Connecting soundbar to TV

[Miker]

I'm thinking of buying a Philips HTLS5120 soundbar for my Samsung UE40C8000 TV. I would welcome advice on the best method of connecting the two. Should I use a digital audio connection or the HDMI ARC? I also have a Sony blu-ray player. It would seem easier and utilise less connections if I continue to use the TV link for the latter.

 

[mmg]

The only reason you'd want to use the HDMI ARC connection is if you connect the blu-ray player to the soundbar via HDMI: this would mean that you also have to connect the TV using HDMI, and then you can use the ARC when your TV is playing trough its tuner. This soundbar cannot decode HD audio, so there is no advantage in connecting the blu-ray player to the soundbar. I would just connect everything to the TV, and use the optical out to connect the soundbar.

 

[Miker]

Thanks. Will do.

 

[Miker]

A further thought and question. The user manual for the TV shows the optical cable going into an optical connector which I do not have. I assume that one end of the adaptor is a female Toslink connection for the optical cable but I don't know the spec of the male connnection to the TV. Samsung say that I should use the HDMI ARC link. If I do, can I continue just to connect the blu-ray player via the TV?

 

[mmg]

Your television should have a TosLink (female) connector on the side (somewhere above or below the HDMI connectors), the same as your soundbar. All you need is a TosLink (male) to TosLink (male) optical cable.

If your television doesn't have the connector, you can use a HDMI cable with ARC. You can keep your blu-ray connected to the television. The result will be the same, but a little more expensive (HDMI cable vs optical cable).

 

[Miker]

Thanks again.

 

[daveb73]

The only reason you'd want to use the HDMI ARC connection is if you connect the blu-ray player to the soundbar via HDMI: this would mean that you also have to connect the TV using HDMI, and then you can use the ARC when your TV is playing trough its tuner. This soundbar cannot decode HD audio, so there is no advantage in connecting the blu-ray player to the soundbar. I would just connect everything to the TV, and use the optical out to connect the soundbar.

Although this is the simplest solution it's not necessarily the best for sound: most TV's that have an optical out only output PCM (2 channel) from this connection regardless of what input the TV recieves. It's likely that the TV will output proper 5.1 from native TV broadcasts that support this, but it will convert any 5.1 signal from the bluray player to PCM 2 channel.

The ideal solution would be to connect the TV to the soundbar via the optical (for watching normal TV) and the bluray player to the soundbar via either HDMI or optical/coaxial (if the soundbar has the connections) - this way, the soundbar can recieve a proper 5.1 signal from the bluray player which it can decode to create it's faux surround effects. In saying this, if it's like the majority of other soundbars on the market it's likely to only decode Dolby Digital and not DTS which creates a whole new problem...

Dave

 

[Miker]

I had thought of buying the Philips HTL5120 soundbar but I am now favouring the Canton DM50 for aesthetic reasons. The latter does not have an HDMI input port, but Samsung assure me that my TV, a UE40C8000XK model, does have the required optical output port, despite the user manual showing the need for an "optical adapter".

 

[daveb73]

I had thought of buying the Philips HTL5120 soundbar but I am now favouring the Canton DM50 for aesthetic reasons. The latter does not have an HDMI input port, but Samsung assure me that my TV, a UE40C8000XK model, does have the required optical output port, despite the user manual showing the need for an "optical adapter".

Hi Miker

As it happens, I recently bought a Canton DM50 and I can highly recoment them. You can connect the TV direct using an optical cable (supplied with the Canton) and you can connect your bluray player using the coaxial cable (supplied with the Canton) - you'll need to check that your bluray has a coaxial out otherwise you'll have to keep swapping the optical between the TV and bluray player.

As mentioned earlier in this thread the Canton does not decode DTS so you'll have to set your player to output PCM otherwise you'll get no sound from DTS track films. If you own one of the newer Samsung bluray players you'll be able to set the audio to convert DTS into Dolby Digital which the Canton can then process properly for better sound.

Hope this helps.

 

[Miker]

Thanks. I have a Sony BDP-S570 blu-ray player with a co-ax output. According to the manual, it will output Linear PCM or "Dolby Digital", the latter to be selected if the audio device has a "built-in Dolby Digital decoder".

 

[daveb73]

Thanks. I have a Sony BDP-S570 blu-ray player with a co-ax output. According to the manual, it will output Linear PCM or "Dolby Digital", the latter to be selected if the audio device has a "built-in Dolby Digital decoder".

I think a lot of sound bars will decode Dolby Digital 5.1 but most DO NOT decode DTS. Most of your blurays will be DTS, some will also have a Dolby Digital track which you can manually select from the discs options menu.

The problem with setting your digital audio output to PCM is that you will never be feeding your soundbar with a 5.1 track (even DD 5.1) so it can only ever create a surround effect from 2 channel stereo.

The solution I found was to buy a Samsung bluray player that reencodes DTS into Dolby Digital meaning that all my DVD's and blurays will be feeding the soundbar with 5.1 which most soundbars can decode, and therfore create a better sound.