Samsung HT-E5500 - No sound via optical from Sky HD

kevinyork

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I have this blu-ray/amp alongside a Samsung UE55D8000 and a Sky 1TB HD Box. Had it for a few months with Sky HD connected via HDMI to my TV and the sound sent to the amp via ARC over HDMI. Having read some forums it appears that despite my Sky Box outputting DD over HDMI on my Sky HD model now, the TV does not pass through DD through ARC. Now I wasnt sure about this since if I change channels from a standard sky channel, say BBC2 to a Sky HD Movie the rear speakers come to life. Other forums seem to suggest this will be the amp doing a psuedo surround rather than DD 5.1 but the amps manual doesnt cover this nor does the TV manual confirm whether DD is passed through HDMI. Does anyone know for sure?

Anyway, to check I decided to connect the Sky box with an optical lead to the amp and selected the digital input on the amp. Nothing. Ive tried setting the optical output settngs within the Sky menu from stereo to DD and tried different channels on Sky but cannot get sound through the optical connection at all (there is a red light being emmitted). Ive tested the optical lead and it works and if I connect the TV to the amp using the same lead then I get sound through the optical ports so the optical input is working on the amp. I also tried the optical from an xbox and again this worked no problem.

Ive tried turning off ARC in the TV and amp menus to no avail. Some forums mention turning off PCM in the amps menu but there is no option for this. Also since the sound should go via the optical irrespective of the HDMI connections Ive also tried unplugging the HDMI lead to the amp but this didnt change anything.

Ive contacted Sky. They got me to hook up my second Sky HD box to the amp using the optical connection and again I got nothing which they say proves its not a faulty optical port on the Sky Boxes as to have two boxes with faulty ports would be rare. They say the issue is with the amp.

I called Samsung (wished I hadnt) and they say as the optical input works with other sources (e.g. The TV) then there isnt an issue with the amp and it must be a Sky issue.

So Im left not being able to hook up the optical from Sky HD to the amp and am relying on the pass through via the TV HDMI. Now I could connect the Sky box with HDMI into the amp directly since DD is now sent via HDMI from my Sky box. However if I do this then each time I power things up the amp starts on the last input used (e.g HDMI 1) but after about 10 seconds it switches to D.In. Forums suggest this is due to Anynet-CEC and if I turn this off the amp stays on HDMI but I then need two remote controls or a universal remote which is a no no for me.

Does anyone have any suggestions other than those Ive tried?



Edit- i tried a digital coax to toslink converter today. Took audio from Sky through the coax, into the converter then on to the amp with a toslink cable. I got sound but only on channels not broadcasting DD. no idea why but this isnt a workable solution as it stands.
 
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