Problems setting up 5.1 Surround Sound with Sky Glass

[Shoshiplatypus]

I have bought a new 5.1 surround sound amplifier to replace my old one which did not work with Sky Glass. I have a set of good speakers which are already wired around the living room and would like to be able to use these with Sky Glass. These are now correctly connected to the new amplifier.

Amplifier details on Amazon:

“HDMI 5.1 Audio Converter Decoder DAC DTS AC3 FLAC APE 4K*2K HDMI To HDMI Extractor Converter Splitter Digital SPDIF ARC Brand: RSGK.” Manufacturer: Ayino.

The online user manual isn't a great help to me as it is full of technical jargon which is beyond my understanding.

I have followed Sky’s instructions on their web page on how to set up the 5:1 surround sound system. It does not work.

1.  Amplifier connected to Sky Glass TV with HDMI cable into the ARC socket on the amp and HDMI 2 ARC socket on TV.

2.  Message on TV screen: “Using external speakers or headphones means you won’t be able to use the speech enhancer and night mode settings on this TV. You also won’t experience enhanced audio.” This shows that the TV is recognising that an external speaker has been connected.

3.  Navigating to “Apps and Inputs” on the Sky home screen, HDMI 2 is showing as “Audio System, connected to HDMI 2. This device is being used as your TV’s external speaker” with the speaker logo showing.

4. Click on this: “No signal detected on HDMI 2. Check your device is properly plugged in and switched on” (which it is). “Still having trouble? Connect to HDMI 3 input and switch on Older device compatibility in Settings/Connected devices/HDMI inputs.” I cannot do this because:

(a) HDMI 3 is not ARC compatible.
(b) HDMI 3 is already in use for the FireStick which will not work in either HDMI 1 or HDMI 2.

5.  Returning to Sky home page. The HDMI 2 logo is now saying “Currently playing. No signal detected.”

6.  Sky home page / Settings / Picture and sound / Sound. Audio output: “TV speakers. Hear audio from this TV through an alternative compatible speaker systerm and/or Bluetooth headphones.” Click on this: “TV speakers (internal/HDMI eARC)” is ticked. Back to Picture and Sound / Sound: Scrolling down to “Digital audio output HDMI eARC” – “Auto” is set. I have also tried “Passthrough” but this does not work either.

7.  I have tried a different HDMI cable. No change.

Amplifier settings:
HDMI cable plugged into HDMI Arc socket.
5.1 Surround sound selected.
Both indicator lights (for ARC and 5.1) are steady and not flashing, indicating that  connection has been made.

I believe I have connected everything up correctly and that all settings are correct. This should work. Sky Glass recognises that the system is connected but then says “no signal detected.” What am I doing wrong?

Please reply in simple terms as I am not familiar with a lot of tech jargon. Thank you. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[CoffeeDrinker]

@Shoshiplatypus 

The badegs in the screen shot suggests your AV receiver suggest that it can decode vanilla Dolby Digital (as known as AC-3) but may not be able to decode Dolby Digital+. Despite the similar sounding names, the two are not the same thing. if your AV receiver is being fed a Dolby Digital+ signal from your Glass TV, it may not understand what the signal is and thus you get silence.

Glass & Stream pucks are supposed to intelligently negotiate with external sound devices and agree a working sound format between them (Dolby Atmos > Dolby Digital+ > Dolby Digital > PCM stereo). This doesn't always work though as you are finding.

To check:

On your Glass TV, go into Settings > Picture and Sound > Sound and change the output format from Auto/Passthrough/Dolby Digital+ (whatever it is currently set to) to Dolby Digital. Does this result in sound coming through your speakers as expected?

EDIT: Just checked on my own Glass - there is no option for just Dolby Digital, until the pucks!  Could you post the make & model of your amp and I;ll try and look up what might help?

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

Many thanks for your prompt reply - just spotted your Ed.

The make and model of the amp are at the top of my initial post - as per description on Amazon:

"“HDMI 5.1 Audio Converter Decoder DAC DTS AC3 FLAC APE 4K*2K HDMI To HDMI Extractor Converter Splitter Digital SPDIF ARC Brand: RSGK.” Manufacturer: Ayino." The model is "HD815B/PRO HDMI2.0 Audio Decoder" according to their online user guide. I can't make head or tail of this user guide!! There doesn't seem to be any model number on the amp itself.

Thank you for trying to help!

[CoffeeDrinker]

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@Shoshiplatypus wrote:

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

Many thanks for your prompt reply - just spotted your Ed.

The make and model of the amp are at the top of my initial post - as per description on Amazon:

"“HDMI 5.1 Audio Converter Decoder DAC DTS AC3 FLAC APE 4K*2K HDMI To HDMI Extractor Converter Splitter Digital SPDIF ARC Brand: RSGK.” Manufacturer: Ayino." The model is "HD815B/PRO HDMI2.0 Audio Decoder" according to their online user guide. I can't make head or tail of this user guide!! There doesn't seem to be any model number on the amp itself.

Thank you for trying to help!

---

I've found  the PDF manual on aoyint.com and read through it.

You look have have everything set up correctly:

Glass TV set to audio out via HDMI > HDMI 2 ARC connected to the 820 decoder unit > audio outputs of the 820 connected to an external amplifier.

The manual explicitly mentions the audio codecs it can handle (Dolby Digital AC3, DTS, LPCM, HDCD, PCM), all of which are circa 1990s codecs (Dolby Digital AC3 & DTS were around on laserdiscs and DVDs of the era). PCM is just stereo, the same audio format that Compact Disc uses.

Sky Glass & Stream use Dolby Digital+ (also known as E-AC3), a codec that came in in the early to mid-2000s. As well as supporting Dolby Atmos and 7.1 along with 5.1, it is much more data efficient than the older Dolby Digital standard, which is why so many streaming services use it.

With your Glass set to auto, I'd expect it to try outputting Dolby Digital+ to your 820. When this doesn't work on account of the 820 not supporting DD+, I'd expect Glass to then try Dolby Digital then PCM stereo if all else fails. It doesn't sound like this is happening.

As 'Dolby Digital' cannot be selected on Glass as a HDMI output format on Glass, could you try setting the output to PCM stereo and seeing if you get any sound at all out?

If your 820 is wired correctly and working, at the very least, i'd expect either two channel stereo sound to play back, or the 820 decoding the stereo signal into matrixed surround via pro Logic or Pro logic II.

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

I can't thank you enough for taking all this trouble on my behalf! I bow to your superior knowledge. From what I understand, the amp that I have only supports older-style codecs, and not the more modern ones that Sky Glass uses. I have already tried what you suggested, and there was no sound, not even just stereo. It rather looks as if the amp I've got is not going to work with Sky glass. It is still within the returns window for Amazon so I think it is probably best that I return it for a refund.

With your knowledge and experience, can you suggest an alternative amp that I could purchase, which would work with Sky Glass, or is 5.1 surround sound a non-starter with it? I'd be very grateful for any suggestions. The speakers are good ones and I enjoyed very good sound with our old TV and would like to continue to use them if possible.

Thanking you in advance.

[CoffeeDrinker]

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@Shoshiplatypus wrote:

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

I can't thank you enough for taking all this trouble on my behalf! I bow to your superior knowledge. From what I understand, the amp that I have only supports older-style codecs, and not the more modern ones that Sky Glass uses. I have already tried what you suggested, and there was no sound, not even just stereo. It rather looks as if the amp I've got is not going to work with Sky glass. It is still within the returns window for Amazon so I think it is probably best that I return it for a refund.

With your knowledge and experience, can you suggest an alternative amp that I could purchase, which would work with Sky Glass, or is 5.1 surround sound a non-starter with it? I'd be very grateful for any suggestions. The speakers are good ones and I enjoyed very good sound with our old TV and would like to continue to use them if possible.

Thanking you in advance.

---

It all depends on what your budget is. In terms of a new AV amplifier or receiver (AV receiver is an AV amplifier with built in radio. It mattered in the 90s), most start at £400 or so and go up from there. What was the sub-£400 market has all but given way to soundbars.

Looking on Richer Sounds under Home Cinema > Home Cinema seperates > AV Receivers, an entry level Sony or Yamaha receiver is £400 or so. Any of these will happily receive audio from your Glass TV via HDMI and will play nice with Dolby Digital+ via HDMI ARC/eARC. All will happily drive a 5.1 speaker setup. 

My own prefence is for Denon's receivers - I'm running a Denon X3500H 5.1.2 receiver, which replaced an earlier model Denon 5.1 receiver before it.

If you are happy with buying second hand, most receivers made after 2006 or 2007 with HDMI inputs  will decode Dolby Digital+ (which was part of the HD-DVD & BluRay disc specification). My previous Denon receiver was a 2012 model Denon 3312 -  a very capable machine capable of driving 5.1 & 7.1 speaker systems. I upgraded as the 3312 cound't do 4K passthrough or drive a Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 speaker setup. Used purely as a sound decoder & amplifier rather than as a video switcher and it is still more than capable Looking on a certain popular online auction side and there is one for £70 buy it now.

(Don't let my enthusiasm for Denon sway you. Yamaha, Sony, Maranatz, Onkyo etc all make and have made great kit).

The only thing to check before buying anything is what wattage your speakers are rated at. Amplifiers have a rated output rating called channel per watts. Be sure your speakers can cope with *more* than the amp can output; otherwise pumping say 80 watts from an amplifier into speakers only rated for 20 watts is likely to damage them. The watts per channel maxmum output will be listed under the specifications on any website selling them 

If this all sounds like too much bother, I wouldn't blame you. There is a very good reason why soundbars are prefered by so many - simplicity.  

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

Very many thanks for the info. Buying new is a bit outside my budget and I might have a look for 2nd hand as you suggest - great recommendations btw. I do not know how to check the wattage of my speakers.

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi again, CoffeeDrinker.

I had a good look last night and couldn't find anything that I could absolutely guarantee that would work. I think I found the particular 2nd hand item you mentioned, but it was non-functional and for parts only. £400 upwards is out of my budget, I'm afraid. I did also look at sound bars but again couldn't find anything guaranteed to work as most were Dolby Digital only, and not Dolby Digital+.

For now I have decided to abandon the idea. I am in the process of returning the unit. I'm really fed up because normally returns through Amazon are brilliant - absolutely seamless and no problems with instant refunds, dropping it off at the PO and letting them do everything, but in this case I am having to send the unit back to China myself with postage that's costing me an arm and a leg!! I said to my hubby that I've just got to cut my losses on this one, brace up and move on!! This whole adventure has taken hours and days of research, frustration, and trying different things, and it has come to nothing.

The one ray of sunshine in all this has been you! You have gone the extra mile and how - to try and help me, and I am very grateful indeed! Through this, I have also learnt quite a bit about AV stuff and how these systems work, which is all to the good. So thank you very much for all the time and effort spent on my behalf, and I do hope you don't consider it's been a waste of time because I have decided not to pursue it further.

Kindest regards.

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi CoffeeDrinker,

A quick update. My husband took the parcel to the post office with its return labels to send it to China and they said it would cost over £40. They wanted me to fill in a customs form and brought everything back with him. This was fortunate because the next day the seller contacted me from a UK address with details of how to return it. With tracking etc. it was obviously considerably cheaper to return the item. The process was not straightforward, but it has now been returned and Amazon is issuing me with a full refund, so all I've lost is a few pounds in postage.

As I said before I think I'm going to abandon the idea of trying to connect my 5.1 surround sound speakers because it's just too much hassle, and I can't be sure that anything I find 2nd hand will be any better, and the chance of returning it might be unlikely.

I really want to thank you once again for all your help with this - I've learnt a bit along the way and you have been very helpful, going the extra mile. I'm most grateful.

Kindest regards.

[CoffeeDrinker · Accepted solution]

@Shoshiplatypus  No worries and no thanks needed. If it's any consolation, the built-in soundbar with Glass is far from awful. Not sure if your watching is mainly sport, films or TV/drama - my own is mostly film watching, everything from modern blockbusters all the way back to silent era Hitchcock and everything in between. Similarly my home cinema days go back to the laserdisc era when you had to know what an AC3 RF demodulator was and how to connect it to an AV receiver in order to get 5.1 sound (don't ask! Fiddly and expensive). A 4K HDR TV set with built in 3.1.2 sound would have been far fetched science fiction to my mid 90s film buff self.

Whilst the Glass soundbar doesn't have the separation or true surround of seperate speaker system, it buries the vast majority of other TV;s built in speakers and budget soundbars. It can go reasonably loud without the speakers distorting or inducing cabinet rattle (thanks to Glass TV's being built like tanks). Similarly is has a reasonably fulsome sound, so voices, music and effects do not sound 'thin'.

With Mrs Coffeedrinker being away for the weekend, I indulged in a few films that are far from her favourite. Saturday night was in bed watching Rosemary's Baby (Sky Cinema, mono sound) and The Frighteners (Sky Cinema again, 5.1). Despite being in mono, the dialogue of RB came through clear and intelligible, even when competing with sound effects and the musical score. Same with TF, which has much going on in terms of effects making the 3.1 channels of the soundbar go bananas, whilst still keeping everything intelligible and controlled.

If funds and inclination allow in the future, you can always go for a more capable outboard sound system or soundbar. In the meanwhile, you still have objectively better sound via Glass than the vast majority who use watch TV/films/sports using their TV's built in speakers. As an AV enthusiast, I'm entirely happy watching films on Glass whilst in bed as an alternate to the Atmos separates system downstairs.

Happy viewing!

[Jimmy7062]

I linked up my sound bar usingBluetooth it worked but gave me an echo effect. You could try fiddling about with the settings the split second delay was a problem.

[Shoshiplatypus]

Hi CoffeeDrinker, and thanks so much for your lovely reply! So glad you were able to indulge your fav viewing in Mrs. CoffeeDrinker's absence lol! I love old movies too - esp. Hitchcock, classic 1940s/50s B&W thrillers and epic blockbusters, with a few musicals thrown in. My hubby and I enjoy Star Trek, Stargate and stuff like that but we're discerning SciFi viewers. Not so much into the horrors! Neither of us is a sports buff thank goodness - I know a few footie widows and that's not for me! You are right that the Sky sound really isn't too bad and after a few weeks I'm quite used to it really. My hubby says he's more than happy so we'll leave things as they are for now. I think once you get absorbed in something you forget, anyway! It's been an interesting adventure if a rather frustrating one, and I've learnt a bit along the way which is great.

One fabulous thing I've managed to do since getting SkyGlass (which I probably could have done on the old smart TV if I'd known) is to connect the laptop wirelessly, through the Amazon Firestick and an app called AirScreen. Works a treat. Great for watching my library of digital downloads and also we've been enjoying slideshows of our fav photos. AND no longer any trailing HDMI cable across the living room floor!!

Thanks again, you're a star.

[Jimmy7062]

Just tried connecting my Bluetooth soundbar and changed the audio delay to 200ms worked perfectly, Give the Bluetooth a try it might work

[Jimmy7062]

Sorry did not read previous posts that you had returned item.

[Shoshiplatypus]

No probs, Jimmy. I did try bluetooth but it didn't work unfortunately.