HDMI audio output problem

[HDMIDilemma]

Hi All, newbie to this forum. I have a sound disappearing problem.
Yamaha RX-V371 Receiver,
Vizio E 321VL TV,
Chromecast,
Win7 Laptop with HDMI output
OK, so I feed the Laptop HDMI to the Yamaha HDMI-1, the Chromecast is plugged into HDMI-2 to the Yamaha and the HDMI output of the Yamaha goes to the VIZIO HDMI-1.

Sometimes the sound works on the TV and sometimes it does not. I cannot seem to find a connection or start up sequence that always works. Therefore I am not sure what is causing the issue.

I am a little hard of hearing, so I use the TV sound when watching movies with slightly muffled sound as the crappy TV speakers add just enough harshness to be useful.

It all works individually - sometimes. I looks to me like it depends on what setup was running when the Yamaha is turned off and then the Yamaha seems to decide what is allowed when I turn it back on. It seems like the Yamaha is deciding what sound I need over the HDMI connections when passing it through to the TV HDMI.

If I disconnect everything then connect just the laptop, OR the just Chromecast then it works just fine. There is something going weird with the combination when all plugged in.

I am lost with this one and I am no novice to hifi, TV or computers. Try as I might I cannot find a repeatable start up sequence to begin finding out what is happening with the sound.

Thoughts and suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Is there an inline adapter that I can put in series with the HDMI cable that would feed off the sound to a red/white RCA sockets and then I can use a headset plugged into them. I can't use the Receiver headphone output as it then disconnects the sound to the speakers and no one else in the room gets to hear anything.

OR

Can anyone tell me if this Receiver has a means of outputting the HDMI-cable sound directly? When I try using the audio output sockets it drops the HDMI signal completely when I select that with the remote.

Thanks
Harry

 

[j_garcia]

Sounds like there are two things going on most likely and I experience something similar. Your TV cannot decode all formats most likely (normal) and therefore produces no sound when it encounters a movie/show with audio other than stere (DD, DTS, etc...), that it can't decode or only decodes partially. I noticed this on my setup that when I get a DD signal, it decodes it but gives me no center channel since there are only 2 speakers so I can't hear voices. Other times it will give me nothing, but when I turn the receiver on, everything works fine. That suggests that whatever mode the receiver was last decoding may interfere with the audio signal being passed through or the audio format itself simply isn't handled correctly on the TV side as mentioned. On my Emotiva it allows ALL audio to be downmixed to stereo and then things work for the TV but I get only stereo from it so it is a lose lose.

 

[HDMIDilemma]

Your TV cannot decode all formats most likely (normal) and therefore produces no sound

Thanks for the reply, but if I connect the laptop HDMI directly to the TV it all works as it should with sound from the TV. Same for the Chromecast.

It is only when I feed the inputs through the Yamaha Receiver that I get no sound from the TV. Well, not exactly true, as on a couple of occasions I got TV sounds as I expected but I could find nothing to define why so that I could start up like that again. It is some weird combination that the Yamaha is deciding for the TV.

For testing I am using Netflix so it has nothing to do with the format of the movie. It is definitely caused by the Yamaha. That really peeves me as I have only had this thing for about a year or so after my Panasonic combo died.

p.s. Just tried with a friend's brand new 1080p 120Hz Sanyo TV and same thing.

 

[Adam]

Hi, Harry, and welcome to the forum! You might have already done this, but I suggest that you check out pages 46 and 47 of the Yamaha manual where it discusses HDMI audio settings. If you turn the HDMI Control function off, you can manually set the HDMI audio to play through both the receiver and the TV.

 

[HDMIDilemma]

Hi Adam, thanks but I have no idea where the manual is. I seem to recall it was on a CD. I just tried to download the PDF from Yamaha but after three different attempts to login just to download the manual it kept refusing me. I tried Google and Yahoo email accounts and I don't do the social claptrap I suspect it was after so it will not let me login to get the download.

Any chance of a direct link for a PDF or just synopsis of the instructions. Before posting the original I had gone through all the menu options I could find using the remote, but the Yamaha pop-up menus will not work on my TV. I assume it needs a Yamaha TV or something else as bizarre. Probably an F-connector with the damned TV.

It makes no sense to me as to why Yamaha would have the HDMI sound pass-through off by default. But then, I have been less than impressed with this POS. I will be going back to Panasonic next time around, this Receiver is very disappointing.

Harry

 

[j_garcia]

Have you checked to see if there is a newer firmware for the receiver? Some of the Denons had some issues with HDMI as well a few years back, so it isn't isolated to one manufacturer.

 

[HDMIDilemma]

Have you checked to see if there is a newer firmware for the receiver?

Thanks, but catch-22 there. I can't login to the Yamaha website for some reason to get the manual. Without that I have no idea whether the firmware is flash-able or not and if so, how to do it. I used to be a BIG Yamaha fan but this thing has really soured me on that brand.

Thanks for trying to help though. Much appreciated. Might have to cut my losses and back the truck over this POS if I can't get this sorted out somehow.

 

[Adam]

Hi Adam, thanks but I have no idea where the manual is. I seem to recall it was on a CD. I just tried to download the PDF from Yamaha but after three different attempts to login just to download the manual it kept refusing me.

Hi. I really wish that they didn't require a login for the manuals, too. Even if I gave you the direct link, I'm pretty sure that it would make you login to get to it. However, here's what I did years ago: I signed up for a Yamaha account using a bogus e-mail. So, you don't have to give away any real info to them. You just have to fill in the blanks to get an account.

The way to do it, though, is to go into the "Setup" menu, and then go to "HDMI Setup." Make sure that "Control" is set to "Off," and then set "Audio" to "AMP+TV." If that doesn't do it, just let me know.

 

[Adam]

Also, I don't see any firmware listed under downloads for that model, so I'm guessing that there aren't any new versions of it.

 

[HDMIDilemma]

Thanks very much Adam, I will go try that now.

I suspect the login thing is that it wants a faceplant or twatter login as it is rejecting 2 x Yahoo and 1 x Gmail accounts. Some companies still do not "get" the Internet thing.

Back soon.

Harry

 

[HDMIDilemma]

Adam, thanks, that fixed it.

Bummer really as I was looking forward to driving over the Yamaha. Not their best work by a long shot. I have ordered a Denon 1613 and be done with the POS but your help has me listening until the Denon arrives.

At least the PDF owner's manual for the Denon is downloading right from the search results. Did not even have to go to the website and click a D/L link. Now that's service TO the customer. Yamaha is looking for service FROM the customer.

 

[Adam]

I'm glad that it worked! Well, kind of...sorry that you now have to wait until the Denon arrives to drive over it.