HDMI ARC for dummies

T

TankTop5

Audioholic General
Looking at 2ch integrated amps and some have HDMI ARC but no other HDMI inputs. Is this specifically for smart TV’s? If you’re using another source are there TV’s that have HDMI inputs that can send the audio back to an integrated via ARC HDMI? I’m guessing no and your smart TV would be the sole source for the HDMI ARC.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
The only reason to use ARC is with a tv as an audio source. Many tvs don't work well as a "receiver" to pass out audio either, and it has often been limited to 2.0. 2ch integrated amps should be fine with ARC as they are usually limited to 2.0 content.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Yes, the HDMI inputs on a TV pass audio back to the ARC connection from what I've read. I haven't heard of a TV which does not do this.

So, you hook up your cable box and game system to the TV and the speaker bar can connect to the ARC input on the TV and get audio played back through it. The one obvious issue is that the speaker is getting the same audio quality that optical or coaxial digital audio delivers. So, no reason to take up an HDMI input on the TV to use the ARC connection.

I'm not sure why anyone would get a 2 channel these days when there is so much more design money put into surround sound receivers. Perhaps on the very high end, but on more of a budget, the surround receivers give you a lot more for the money, and if you only use 2 channels of the receiver, then you get more overall quality delivered to those two speakers.

Plus, they typically come with a bunch of HDMI inputs on them, so instead of getting stuck with the TVs 'smart' functionality, you can use a proper streaming device like a Roku, Chromecast, AppleTV, or a Fire TV.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Also, if there's a need to use an HDMI coupler, don't use an active one- they don't work for ARC.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
I was under the impression that ARC was stereo only on the return and not 5.1 . I maybe wrong.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I was under the impression that ARC was stereo only on the return and not 5.1 . I maybe wrong.
More true of the older tvs, many only passed out 2.0 via ARC. Seems more common to be able to pass out 5.1 now, but it is lossy and almost equivalent to using just an optical cable (altho if getting the DD+ with Atmos metadata believe a slight advantage for hdmi in that case). The next generation of ARC (2.1) IIRC will address that. This article seems to cover the basics https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1534479331
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I was under the impression that ARC was stereo only on the return and not 5.1 . I maybe wrong.
ARC can certainly do surround sound. It is limited (from what I understand) to the same formats that optical or digital coaxial audio can currently carry. So, if you have a TV with optical audio output, it's just as good to hook that up instead of using ARC which can be buggy.

eARC, which is part of the HDMI 2.1 specification, can carry lossless audio back to the receiver so you can get Atmos and things like that directly out of the TV to the receiver (or speaker bar).

Of course, what the TV itself actually will send out of the ARC connection is up to the manufacturer of the TV and audio may be impacted by the TV itself. So, a Roku hooked up to a TV which only delivers stereo out of ARC, will only give you stereo, while the Roku itself is capable of 7.1 audio output. That's going to be TV dependent and people will need to read their manuals. Better yet, buy products with HDMI inputs and connect your sources directly for best audio.

Here is a Denon/Marantz response to the question of what audio formats ARC and eARC support:
https://denon-uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6333/~/arc-/-earc-compatibility
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I personally avoid anything to do with ARC. Everything I've read about points to it being an inferior last resort type thing if you can't use HDMI for some reason. I prefer to let my receiver do all the switching and decoding anyway.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
All ARC is a way to use the same HDMI cable passing video out from the avr to return the audio from the display....easier to just avoid having to rely on sourcing audio in the display for sure...

I personally avoid anything to do with ARC. Everything I've read about points to it being an inferior last resort type thing if you can't use HDMI for some reason. I prefer to let my receiver do all the switching and decoding anyway.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I personally avoid anything to do with ARC. Everything I've read about points to it being an inferior last resort type thing if you can't use HDMI for some reason. I prefer to let my receiver do all the switching and decoding anyway.
I just don't get why ARC isn't a selectable input on an A/V receiver. You know, AV1, AV2, HDMI1, HDMI2, AUX, ARC. This, in theory, would mean that you could choose ARC at any time, and only when choosing ARC, would the TV push audio down the HDMI cable to the receiver. As it is now, it requires HDMI-CEC to be active, which can cause all sorts of other BS to occur which isn't useful.

But, especially with eARC, which supports Atmos and other modern HD audio formats, the concept could have been completely awesome. Especially with receivers that are nowhere near the TV location and people that want to use ad-hoc devices, like gaming systems, and the internal smart functionality of the TV.

My setup is so wonky that it hardly matters anyway. All my stuff goes to a switcher ahead of my receiver so forget about internal smart apps or ARC at all.
 
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