Can't get surround sound to work on TV (1 Viewer)

[jby]

Please move to appropriate forum if this isn't in the correct one, thanks.


Back in 2010, I purchased a Sony 46" Bravia LCD 1080p TV (KDL-46EX400) and a Sony Blu-Ray Home Theatre Surround Sound System (BDV-E770W) to pair together. Hook up went smooth, everything was working great.

Fast forward to this year, all of a sudden my surround sound isn't working for any of my tv channels. Also tested my FM tuner, no sound as well. I rarely watch movies but I popped in a blu ray movie to test out the sound, and the sound for movies works perfectly. Subwoofer and all speakers were working for the movie. So now when I watch tv, I get no sound at all. I have tried everything. I've unplugged the power source for both the tv and home theatre system and plugged back in. Everything powers up as it should, but no surround sound. I've messed with a whole bunch of audio settings on the home theatre and tv to no avail. I tried troubleshooting the issue with Sony support and it mentioned to try replacing the HDMI cable. I have done that with 2 new ones I had laying around and that hasn't helped either. I also chatted with Sony support online and they mentioned I needed red and white cables? Why? Is this true? I have never needed those cables for my surround sound to work. Isn't that what the HDMI cable is for? It's very frustrating and aggravating as I've tried everything. I'm almost to the point where I'm going to throw the damn thing away. For the 6 years it was working properly, I had never touched or removed any cables from the tv or the actual receiver itself, and now it suddenly doesn't have any sound. Could it be a software issue/update? I'm not a tech geek and really don't want to resort to getting geek squad to help. Any help or advice here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Al.Anderson]

The Sony site must be having problems and is not giving me the manual, so I can' be specific, but I'm guessing it's one of two things, (1) somehow the ARC setting (has to be applied in both TV and HT) was turned off (ARC is what allows the TV to send the signal through the HDMI cable back to the HT). or (2) the TV's or the HT's channel died.

If it's broken, and the TV and HT have an optical or digital coax connection, then you can use that instead (same surround sound, just another cable). The red/white will not give you surround (just stereo); although it may be better than nothing until you get a new HT.

 

[jby]

I doubt anything has died, my surround sound works fine when watching a movie. So it has to be a setting or I mistakenly unplugged something. What do you mean by ARC? What does that stand for? Can you be more specific so I can look into that in my settings? Thank you.

 

[Al.Anderson]

ARC=Audio Return Channel. The HDMI signal "nominally" runs from the HT to the TV, but if the TV and HT both support ARC, it allows a return signal so the TV can send any audio it's generating back to the HT. It's possible one or the other device was inadvertently reset and ARC is now off.

 

[jby]

The Sony site must be having problems and is not giving me the manual, so I can' be specific, but I'm guessing it's one of two things, (1) somehow the ARC setting (has to be applied in both TV and HT) was turned off (ARC is what allows the TV to send the signal through the HDMI cable back to the HT). or (2) the TV's or the HT's channel died.

If it's broken, and the TV and HT have an optical or digital coax connection, then you can use that instead (same surround sound, just another cable). The red/white will not give you surround (just stereo); although it may be better than nothing until you get a new HT.

ARC=Audio Return Channel. The HDMI signal "nominally" runs from the HT to the TV, but if the TV and HT both support ARC, it allows a return signal so the TV can send any audio it's generating back to the HT. It's possible one or the other device was inadvertently reset and ARC is now off.

Well both the tv and ht are from 2010, so I'm not sure if they even support ARC? I don't see anything on the tv or ht or anything in settings that mentions ARC. I'm performing a software update as we speak. Also going to get some new cables to see if that helps.

 

[jby]

Did 2 software updates on the receiver and now it magically works again. Surround sound and fm tuner. Nice! Thanks for the help though.