RCA & S/PDIF to RCA

[Sylar]

I got myself a new TV (Sony 55W800D) and I have an audio issue that I am facing. The TV has pretty crappy speakers, so I decided to use these speakers that we had at home (decent alternative that is much better than the TV speakers).

My problem is that my TV has no RCA audio out!!
What I am attempting to do is, play both sources through my speakers.

1. Satellite Box audio.
2. Smart TV audio.

Inputs / outputs of devices...

1. External Speaker Inputs - RCA.
2. Satellite Box Outputs - HDMI, RCA, S/PDIF.
3. TV Outputs - HDMI ARC, S/PDIF & Headphones.

What I have tried so far,
1. Attempted using TV Headphone Out along with a 3.5mm to RCA converter. But this is not a viable option for the following reasons.

• Audio lag when it comes to some TV channels (selective).
• Audio quality from sat TV becomes noticeably inferior.

2. Using S/PDIF Out from TV (S/PDIF to RCA converter). This has 2 issues.

• Volume cannot be controlled.
• TV does not output Smart TV audio output. In other words, TV outputs audio for Smart TV and external speakers play Satellite content (Seriously??).

Note that,

• I am not looking to buy an expensive receiver. I already have one that I use in a different room.
  
• I am looking (hoping...) for a cheap solution for this issue (less than 100$).
• If I do have some kind of a choice for a solution, will my remote become useless for volume control?

So, do I have any choices?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

2. Using S/PDIF Out from TV (S/PDIF to RCA converter). This has 2 issues.

• Volume cannot be controlled.
• TV does not output Smart TV audio output. In other words, TV outputs audio for Smart TV and external speakers play Satellite content (Seriously??).

1) makes sense
2) doesn't. It's ether a firmware bug or you must have a settings to change. If it's neither - your only option - and pray to god it would work right is HDMI ARC
You could try box like this one to extract hdmi arc:
http://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Support-TOSLINK-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You’re going to need either a receiver or a soundbar. Of course $100 won’t get you a soundbar that sounds anywhere near as good as those sweet Swans speakers. A used receiver is an option – it won’t be hard to find something in the $100 range with a S/PDIF input. Just make sure it has RCA outputs to send to the Swans.

Another option is to return this TV and get one with variable RCA outputs.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Sylar]

1) makes sense
2) doesn't. It's ether a firmware bug or you must have a settings to change.

Will check in the menu options if there are any settings that I might have missed.
Can't check it practially with the SPDIF to RCA converter, as I have already returned it.

If it's neither - your only option - and pray to god it would work right is HDMI ARC
You could try box like this one to extract hdmi arc:
http://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Support-TOSLINK-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG

Thanks for that.
I will use my receiver and see if the HDMI ARC works as expected and streams my smart TV audio content to through HDMI. If yes, then the HDMI Audio Extractor would probably solve my issue.

If I use the HDMI Audio Extractor, would I be able to control the volume from the TV remote?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

If I use the HDMI Audio Extractor, would I be able to control the volume from the TV remote?

Most likely not. Maybe you could find something similar on monoprice with volume control

 

[Sylar]

1) makes sense
2) doesn't. It's ether a firmware bug or you must have a settings to change. If it's neither - your only option - and pray to god it would work right is HDMI ARC
You could try box like this one to extract hdmi arc:
http://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Support-TOSLINK-Converter-VHD-H2HARC/dp/B00LKF6CPG

Scratched my head for a while to get the HDMI ARC to work. Then I realized there is a TV input on my receiver, which I had disabled. Plus one of my cables was faulty. One other cable didnt support HighSpeed or 1.4. Now I am getting ARC to work as expected. Smart TV Audio also gets returned to receiver.

So now my problem comes down to, Convert HDMI ARC audio to RCA.

For those who might bump into the same issue, this is what I had to do to get it work.