Discussions

[Scoddie]

Trying to connect the devices described and have difficulty getting audio from the TV to the Streambar when using the standard cable TV input.  I have my cable service on HDMI1 and the Streambar on HDMI2.  I'm also using the optical connection for audio.  I have no audio when watching cable unless I force the Sony to use its internal speakers.  I'd obviously prefer to simply switch between inputs and still hear audio through the Roku. Any ideas?

[UserOfStreamers]

@Scoddie 

You need to connect the Streambar to HDMI 1 (ARC) in order send audio from the TV to the Streambar, so you'll need to move your cable box to HDMI 2/3/4 - also make sure ARC/CEC are enabled in the TV's settings. Remove the optical cable, since you will be using ARC instead.

ARC (Audio Return Channel) is what allows the TV to send audio back to the AVR/soundbar (or Streambar in your case).  It also wont work unless CEC is enabled on both the TV and Streambar (or other AVR/soundbar connected to HDMI 1 (ARC)).

[Scoddie]

Thanks for the reply.  This seems to have done the job!

[Scoddie]

Well, it was nice while it lasted. The Streambar plays its own audio from streaming services just fine but I get no audio from the TV now.  I've tried resetting the Roku and changing HDMI cables.  It's for sure plugged in to the ARC HDMI port on the Sony TV.  When the Roku is plugged in to the TV, the TV switches its audio to "external speakers" so the Streambar is being recognized. Just no sound.  Not muted. Sound level set to medium. Even though that part of the Roku going bad seems unlikely, I don't know what else could cause this.  Any ideas?  If it has to be returned, how would I go about that?

[Tivoburkee]

Try refreshing the hdmi-cec devices in the settings of the tv. 

[UserOfStreamers]

@Scoddie 

Your StreamBar may have updated to OS11 recently and this may be a source of the problem - check Settings/System/Software update for your current firmware version and "Last updated" (to see if it coincides with the loss of ARC sound).

Otherwise, if what @Tivoburkee  suggests doesnt work, unplug everything from AC power for 3-5 minutes, then turn them on in the following order:  1) StreamBar 2) TV 3) Anything else  - and see if that resolves the issue.

[Scoddie]

To both you and Tivoburkee, I do appreciate your responses.  After messing with things for about an hour a week ago, I turned on all the devices today and voila...audio. I have no idea what happened or if it will happen again, but thank you for answering and offering your help.

[Scoddie]

Unbelievable.  Once again no audio from the Streambar unless it's from a streaming service.  But I think I am finally on to something. We've usually turned the TV on by using the cable remote.  When I do, everything comes on as it should, the TV switches to external speakers yet no sound.  Today, after a long power outage, I had the same result.  So I turned off the TV with the cable remote and turned it on with the Streambar remote. Voila! Sound from the cable input heard from the Streambar.  I turned off the TV with the cable remote and then back on with the same control...audio works fine!

So it has something to do with powering up the TV through the ARC input that must "wake it up" and allow it to send audio to the ARC HDMI device.  I'm guessing that when we have another complete power outage, I'll have to follow the same sequence. 

If I find that this isn't repeatable, I'll post again.  But I'm keeping my fingers crossed.