Using Remote for volume in Surround Sound mode

[naylor2006]

Yeah I thought about pairing with my AMP but there’s nothing in the TV Box Pro that allows you to specify what to pair with. The options are limited.

https://www.bt.com/help/tv/fix-a-problem/remote/which-remote-do-you-have/resetting-your-remote-contr...

That’s it.

Think I’m gonna dig out my OneForAll remote, just so when we are using the box we don’t need two remotes.

[naylor2006]

It’s an idea but I’m a bit of a snob about all this sort of thing, everything is one way for me and I have one HDMI going to my TV so I only ever have to config one input.

I have an LG C3 65, total beaut and really in the conduit there is only space for one HDMI anyway in the hidden wall.

I don’t mean I’m a melt with it, I just mean I like it a certain way and I’m not overly fussed the remote doesn’t do the volume.

We are just used to have ATV for so long and just one remote.

[Midnight_Voice]

@naylor2006 

Do I take it that your lovely C3 is acting only as a video monitor then, or is it that you do actually have the amp going into the eARC HDMI on the C3? As this would pretty seamlessly allow you to use all the apps on the C3, watch broadcast TV that way if you were so minded, and so on.

Though maybe you have all the apps on an Apple TV+ or similar plugged into the amp, watch them that way?

I was going to suggest that with the amp set up via the eARC port, you could plug the Pro box into another HDMI input on the TV, which should still be pretty seamless in operation, but would give you back the volume control capability.

But with no room in the conduit for another cable, I guess that’s ruled out. I have five HDMI cables in 2cm x 5cm trunking going up to the TV and soundbar, but three of them are flat ones, though still full 48 Gbps.

[naylor2006]

Every device I have, ATV, PS5 and now BT Pro Box connect to the amp via HDMI and deal with the audio at that point for the best performance and from my experience greatest audio sync, everyone’s millage may vary, for me it just rules out a bunch of potential complications.

Then one 48Gbps HDMI goes from the AMP to the TV, also going to the TV is Ethernet and power. I recently got the 48Gbps cable for the full 120hz support at UHD and HDR for the PS5. Previously with the B8 I had it was only 60hz so actually there was more space in the conduit.

I live in a 30’s house, all the alls are about 5 yards thick, it wasn’t easy digging out the space but I did it when cables were a lot smaller 🙂

But yet my TV is a monitor, it’s always been how I’ve run stuff, arc was always problematic when I tried it once, I’m sure eARC is great but because I’m so **bleep** about this stuff I don’t want anything else other than one cable going to the monitor.

I know I’m part of the problem here and it was me who asked about the sound on the box looking for a solution, but it was more to discover if indeed the box did disable volume control in sound mode or I was being an idiot.

[Midnight_Voice]

@naylor2006 

You sound to me like you know exactly what you are doing 😛

Often worth stepping back and taking another look, though, just to confirm you have the best setup for you.

One bullet your setup might let you dodge, though, is that if I switch my DTR-T4000 YouView box on before the GX TV it is connected to, then the TV comes on, and so does the GX soundbar, but the soundbar defaults to HDMI, not eARC.

HDMI is the soundbar’s one input; but this doesn’t happen if I let the Roku Premiere start the TV, or the UHD player; it goes to eARC like it should. So just a YouView/LG issue, and neither YouView nor LG could shed any light on it 😢

So I have to take care to switch the TV on first, which switches on the soundbar as eARC, after which switching on the YouView box doesn’t alter this.

I wonder if anyone else here has a similar problem?

[SoupDragon57]

@naylor2006 Completely with you. Everything into the AVR and almost treat the TV as a monitor... Except for my occasional use of Freeview (to get the channels that aren't on EE TV in IP mode), where I make my single use of ARC on the main TV. But it is only that single audio return.

@Midnight_Voice Sympathise with your eARC issues. The problems I described were related to an LG TV and my JBL soundbar. LG gave some initial and very basic suggestions (do a reset 🙄), then when it looked like the issue might be with them, sent the issue on a one-way journey to their product team without any hope of further feedback or help.
The theory of eARC is great, especially for people using soundbars with limited HDMI ports, but it just seems too flakey.
For your sequencing issues, I'd suggest using some kind of remote where you can sequence the steps for each viewing activity. I know Logitech don't make their remotes and hubs any more, but Sofabaton is one alternative. I'm sure there are more. That way you always define the order the devices get turned on.

[naylor2006]

Its more that I know what im doing for me, over about 20 years of using surround sound Ive ended up with what I like and whats best for me, I wouldnt ever lecture someone else on how they 'should' do it.

Ive always though sound was as important as image, some sound engineer somewhere has probably spent as much time on a film as the visual guys, the time and effort into soundtracks as well, so I just love to experience that also and over the years getting through many different AVR's be far and away the easiest most consistent setup is to go with the one cable route, I dont know if its called that I just made that up.

Yeah its definitely a bullet I dodge, I remember a while ago when an AMP I had didnt support 4K, none of my devices were 4k at the time bar one, I forget which one, so I sent that one to HDMI2 for example in the TV and utilised ARC to send the audio back to the AMP, I could have cried the amount of times it changed to the wrong source etc....you'd always have to power things on in the certain order. Also, my wife, she wants to just power on the device and away she goes. When I power on the ATV, it powers on the amp and the TV and theres no chance of anything going wrong, when you power off the ATV it does the same.

The bullet I dont dodge where you guys will always win is AVR supporting your devices.

The AVR needs to support everything, UHD, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 120hz etc....the amount of times ive replaced an AVR to keep up with my single cable method has cost me way more than the arc guys. Recently when I got this C3 because I wanted to play 120fps gaming on my PS5....of course the TV now supported it, the PS5 of course was sending it but my existing AVR didnt support the pass through required for 48Gbps (120hz HDR, ALLM VRR etc). So could have connected the PS5 directly to the TV then ARC back, but no I bought a new AVR that supported it all and yet another AVR got listed on EBAY Lol/

I think I should be good for now.

[SoupDragon57]

@naylor2006 Agree. All we can do is share experience. Over and above ARC and eARC, HDMI CEC can also be frustrating. My bedroom TV with the soundbar has got into a rhythm with my limited ARC usage and the HDMI CEC controls volume and my Apple TV ok.

With an AVR in the picture, I use a different pattern. Upgrading AVRs is not cheap, with the last one being for 4k/HDR10/Dolby Vision/HLG. My TV doesn't do the higher/variable refresh rates, so I only pass signals up to 60Hz (but handling film at 24FPS matters more to me). 

This is why it is all about the individual setup, what you want to achieve and what budget you are working to. We all care about great sound as well as picture. And that's what matters 😁

[naylor2006]

Oh yeah don’t get me wrong, 24p is what’s most important to me, but as it’s our ‘Main’ TV room where the PS5 happens to be also I thought let’s just belt and braces it, so I got a new AVR and TV which will be fine for a fair few years now.

My old b8 is in another room now and I finally got rid of an old Panasonic which was long past its best!

My old Yamaha amp did everything apart from the 120hz, I sold it on eBay, think I more or less broke even on it, I didn’t have that one long much to the annoyance of my wife, I only got it 6 months early because the Pioneer before it didn’t support Dolby Vision…you can see a pattern here im sure.

This time I just bought a brand new Denon where as the others previous were second hand because I know I don’t have them for long.

[SoupDragon57]

@naylor2006 As the old phrase goes, "Happy wife, happy life!" 😉. I won't need a new AVR until I get a new TV. I've had that TV and AVR around 5+ years now. As always, will need a compelling reason for the next upgrade (either TV tech or Nits output, but even then, struggling to see a reason in the AVR front). Even if I got something which supported HDR10+ (although not sure why is care at this point), I'd probably dabble with eARC as a workaround! We do have a PS5, but it's not important enough to us to go down the increased refresh rate route.