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Optical out not active?

7K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  perculus 
#1 ·
So I bought a soundbar for my 85 year old mother in law because the new tv she got have horrible speakers. Took a while to explain to her that she did not get ripped off on the tv and that they all have pretty bad sound these days. Back on subject. Her tv sadly did not have an optical out, weird because in the menu you can configure it but I cannot find an optical port anywhere...it's an rca. Ok fine go to the videotron receiver she just had installed there is an optical out, great I thought. Sound bar gives me error, did the same thing at my home on bell. You need to set the output to pcm. This is where it gets weird. When I press the menu button I only get a strip of menus with very few selections. I select the settings bubble but there is almost no settings and none for sound. The manual she was provided did not say anything about changing setting or anything. Called videotron and they just plainly said optical out was not available and to plug thru tv. I asked about the lack of settings but they just answered the same line that everything is fine and optical was not an option and to use other cables. Went online afterward and saw the menu is totally different on the manual online and I just can't find the settings menu. She is in a retirement home and I think she said it was a building thing included in her rent. Her model is a pvr, I suppose the newer one. It said explorer on it I think and started with number 82-- . Sorry for the lack of detail, I should have taken pictures. Did they lock down some menus because she is in a retirement home or am I having one of those days(little sleep too much coffee) Any input would be appreciated.
Edit:98 percent sure it's a 8642 and it's connected to tv using an hdmi
 
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#2 ·
From p.17 of the 8642 manual:

SETTING FOR BETTER SOUND QUALITY
There are three main settings.
To access the general settings menu, press SETTINGS twice on your remote control. Once in the GENERAL
SETTINGS menu, follow the instructions below:
A. In the menu on the left, select AUDIO: DIGITAL OUT using the and arrows. Go to the right and select:
• HDMI, if you want to use your HDMI cable as your Audio and Video output
• DOLBY DIGITAL, if you prefer to use a digital ouput (other than HDMI)
• OTHER, if you choose to use an analog audio output.
Press to confirm your selection.
B. In the menu on the left, select AUDIO: RANGE using the and arrows. Go to the right and, using the arrows
again, select NARROW. Press to confirm your selection.
C. In the menu on the left, select AUDIO: VOLUME CTRL using the and arrows. Go to the right and, using the
arrows again, select FIXED. Press to confirm your selection.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the tips. The manual they gave her is only 8 pages and very simple, not the one you find online. I cannot find the settings button on the remote. I only see menu and that brings up a simplified cloud like menu that lets me select settings but there are no options for sound or anything. It brings up a blue ish menu very unlike the one they show in the online manual.
 
#4 ·
Sorry, I gave you the reference to the old generation illico which no longer has this settings layout. The new environment seems a lot more automatic and you can't change the audio type directly from the 8642 anymore. Looks like control will have to come from the soundbar end. Check to see which connection options you have available: analog audio (red/white cables) is a certainty so you should be able to hook up the box to the soundbar and get better sound through the old-style cables. The 8642 also has two digital audio outputs: the square digital optical audio output and the round digital coaxial audio output. Both are illustrated in the illico manual and both may be available on the soundbar. Pick whichever you like and hook it up. There should be a menu with the soundbar (or a button on its remote) to set the audio input properly. That should do it. I do not believe the optical is inactive as I run digital audio to my multichannel receiver with no problems.

You can run HDMI from the 8642 to the TV for picture (mute or zero the TV's sound) and still set audio separately. If still no joy, you'll have to provide the model numbers of the equipment and then we can troubleshoot from there.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for trying to help. The soundbar is working now but is connected analog, I would prefer connecting optical. This is not at my house so I can't easily troubleshoot. I went yesterday with my soundbar and it worked fine on optical. My soundbar accepts any type of input, dolby/pcm. Her soundbar must receive a pcm signal, the device providing the sound must be changed to this setting. At my home I did this on my bell satellite receiver no problem. When I go to sound there is no option to set the output type on the illico receiver. The soundbar is very simple, 3 inputs and volume up down. I did not want to get an overly complicated bar with many options. Next time I go I'm going to take pictures of all of this and maybe this would help solve the issue. She is happy the way it is now, it's just me that is bugged by the fact I can't connect it optical plus I bought an optical wire so I would like to use it.
Thanks again for the help, I will get back with more info soon.
 
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