old man needs VCR help

[Capt_Cully]

This is absurd but I'm setting up our surround sound but I can't get audio through our TV. I'm getting the video. I don't have any of the speakers hooked up to the surround sounds receiver, but I should be getting audio through the TV too shouldn't I???

 

[chrisqueenz]

Wires not connected to the reciever but are the wires connected to the tv already? Depending on your tv, sometimes connected audio wires block your tv speakers from receiving sound. Are they simple RCA wires? Btw the what is a VCR?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Everything is plugged in. Can't figure it out.

HDMI from TV to surround.
PR PB Y from TV to surround.
Audio red & white from TV to surround.

 

[shroutk3]

I'm no expert, but I think your sending the same signals multiple ways. I'm pretty sure HDMI does video and sound- Do you need both?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Originally that's what I thought. I thought HDMI was plug n play

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Is the surround sound receiver a Dvd or bluray player?

 

[Capt_Cully]

DVD/surround sound AIO. Sony.

 

[jacksonpt]

Cable or sat box? How is it connected to the tv?

 

[Gravesj1s]

Hdmi is audio/video

Maybe check the source mode on your tv remote,you may have to select another HDMi source ,(i.e Hdmi1 or hdmi2 ect..or Blueray, to get sound.

If you connected it like this it should work:
Incoming cable *to cable box*,from cablebox to preamp/receiver or tv using HDMI ,and from any of those to blueray/dvd/vcr or gaming devices.

 

[sd2127]

Hdmi is audio/video

Maybe check the source mode on your tv remote,you may have to select another HDMi source ,(i.e Hdmi1 or hdmi2 ect..or Blueray, to get sound.

If you connected it like this it should work:
Incoming cable *to cable box*,from cablebox to preamp/receiver or tv using HDMI ,and from any of those to blueray/dvd/vcr or gaming devices.

^^^^
This is how mine had to be hooked up, I only have surround sound if my blu ray player is on. Im no expert either but its all I wanted the Surround sound to do so I was happy. HDMI is both sound and video.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

^^^^
This is how mine had to be hooked up, I only have surround sound if my blu ray player is on. Im no expert either but its all I wanted the Surround sound to do so I was happy. HDMI is both sound and video.

I third this motion. That's how mine's hooked up as well. Cable-->Bluray-->TV.

The downside: I'm the only one in my house who knows how to turn things on/off.:headwally:

 

[jacksonpt]

Do you specifically want to use the TV speakers when watching TV (not the surround sound)? If so, I can add that to the plan below. Are there any other devices (game systems, audio components, etc)? If you have a DVR, the cabling might be different (not sure how time warner works, but it can be different with DirecTv depending on the box you are using).

OK, let me see if I can do this so it makes some sense. There are 2 basic ways to hook things up. One feeds everything through the receiver and uses it process audio and switch video. The other passed video signals to the TV and audio signals to the receiver.

Option 1 - everything runs through the receiver.
Audio for all devices is played through receiver. Switching inputs on receiver switches the audio and video sources/pass throughs. Cables should go something like this:
coax from wall to IN on cable box
hdmi from OUT on cable box to IN on receiver
hdmi from OUT on receiver to IN on tv

Since it's a BD player/receiver AIO, you shouldn't need any cabling to address the BD player.

Set your TV's input to input used by the hdmi on the back of the TV. You'll never need to change this. Use the different inputs on the receiver to change between BD and cable. Something like TV/video 1 for cable and BD/video 2 for the BD player.

Assuming no universal remote, use the cable box controller to change channels and the receiver remote to control volume.




Option 2 - feed video to TV, audio to receiver
Audio for all devices is played through receiver. Switching inputs on receiver switches the audio source. Switching inputs on the TV changes the video sources. Cables should go something like this:
coax from wall to IN on cable box
components from OUT on cable box to IN on tv
digital audio (either digital coax or optical) from OUT on cable box to IN on receiver
hdmi from OUT on receiver to IN on tv

You'll have to change the inputs on BOTH the tv and the receiver based on what you are watching. The cable box will use one input on the receiver, the BD player/receiver will use another. Same for the receiver... the cable box will use one input, the BD player will use another.

Again, assuming no universal remote, use the cable box remote to change channels and the receiver remote to control sound.

 

[jacksonpt]

I third this motion. That's how mine's hooked up as well. Cable-->Bluray-->TV.

Just to be clear, this is somewhat misleading. It works with a receiver/bluray AIO, but won't work for people who have separate components.

 

[jacksonpt]

Everything is plugged in. Can't figure it out.

HDMI from TV to surround.
PR PB Y from TV to surround.
Audio red & white from TV to surround.

The PR PB Y are video cables - they carry no audio signal so there is no reason to send video from the TV to the receiver.

 

[NirvanaFan]

What model is your Sony surround sound unit? Could you do what I do?

I basically use my Pioneer receiver to act as a central point for all incoming sound and video. The cable box, Blu-Ray, XBox, Wii, etc. all plug into the inputs on my receiver, and I have one output (also HDMI) going to my TV. To change between watching tv and a blu-ray, I just switch inputs on the receiver.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Ok, I'm not home at the moment. But I had it set up at our last house such that I could watch TV on its own or I could turn the DVD AIO on and watch TV with surround. Or i could watch a DVD (TV on different source through its proprietary remote) with sound coming through both TV and surround speakers.

Now I have coax into Verizon cable box. HDMI from that to TV. HDMI from TV to surround AIO. Looks like I had some redundancy there with the blue red green cables hooked from TV to surround.

Can't figure out why I'm getting vision and no audio. Shouldn't the HDMI cover it?

 

[jacksonpt]

Now I have coax into Verizon cable box. HDMI from that to TV. HDMI from TV to surround AIO. Looks like I had some redundancy there with the blue red green cables hooked from TV to surround.

Can't figure out why I'm getting vision and no audio. Shouldn't the HDMI cover it?

That should work. Check the cable box settings... make sure the audio out setting is set to HDMI. If you're getting video but no audio, then the settings/input on the TV are probably fine (just double check that the TV speakers aren't set to off).

Also, cable boxes are notoriously unreliable. If everything seems to be right (cables hooked up probably, settings set correctly) and you're still not getting audio, try using component video cables RCA audio cables from cable box to tv and see if that works.

 

[NirvanaFan]

That should work. Check the cable box settings... make sure the audio out setting is set to HDMI. If you're getting video but no audio, then the settings/input on the TV are probably fine (just double check that the TV speakers aren't set to off).

Definitely check the settings. My Time Warner cable box acts funny and will change the sound output on me sometimes.

Just out of curiosity, why would you not use surround sound all the time?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Just setting it up. Haven't run wires. Just looking to play DVDs for the kids for now. We're not super entertainment movie/TV people. Just looking for a little lion king action to distract while I drink and cry.

 

[Tonynlo]

Just assume the circuit out -> in ~ out -> in... etc (if you have a full HDMI system). Basically HDMI works as the old coax cable worked (audio and video). Some surround sound "systems", that include DVD/Blu Ray players, only work when using the DVD or Blu ray. They still need some sort of audio input for other devices. On most newer televisions, there is normally a single audio output from your television and an audio input on your receiver that should be used. This is what transfers the audio.