No sound from Denon AVR 4311 when using Samsung TV's media player

[JBong]

Hi.

I own a Denon AVR 4311, which is connected to a Samsung UE55C8000. Both devices are connected through HDMI using the ARC ports. I'm using the TV as media player (both serviio and plex) to stream movies from my PC or to use the movies I have in an external hard drive and this is were the trouble begins.

In the past I was able to hear the sound using the receiver but lately I haven't been unable to do so. The sound comes fine from the TV, but whenever I turn the receiver on, I get no sound. The funny thing is that it used to work, but it just stopped, though no change was made in both devices setups.

Still, I'm able to hear the TV sound from the receiver (as long as it's not from its media player) and I'm also able to stream music from my PC to the Denon. Any ideas?

btw, I'm unable to understand if the problem is with the TV, the receiver or both, so I'll post here. mods feel free to move the thread...

Thanks.

J.

 

[FirstReflection]

Do you have your PC's HDMI connection plugged into the TV, or into the receiver?

You should connect the PC to the 4311, and then connect the 4311's output to the TV. It sounds as though you maybe have the PC plugged into the TV and then you're trying to feed the audio from the TV to the receiver using ARC. That's often a problem because the ARC system is really only meant as a means of getting audio from the TV's internal tuner (when it's connected to an over-the-air TV antenna) to the receiver without needing an additional connection.

So just double check your signal path first. With the PC plugged into the 4311, everything ought to work fine audio wise.

The receiver is meant to be the "hub" of your system. All of your sources get plugged into the receiver. Then you just have the one HDMI connection out to your TV. Your TV essentially becomes just a monitor, while all of the audio and switching between sources is handled by your receiver

 

[JBong]

Hi!.

there is no PC connected to the receiver or the TV. Both the PC and the TV are connected through LAN and the "no sound from receiver" issue occurs when streaming from PC to the TV or when I connect a hard drive to the television and play it from the TV's media player.

Thanks,

J.

 

[FirstReflection]

Oh, ok.

So you've got your TV connected to your home network and you're streaming content off of your PC via your network. Got it

Yes, to be perfectly honest, I don't know how the ARC system in your TV's HDMI input will handle that sort of thing. Like I said, the ARC system was really meant as a means of just getting the internal antenna tuner's audio to the receiver without needing an additional connection.

My suggestion would be to just run either an optical digital or a stereo analogue connection from your TV to your receiver if you want to keep your connections the same. Otherwise, the best way I know to make sure everything works is to plug everything directly into the receiver, as I mentioned. Run a direct audio connection (HDMI, optical or analogue) from the PC to your receiver and that's sure to work.

If you only want to keep your PC on the network, one other potential solution is to get a streaming set top box like a Popcorn hour or a Boxee Box. Those devices can connect to your PC with DLNA and pull content off of the internet or from your LAN. Then you plug those set top devices directly into your receiver with HDMI.

If your TV has DLNA support though, you shouldn't technically need any additional devices. I'm not sure if there's anything in your TV's manual that might help. Could be worth a look though. And yeah, if ARC isn't working via HDMI, then using the optical output on your TV to your receiver ought to do the trick. Many TVs are limited to stereo output only though, so that might be a problem if you're trying to get surround sound.

Sorry I can't be of more help