Got a new 4K TV and is confused about audio outputs

So I bought a 4K TV because I decided to take full advantage of my Xbox One X. While I was satisfied with 1080p I wanted to experience what all my Xbox One X has to offer. Now I am more confused than ever over audio outputs, and I need some veteran advice.

Here is the TV I got.


Here is the home theater system I have.

What I want is to experience the high quality sound I was getting when I had the HDMI cable plugged into the receiver. I was using Uncompressed 5.1 audio. However the receiver is only capable of 1080p so the Xbox One X would not display it in 4K when routing it through the receiver. I now have an optical TOSLINK cable as my output but it does not sound the same as uncompressed audio, the cable is plugged into the Xbox One X and into the receiver. I only have the option for bitstream out, whatever that is… It just sounds muddy and does not sound as crisp.

So am I doing something wrong or do I need to run the optical cable into the TV then into the receiver? Will that give me the option to get uncompressed audio back?

Not 100% on that, but your TV should have one HDMI Port with ARC (Audio Return Channel).
It depends on the TV if it will also passthrough Audio from other HDMI Ports. If you hook up your Reciever to the HDMI Port with ARC, it should be able to get the Audio from the TV.

I’ve personally not gotten this to work, as my surround reciever is Pre-Middleages. From what i’ve seen at a friends house though, this should work.

I’m not sure why Toslink and HDMI would produce different Sound though. Both are digital Audio Signals. So, if your HT processes them the same, they should sound identical.

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The optical connection will only do stereo PCM or dolby digital, so not 7.1 LPCM or other lossless formats that HDMI will do. As far as I know HDMI ARC has the same limitations, although I don’t know why.

There may be a way to split the audio and video on HDMI but I doubt it, especially if you want HDCP to work. Might be time for a new receiver.

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Oh, this explains a lot. Never noticed that, since my Receiver doesn’t support 7.1 LPCM. Good to know though.

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The correct answer here is what @domsch1988 said. One of your HDMI ports will be your audio return channel. Then you can run your 4k signal directly to the TV.

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So do I plug one of the HDMI outputs on the receiver into the ARC HDMI port on the TV or the Xbox One X?

It goes Xbox > TV > Receiver

assuming your receiver supports ARC it can be your output, if not it will have to be an input. The xbox can go to any HDMI port that isnt labeled ARC, the receiver must go on the port labeled ARC.

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I got it now, I will experiment with it once I get off work. I will report back.

After plugging the receiver into the ARC port, you’ll need to make it the default audio output.

@Adubs, should it matter if the receiver supports ARC, as long as the TV knows it’s using that HDMI as the audio output?

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And yes, it does support ARC. It would seem consumer TVs wants everything directed through the TV and not through the receiver then into the TV.

A lot easier to sell someone a soundbar than an entire home theatre setup. It appears most soundbars only come with the one HDMI port.

Samsung has discontinued home theater systems outright. I might pick up a new blu ray disc drive for my current one before the parts are all gone.

I’m not a fan of sound bars because I like to add my components, not be tied down to an all in one unit.

Satellite speakers are still in some aspects better than sound bars.

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It depends on the setup but yeah, these days you can have it both ways.

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I’m just glad the enthusiast home audio market is catering to both types of users.

I will one day make the plunge into the home audio enthusiast market. I really want to feel the bass and not just hear low rumbling from a puny 6 inch sub.

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I have a 12" in a custom box running about 600w. Its still not enough.

Thinking about doing a rotary sub with it.

Oh, those are fun. I delved into that topic some years back. We had one at our practice Room from some guy. That thing moved some air.

From what i’ve gathered, those aren’t too easy to diy though.

I can imagine they wouldnt be.

Yup, looked at the manual the HT system supports ARC the best would be to go HDMI from the Xbox to the TV. Go TV ARC to Reciever and turn on ARC on both the TV and HT system. Will probably need to set default Audio out on the TV. Turning on CEC on both devices will cause the HT system to turn on when the TV and Xbox turns on.

That being said for further upgrade options is to get a dedicated receiver so upgrades would be cheaper and easier. Home theatere in a box generally have proprietary speaker cables so if you have buy an entire system rather than just a receiver.

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Like the Marantz AV8805, because 13.2 is what we all need :smiley:

Does this include the two speakers me and my wife are sitting on? Because there is no other way i can see fitting 13 speakers into my living room :grin:

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