Question regarding an AV Receiver's optical connection and cable

TheFellaLondon

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Recently sat down to watch a movie, and could not get my surround sound working. Made sure all the settings were correct on the TV, etc. but was getting no sound when switching to 'optical out'. The receiver was working, as could run the test tone through the speakers.

I did notice that when plugged into my amp, the other end of the optical cable did NOT have a light coming out of it. I switched the cable, and also tried changing themc around, but whichever was the opposite end to that plugged into the amp, I was not getting the little red light.

I was therefore wondering if there is an issue with the connection in the amp itself - should I always get a light at the end of an optical cable not plugged into a device? I tried plugging it into my PS4 and got the red light with no issues, so assume it must be the optical port itself on the amp/receiver.

Be great to have your thoughts and expertise on this!
 
The device sending the sound signal will have a red glow on the port, the receiver won't though

Unplug the cable from the AVR and you should see a glow but not the other way round
 
Thanks for the response. Assuming the cable is working (tried two, so one of them must be) and the amp/receiver is working, and the port is probably working, any idea why I would not be getting audio out through my speakers? I had this issue before, but solved it via this forum by not just selecting optical out on my tv, but changing an additional sound setting to 'pass through' rather than auto or the other option (which I can't remember, not being in front of the tv now). I thought it might be because I was trying to watch something on Sky, and therefore would need the cable to go from the AV receiver to the Sky box, but then I tried Netflix, which is an app on the TV, and non of it seems to be working!
 
If you are sure that the cable is working and not faulty and if you are not seeing a red light at the end of it while connected to your TV's optocal audio outpu then this indicates that the TV isn't outputting anything via that output. THe lack of any red light indicates that either the cable or the TV are faulty or that you've not correctly configured the TV to use that oputput. Not having a red light has nothing at all to do with the AV receiver. The light eminates from the TV along the cable to the AV receiver.

There'll be an option in your TV's speaker selection options to choose to use the digital ouput associated with the optical output. Ensure that this is selected as opposed to the option that enables the TV's own speakers.
 
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Again, thanks for the response. The TV is brand new and was working with the AV receiver from purchase up until yesterday. As mentioned in my original post, the setting on the TV are correct - optical out, pass through, etc. I also know the optical cable is working. My question concerns the light coming out of the cable, and whether this should be visible from the end not plugged into receiver? I.e. when plugged into the TV optical port, the other end has a glowing red light - the end that plugs into the receiver. If I plug this into the receiver first, the other end does not have the red light, so was wondering if this indicated there was something wrong with the optical port on the AV receiver? In other words, does no light mean no signal?
 
As indicated by both myself and another member, the end of the cable that would ordinarilly be connected to the AV receiver would be the end of the cable from where you'd see the red light. The light eminates from the TV along the cable. The AV receiver doesn't output anything via its optical input.

If the cable is connected to the TV and you look at the end not connected to the AV receiver and no light is visible then either the TV isn't using that port or the cable is faulty. If no light is visible, you've either got a faulty TV or cable or you've incorrectly configured the TV to otput audio via its digital optical output.
 
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If you can access the optical port on the TV (TV must be on) you can push the cover open with a toothpick and you should check the light and it should be on if optical sound is enabled. This example from a streaming device normally connected to an AV device shows the optical light.
20200926_154231[1].jpg
 
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