Solving playback issues

[Kevin19]

Hello,

My TV does not have HDMI-ARC, but it does have HDMI and an optical output.  I was hoping to channel the audio from my DVD player through the Streambar speakers, but no sound is produced.  My DVD player is connected by a regular HDMI cable to my TV and I am able to hear the audio on my standalone speakers (attached to pre-amp with RCA cables), but I'm confused why the audio isn't transmitting through the optical out to the Streambar.  Thoughts?

[Tivoburkee · Accepted solution]

Check optical cable to see if its seated right at both locations. An optical cable can go bad its made of glass, a wrong bend its no longer working. When testing the optical cable, just have it connected without a hdmi too, just to hear sound through the optical cable. 

[Kevin19]

Thanks for the reply, Edmund.  The Streambar works perfectly with the regular HDMI and optical connection if I'm streaming through the device (normal operation).  My issue has to with not being able to use the Streambar's speakers to listen to DVDs.  This is something that Roku claims it can do, but I'm missing something.

From their site:

Game console, Blu-ray player, cable/satellite box, etc.

There is nothing particularly unique when setting up these devices. Just connect each device to an available HDMI port or composite audio/video port on your TV, based on the manufacturer's recommendation, and make note of the name of each input (e.g., HDMI 1, HDMI 2, VIDEO 1, AV 3, ...). Once your Roku Streambar or Roku Smart Soundbar is connected, you simply need to switch the active input on your TV (using your TV remote) to the name of the input where you connected each device.

https://support.roku.com/article/360034304013

[Janetlee]

I am having exact issue, my tv has a built in dvd, so i have made no other connections except connecting soundbar. Any solutions?

[Strega]

It’s not clear to me if either poster has connected the optical cable (and possibly configured the TV to use it – I’m not sure if all TVs default to driving the optical connection all the time.)