Best setup for my equipment to optimise sound quality.

[PaPaRumple]

I am hoping someone can advise on the best way to plug in my setup.

I have the following:

TV - Hisense QLED 65E7HQTUK
Soundbar - Sony HT-G700
Signal box - Sky Q box

Both the TV and soundbar have eARC HDMI ports I don't think the Sky Q box has an eARC port but does have an optical port as does the sound bar.

So my question is do I plug the SKY Q box into the regular HDMI in on the soundbar and the plug the TV into the sound bar using their respective eARC ports or do I plug the sky box into the TV and then plug the TV into the soundbar using their respective eARC ports or do I plug the sky box into the Sound bar using both hdmi and optical.

hoping someone on here will be able to advise as I have no clue.

[Dallen9798]

@PaPaRumple 

If your soundbar and TV both have eARC HDMI ports, it's recommended to connect the Sky Q box to the TV and then use the eARC connection to connect the TV to the soundbar. This will allow you to take advantage of the eARC feature which provides improved audio quality compared to regular HDMI or optical connections.

Here are the steps to connect your devices:

1. Connect the Sky Q box to the TV using an HDMI cable.
2. Make sure the TV's eARC HDMI port is connected to the eARC HDMI port on the soundbar using another HDMI cable.
3. On the TV, go to the audio output settings and select eARC as the audio output.
4. On the soundbar, make sure eARC is enabled in the settings.
5. Test the audio to make sure everything is working correctly.

Give that a go and see if that works 🙂

[PaPaRumple]

Thanks I will give that a go. Currently I have the sky q plugged into incoming hdmi of sound bar and eArc out leading to the TV's eARC port. 

[Dallen9798]

@PaPaRumple 

Let me know if you see any differnece in the quality when you swap it around 🙂

[nigea99]

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@PaPaRumple wrote:

Thanks I will give that a go. Currently I have the sky q plugged into incoming hdmi of sound bar and eArc out leading to the TV's eARC port. 

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If that set up works for you I see no reason to change it

Plugging SKY Q into the TV and using the ARC/eARC connection increases the chance fo Lipsynch problems for some people

I have an AV AMP and route everything through that

I have always recommend plugging directly into AV equipment if they can pass through the 4K /HDR signal - not all can - due to the reduced risk of lipsynch but as TVs have moved on I think there is less risk of Lipsynch via ARC ports

It all depends what works for you @PaPaRumple - you may find that either route works for you in which case it is your choice - you may find it just down to how many buttons you need to press to get the TV & sound working   

[PaPaRumple]

It seems to be working fine. This is my first sound bar and I must say I don't know why people say they do surround sound as it feels like a very poor attempt Vs a true 5.1 system. 

The issue I'm having now is seeing some light bleed on the new TV I received yesterday.

I mean I realise that some light bleed is to be expected with off brands like hisense but I'm now wondering if I have an acceptable amount of not. I don't notice it on full colour screens or movies and shows but it's noticeable on full black screens. What do you think. Would you send it back for a new unit?

 

[Dallen9798]

@PaPaRumple 

Out of curisoity, if you take the soundbar and earc out the equation, and just go directly from the Q box to your TV do you still see the bleading?

Must be frank not much my field on that part, hopefully another user can chip in too advise

[PaPaRumple]

I will give that a go and let you know as I really don't want to have to send it back again as it's gonna be a real pain.  Will try in a bit as I have a tradesman working in the bathroom ATM so can't really try now as I'm holding back my the 3 year old from trying to "help" the tradesman.

[nigea99]

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@PaPaRumple wrote:

It seems to be working fine. This is my first sound bar and I must say I don't know why people say they do surround sound as it feels like a very poor attempt Vs a true 5.1 system. 

The issue I'm having now is seeing some light bleed on the new TV I received yesterday.

I mean I realise that some light bleed is to be expected with off brands like hisense but I'm now wondering if I have an acceptable amount of not. I don't notice it on full colour screens or movies and shows but it's noticeable on full black screens. What do you think. Would you send it back for a new unit?

 

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HI @PaPaRumple 

I think sound bars vary greatly in how well they present surround sound  & will depend partly on how many speakers they have and in what positions. 

The sound will  also depend on other factors in the room - such as where the walls are  & height of the ceiling to reflect the sound

I have to admit as I have had AV receivers with separate speakers since the 1990s I am somewhat biased as Sound bars can never match a separate speaker system. That siad some I have heard in shops have sounded reasonably impressive but they are usually the ones that cost as much as some AV amps & separate speaker set ups   Some sound bars are only a minor step up from the TVs own sound  

Regarding the TV what are you seeing is the effects of an edge lit LCD TV panel - which are used in mid to lower end TVs - the higher end LCDs use back lit panels which allow much more localised light control

BTW OLED panels work differently hence the deeper blacks

I wil be honest & say I don't know what level of such llight variation is normal   but with an edge lit panel I don't think you will get full uniformity - possibly look for TV reviews as some good reviews will show this sort of behaviour - or at least detail the levelnoticed - on the panels they review

[PaPaRumple]

I agree with you, from what I can tell you only get perfect black screens when you pump out 3 grand on a TV. I have a feeling of o so send it back I'm gonna get another panel much the same or even worse. 

[SlenderRobert]

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@PaPaRumple wrote:

I agree with you, from what I can tell you only get perfect black screens when you pump out 3 grand on a TV. I have a feeling of o so send it back I'm gonna get another panel much the same or even worse. 

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I'd send it back if I were you. That's an unacceptable amount of light bleed from a poorly fitted panel. Only an OLED will give you perfect black but some LCD panels with good local dimming can prove quite effective. 

[1Scally]

Hi thanks for your response but has raised a lipsinc issue I'm hoping you can give some advice . 

I have a Samsung 4ktv and a Yamaha av receiver with sky q 4k box. Sky engineer said best to plug sky into normal hdmi on TV and earc from TV to av receiver to receive the benefits of earc.

I have significant lypsinc and it's driving me mad trying to resolve. I have lypsync adjustments on the TV, av receiver and not sure which is best to try as never seems to be right.

Should I just plug earc to av receiver and sky box as you suggest??

[nigea99]

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@1Scally wrote:

Hi thanks for your response but has raised a lipsinc issue I'm hoping you can give some advice . 

I have a Samsung 4ktv and a Yamaha av receiver with sky q 4k box. Sky engineer said best to plug sky into normal hdmi on TV and earc from TV to av receiver to receive the benefits of earc

I have significant lypsinc and it's driving me mad trying to resolve. I have lypsync adjustments on the TV, av receiver and not sure which is best to try as never seems to be right.

Should I just plug earc to av receiver and sky box as you suggest??

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hi @1Scally 

Assuming your Yamaha AV reciever has full 4K HDR pass through (most newish ones do - miine do and it they are a few years old now - although on my main receiver I had to set an option for it to do) then I would recommend going via the receiver

If Receivers / Sound bars can pass through the 4K HDR receiver I don't see any reason to rely on the TVs to pass through the audio - most posts we see on Lipsynch being out are when people rely on ARC/eARC  from the TV, rather than plugging SKY Q direct to the Soud equipment

 eARC will still be of use when watching TV apps or anything else plugged into the TV   

[1Scally]

Hi @nigea99 thank you.  Yes av received has 4k pass through.

So do I plug sky box to av received with a normal hdmi and keep the earc from av to TV so I can still control the TV and receiver (mainly turn off together and control volume)

[nigea99]

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@1Scally wrote:

Hi @nigea99 thank you.  Yes av received has 4k pass through.

So do I plug sky box to av received with a normal hdmi and keep the earc from av to TV so I can still control the TV and receiver (mainly turn off together and control volume)

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The HDMI cable currently connected from SKY Q to your TV is sufficient  & should just be swapped to be plugged into one of the AV HDMI inputs

You leave the HDMI cable in place that is linked from the HDMI Out from your receiver connected to the eARC port on your TV

If your remote is set to control the volume of the TV & then  relying on the HDMI control signal to  alter the AV volume I am not 100% certain this will always  work when watching SKY TV this way  - I think it depends on the TV  & its settings  - my mini is connected this way & always works - my main Panasonic TV defaults to TV sound & has to specifically be changed to use the AV system & I don't always bother as my AV remote is always on my coffee table.

I think you can set the remote to control your AV receiver volume via IR rather than  the TV & HDMI control if that is more suitable for you

The power off  should continue to work the same either way