Any way to get TV's ARC audio out via HDMI to receiver w/o ARC? (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

My TV has an HDMI input with ARC (Audio Return Channel) which supposedly can send any sound from the TV itself back to the receiver it's connected to. My receiver however is just a bit too old and does NOT support ARC, and I've verified that if I connect this to an input on the receiver it will not get any sound from the TV. I've been using an optical cable instead, but that's caused problems with the TV's built-in Netflix and Vudu apps. Since those use Dolby Digital PLUS, which can't be sent via optical, the TV downconverts these to standard Dolby Digital for that output and this results in a "chirping" effect during any high notes or high-pitched sounds in addition to not carrying the extra 2 surround channels on some Vudu movies with 7.1 sound. I ended up getting a Roku instead in order to get full Dolby Digital Plus from those, but am wondering if there are any adaptors or other work-arounds I could use for the TV instead? I see that there are "ARC Adaptors" on Ebay (which have descriptions in very bad English) which look like they MIGHT be able to get an HDMI audio signal out of my TV, but some of the descriptions seem to indicate it might just output the TV's audio via its own optical port (which helps if your TV has ARC but no optical output). Anyone have an answer?

 

[Jerome Grate]

http://www.amazon.com/Fosmon-Adapte...F8&qid=1459530099&sr=8-6&keywords=arc+adapter
Jesse, above is an adapter that appears to do what you need it to do. It looks like it receives ARC HDMI output from T.V., then send it to the optical output in full multichannel surround sound. I did read the comments on Amazon and there are some reviews that say it works great yet some comments that state it does not work.

I have noticed one thing using the ARC through my Sony 4K, it did Dolby Digital just fine, but when I tried a movie that I knew was Dolby Digital Plus, it did not pass it through. I recall reading that even though the 4K T.V.s passes Dolby Digital, you should leave the processing of the complete Dolby Digital Plus, True HD, DTS HD or Dolby Atmos to the players that really support them like your Blu-ray player or your Roku like player.

I wanted to get the full sound from my T.V. and when I got the settings correct with the ARC on the TV and on my Pioneer Elite VSX 90 receiver, I immediately saw the difference in the labeling on the t.v. with Netflix as it displayed HD and 5.1, but when I played the free Dolby Atmos demo from VUDU it was only Dolby Digital 5.1.

The product is 19.99 and maybe you can check with Amazon to see if they still having the discount for reviewing the product. Let us know.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Dolby Digital Plus cannot be passed through the optical output- what I want to do is get the audio (hopefully with Dolby Digital Plus, and not down-rezzed to standard DD) from the TV's HDMI ARC output into my non-ARC receiver's HDMI input by tricking it into thinking it's hooked up to one. I don't know if there's anything that does that. The Atmos demo clips on Vudu should play in 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus (or Atmos if you're equipped for that.) Standard Dolby Digital outputs have to downconvert that to 5.1 as that's all the format supports.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Okay I get it now. You want a device that tells the receiver that the signal from the t.v. is True HD or DTS HD Master. Interesting, I will investigate.

 

[schan1269]

No. You need an ARC capable AVR compatible with your TV.