Audio HDMI ARC or Digital Optical (1 Viewer)

[Will123]

Got a new Polk 3.1 soundbar and a new Sony X700 4K bluray player. Is there any difference in sound quality between HDMI ARC and Digital Optical or are both the same? I was using Digital Optical before then tried HDMI ARC and thought I heard a better quality in sound...sounded more full but maybe it was all in my head so thought I'd ask here.

Also the bluray player gives me an option to downmix to "stereo" or "surround sound" and need help on that too. The soundbar isn't a full 5.1 surround sound and it's not a 2.1 setup either...any advice on that? Thanks!

 

[JohnRice]

You might as well go ahead and use ARC. It might not make a difference, but ARC does have greater capabilities, so it removes some doubt.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

AFAIK, plain old ARC can be slightly-to-modestly better than optical... but the audio is still restricted to lossy surround -- it allows DD Plus and the like for higher bitrate lossy.

eARC would allow lossless surround, BUT if you're just using a streaming service, those are generally all using lossy surround (even if they're providing Atmos) -- maybe some music concert streamers might do lossless, but not sure.

Not sure if your setup's capable of eARC -- if it's fairly new, it probably can.

_Man_

 

[Will123]

You might as well go ahead and use ARC. It might not make a difference, but ARC does have greater capabilities, so it removes some doubt.

I was thinking the same thing pretty much...I will stick with ARC. Thanks!

Sorry about the double post...I saw that my question had to be approved first before it was posted and after a little while it still wasn't up and I thought it might have gotten lost in the shuffle so I posted again...sometimes my stuff just disappears never to be seen again before it is posted....not here but on other forums and such. I see I should have waited a little longer...again sorry about that and it won't happen again.

 

[Will123]

AFAIK, plain old ARC can be slightly-to-modestly better than optical... but the audio is still restricted to lossy surround -- it allows DD Plus and the like for higher bitrate lossy.

eARC would allow lossless surround, BUT if you're just using a streaming service, those are generally all using lossy surround (even if they're providing Atmos) -- maybe some music concert streamers might do lossless, but not sure.

Not sure if your setup's capable of eARC -- if it's fairly new, it probably can.

_Man_

I'm just using the soundbar for movies from the bluray player...I don't do any streaming and things like that. The soundbar does have eARC but the TV is HDMI ARC only...no eARC and from what I understand I need the TV to have an eARC also in order to get Dolby Atmos. Thanks.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, the higher bitrate lossy tracks can still sound a bit better than the more basic ones that optical digital supports. Not sure if that's the diff you're actually hearing though...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

The TV could be mixing down the audio to two track when going through the optical output, while ARC should be maintaining 5.1. Of course, with a soundbar, the difference can be debatable. I'm definitely not a fan of ARC, but it does serve some purpose, and if it's working, might as well stick with it.

 

[Will123]

Well, the higher bitrate lossy tracks can still sound a bit better than the more basic ones that optical digital supports. Not sure if that's the diff you're actually hearing though...

_Man_

LOL...not sure myself but I did think there was a noticable difference for some reason...thanks.

 

[Will123]

The TV could be mixing down the audio to two track when going through the optical output, while ARC should be maintaining 5.1. Of course, with a soundbar, the difference can be debatable. I'm definitely not a fan of ARC, but it does serve some purpose, and if it's working, might as well stick with it.

That makes sense and might be what's happening. Not sure of your reasons for not liking ARC but I feel the same way...I'm 100% Analog at heart and dislike anything and everything Digital...except for maybe digital optical. Thanks!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

So for years I was using hdmi arc (not eARC) between our lg tv and yammy amp, and it always was a bit funky with out Harmony remote setup. I only recently learned that was most likely because of CEC. With my tv only having ARC, if I disable CEC then I also lose the ability to pass sound through HDMI and would have to resort to Optical. But am I losing anything in this case by returning to an Optical connection?? Originally I didn't want to as it meant more cables, but the reality is I have 5 cables hanging down now (power, hdmi, ethernet, backlight, tv signal), so what's another one? I'm sure when we get a new tv it'll have eARC, but i don't see that happening for a while. So is it worth it??

That's really entirely up to you.

IF ARC is working fine enough, I'd probably just stick w/ that (for the sometimes modestly better audio... depending on the source). But if it's too flakey, then switch to optical.

_Man_

 

[ABritch]

Naive question- my 4k BluRay has hdmi arc out and a digital optical out. My Receiver has hdmi arc in and digital audio in - do I connect both?

 

[JohnRice]

Naive question- my 4k BluRay has hdmi arc out and a digital optical out. My Receiver has hdmi arc in and digital audio in - do I connect both?

Just connect hdmi. And BTW, it’s not ARC, just regular hdmi. ARC is only for TVs to send audio “backward” from their input back to the receiver.

 

[ABritch]

Just connect hdmi. And BTW, it’s not ARC, just regular hdmi. ARC is only for TVs to send audio “backward” from their input back to the receiver.

Thank You.
Another question. I bought an Amazon fire tv cube thinking it would act as a universal voice remote.
I have a smart tv that gives me access to the streaming apps and my 4k BluRay has access to the same apps. So I don’t think I need it. Do I?

I still need a universal remote, would love some sort of voice activation - any suggestions?

 

[JohnRice]

Thank You.
Another question. I bought an Amazon fire tv cube thinking it would act as a universal voice remote.
I have a smart tv that gives me access to the streaming apps and my 4k BluRay has access to the same apps. So I don’t think I need it. Do I?

I still need a universal remote, would love some sort of voice activation - any suggestions?

A lot of people prefer dedicated streaming devices to the apps in TVs and disc players, because they just tend to work better, but no, you don't "need" the fire TV as well. I use the AppleTV for that, just because it is the best overall, and the most expensive, of course. @Todd Erwin is really the expert on those.

As far as universal remotes, that's another difficult one these days. The best ones, the Logitech Harmony line was discontinued a few years ago, and with voice activation, then you're probably talking something Alexa based, which do exist, but I know nothing about those.

 

[ABritch]

Thank You for confirming If I were to keep the fire tv cube I’m just doubling up on access to the same streamers. Does it act in any way to turn on the multiple components?

I loved the Logitech Harmony remotes, unfortunately there are several buttons on mine that no longer work, hence why I’m looking for a new universal remote.

Anyone with any suggestions?
The cheap options on Amazon seem just that, cheap. I don’t have to have voice activation but it would have been nice.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Another question. I bought an Amazon fire tv cube thinking it would act as a universal voice remote.
I have a smart tv that gives me access to the streaming apps and my 4k BluRay has access to the same apps. So I don’t think I need it. Do I?

Here is some practical experience from my holiday visit with family:

My sister purchased a new TV on Black Friday, and had been struggling with the built-in apps on her TV (an entry-level LG with WebOS). She had an Amazon FireTV Stick HD Lite connected to the TV as well. The apps on the TV would give her buffering issues, and both the TV and FireStick were laggy in navigation and app loading.

During my first visit to her house during Christmas, I tried to play around with settings and also run an internet speed test on the TV. She was getting less than 1mbps down on the TV, but the Firestick was getting somewhere around 40mbps. I googled the model number of the TV and sure enough, there were tons of complaints about how bad the built-in Wi-Fi card was on the TV and that overall navigation was slow (in other words, a slow processor). Otherwise, the TV had good ratings for picture quality.

The laggy navigation on the FireStick HD Lite was chalked up to being a device that was underpowered by a slow processor and starved for memory. I suggested she replace the FireStick with either the newer 4K version or a Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

I returned to her home a few days later, and she handed me a new FireStick 4K to install, and that not only improved navigation and app loading times, her picture improved as well since this was a 4K model compared to the cheaper HD "Lite" one.

If I were to keep the fire tv cube I’m just doubling up on access to the same streamers. Does it act in any way to turn on the multiple components?

Not sure what you mean by "multiple components."

 

[ABritch]

Here is some practical experience from my holiday visit with family:

My sister purchased a new TV on Black Friday, and had been struggling with the built-in apps on her TV (an entry-level LG with WebOS). She had an Amazon FireTV Stick HD Lite connected to the TV as well. The apps on the TV would give her buffering issues, and both the TV and FireStick were laggy in navigation and app loading.

During my first visit to her house during Christmas, I tried to play around with settings and also run an internet speed test on the TV. She was getting less than 1mbps down on the TV, but the Firestick was getting somewhere around 40mbps. I googled the model number of the TV and sure enough, there were tons of complaints about how bad the built-in Wi-Fi card was on the TV and that overall navigation was slow (in other words, a slow processor). Otherwise, the TV had good ratings for picture quality.

The laggy navigation on the FireStick HD Lite was chalked up to being a device that was underpowered by a slow processor and starved for memory. I suggested she replace the FireStick with either the newer 4K version or a Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

I returned to her home a few days later, and she handed me a new FireStick 4K to install, and that not only improved navigation and app loading times, her picture improved as well since this was a 4K model compared to the cheaper HD "Lite" one.

Not sure what you mean by "multiple components."

“Multiple components “ I’m referring to the tv, BluRay player and stereo receiver.

 

[Todd Erwin]

OK, I am not sure what you mean by "Does it act in any way to turn on the multiple components?"

 

[ABritch]

OK, I am not sure what you mean by "Does it act in any way to turn on the multiple components?"

Can the cube work like a universal remote control that can turn on/off multiple components (tv, BluRay player and stereo receiver) with a push of one button like a harmony remote from Logitech?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Can the cube work like a universal remote control that can turn on/off multiple components (tv, BluRay player and stereo receiver) with a push of one button like a harmony remote from Logitech?

Most likely no -- and I don't really see why Amazon would wanna add such capability even if they could.

What you *could* realistically try is use CEC functionality, if you just want some very basic things like turning on/off everything. But that's got nothing to do w/ the Amazon Fire TV cube.

But really, just get another Harmony remote me thinks -- maybe just a fairly basic 665 on the used market for $50-60 or so.

And BTW, you probably shoulda posted your question in a diff, more relevant thread (or started a new one) to get more/better input...

_Man_