optical output in the sound settings menu). If your home cinema system only has one optical input, I would recommend buying a 3 way manual optical switch to share this input. Audiovisualonline sell them. If you need more optical cables, the fisual pro at £5 gets my vote. This will also apply to your Xbox 360.

[SamDude]

Hi Dave,

Many thanks for your help.

1. I've set the Bluray audio output to Coax/Optical (it was on HDMI as the default). There is sound when I now connect the optical cable.
2. I didn't need to cycle the inputs - the sound comes through on the 'TV' function of the Home Cinema (as the connection for digital optical at the rear is 'TV input').
3. I've tested the the optical cable between the SKY+ and Home Cinema box, and there is sound when I remove the SCART cable - so it is giving me 5.1 sound via the optical cable.
4. The Sky+ box was already set to DOLBY, so no changes needed there. There is only one optical input on the Home Cinema, so I've taken your advice and have ordered 3x optical cables and a 3-way optical switcher from Audiovisual Online (via their Amazon store, so I can spend some outstanding gift certificates).

Until the switcher and optical cables arrive, I'll keep the SCART cable connected for SKY+ sound and use the optical cable for the Bluray player.

Many many many thanks for your help!
Sam

[SamDude]

Dave (+ all),

Maybe you can help me again...
As above, I've had the digital optical cable working fine connected to the Bluray.

I ordered the three way splitter (as you suggested) and it works fine with my Xbox 360 and Sky+. I'm saving the third 'slot' for my Home Theatre PC.

In the meantime, I also bought a digital coaxial cable to connect the S363 Bluray player to the Home Cinema system to make use of the coaxial output on the Bluray and plug it into the input on the Home Cinema system.
I've not changed any of the settings since the digital optical cable setup, but I can't get any sound out of the new configuration.

Is there something I am missing, or could the digital coaxial cable be faulty?

Thanks,
Sam

[davepuma]

Does this happen if the optical cable is disconnected from the rear?

[SamDude]

Hi Dave,

Yes - I've tried connecting the digital coaxial cable with the digital optical disconnected. There is still no sound from the bluray.

I've checked the settings over and over, but there is no difference between the digital coaxial/optical setups.

Surely it should be 'plug and play'....

[SamDude]

Can you please clarify Dave?
Page 31 in the DZ680 (Home Cinema) manual explains how to connect the FM aerial.
Page 31 in the S363 Bluray manual talks about bluray playback (how to play/pause/stop).

I think you've mixed up your reply from another thread?

[davepuma]

Apologies, you're right.

It should have been a completely different page number IIRC. I think I lost the network connection and when I noticed my reply had not been submitted, I sent the wrong one! I can't remember what else I said but the obvious would be to try a video cable which is the same impedance (75ohm) as a digi-coax cable.

I will have to download the manual again to recall what it was I put in my original reply.

[SamDude]

Hi Dave,

I did some trial and error to find the source of the problem - was it the Bluray player, the Home Cinema system or the digital coaxial cable.

I tried a regular phono cable by only plugging in the red side of the lead. It works! I knew it was 'plug and play' with the settings as I had them for the optical cable setup.

I then plugged in the digital coaxial cable into another phono source - a DVD player audio output (red connector) into the phono input of the TV - it worked as well!

So - the Bluray player connection works, the Home Cinema system input works and the digital cable works. Only not together....

I tried the above setup again and it didn't work at first. I then pushed one end of the digital coaxial cable in and there was sound!

After all that, I've sussed out that the coaxial cable is ever so slightly short on one end and it only works if it is pushed in by hand (tightly).

Hopefully AudioVisual Online will be able to exchange it without fuss.

Thanks again Dave,
Sam

[SamDude]

While I'm waiting on the digital coaxial cable replacement, I've got myself another problem...

Cross link to my new thread: No sound via optical input

[davepuma]

Have you considered taking this unit back to the shop?