KDL40NX803 problems trying to set up the "Optical Out" socket

[theracles]

As an old git, and getting even older, my ears have never been particularly enamoured of the sound equipment on this set.

What was once marginally OK, is now so poor that I spend more time reading the subtitles than watching the picture. I think both the set and my ears are probably equally to blame!

I have attempted to improve matters by investing in a Soundbar which will at least fire the sound forward rather than downwards!  

Attempting to set up the Optical link, I eventually managed to plug the dratted cable into the fiddly socket in the recessed chamber at the rear of the set and tried to coax some noise from the Soundbar!

"Set up" tells me that I can only use the Optical connection when the speakers are set to "Audio System".

following that advice, I achieve total silence from both TV and Soundbar!

Can someone tell me how to activate the Soundbar using the "Toslink" cable I have purchased especially since the other options for connection involve RCA plugs or Jack Plugs which protrude horribly from the side of the TV!   

[theracles]

@royabrown2 Yay!

Thanks for finding the definitive source of this wisdom!

Glad that I risked never being able to walk on two legs again by grubbing around on all fours behind the TV and associated "stuff", in the dark!

It's easier to see just which items have optical options!

Except of course the TV, where they're hidden from view by the panel cover, and also by obfuscating language in the manual!

Have to admit that the soundbar is only marginally better than the TV speakers 'cos they point at you rather than the ground.

Since the soundbar has no equaliser as such, just three options: Flat, Rock & Jazz I can't really tailor the output to my less than perfect hearing!

Not sure it was worth the toil, especially as I now have to juggle three Remotes!

Despite the YV Box's one being "Paired" to the TV, using it to turn off the TV also automatically switches the TV Tuner to BBC1 SD, that means the TV's own remote will always be required, and now the soundbar remote too which as a bonus makes my Android TV Box do strange things!  😥

I really should just buy a nice shiny new TV but getting up to speed with the salient points makes me quail, same goes for Mobile phone replacement!😁

[royabrown2]

@theracles 

But I need to know what make and model your soundbar is, so I can check if it can handle ARC or not; but if it can, that’s the way to go.

So please post what it is, and I can check it for you. In the meantime, though, look to see if it has any HDMI connections, and look for ARC, or possibly just HDMI OUT, stencilled above one of them if so.

[theracles]

Hi @royabrown2 In a moment of weakness I succumbed to a deal on "HotUKDeals"!

Its only a cheap one, strange name decent feedback from buyers on both the product and the seller, its called  "Majority Bowfell Bluetooth Soundbar TV 50 Watt Stereo Sound"

Sold as refurbished by a company called "XS-Only", it was listed as B-Grade but there was no evidence that it had ever been unpacked, which is why at £16 plus the £2.35 cost of the toslink cable, I wasn't too bothered if it served it's purpose or not!

The only inputs it has (aside from the SPDIF) are:-

"Line In" For which they provide two cables:3.5mm jack to RCA and 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack for (headphone socket)

"USB in" for Flash drive or Player

"Bluetooth".

The only shortcoming I can find is the lack of a full equaliser!

[royabrown2]

@theracles 

I have a similarly specced soundbar, though it didn’t cost that little 😛

What I would be very inclined to do with it would be to connect it with the supplied 3.5mm jack to the headphone output of the TV. You won’t miss anything soundwise, as the soundbar is only stereo.

You should find that plugging the jack into the TV will automatically mute the internal speakers, and that the TV volume control will control the volume of the soundbar now. So you just need, one time, to adjust the volume of the soundbar so it matches what the TV was doing at that setting on the TV volume control, after which you won’t need to adjust the volume on the soundbar again, just control it with the TV remote.

My soundbar was auto-sensing, so it would switch on when it detected the signal from the TV, and off shortly after it ceased, so I never needed the soundbar remote at all. You might have to turn yours on and off manually, though, but that’s only two clicks per session.

But at least this way, you will get the audio from anything in the TV’s HDMI sockets, e.g. the TalkTalk box, without the Sony Optical nonsense.

Give it a try, see how it sounds, versus the Optical feed. I’d be surprised if there is any significant difference in the sound, but I think there will be a quantum leap in the ease of use.

And you may not have an equaliser on the bar, but you have all sorts of settings on the TV itself to play with, to get the sound how you like it, and compensate for your aging ears 😛*, and as you are using an analogue output from the TV, these will all be available to you:-

https://helpguide.sony.net/gbmig/ADL31001/egb/2a-2/soundmenu.html

*like mine were, 17 years ago 🔊🔊🔊

[theracles]

Thanks for that @royabrown2 I have a feeling I did try the earphone out, or the RCA out when I was initially thwarted by the TV's Optical connection.

I may have messed up the settings for Sound/Audio that are offered in the digital manual.

I didn't try too hard as those two connectors are on the side of the screen and tend to look untidy!

If, as logic suggests, they will offer the processed sound signal as sent to TV's speakers, that will be what I need.

Bonus being the minimal use of the additional remote!

I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Thank you for your help, I'll post back after trying it.

If successful it might give this set a stay of execution, though it's age is showing - even to this old git!

The lack of Bluetooth has dissuaded me from buying "private" hearing aids for the last couple of years!

Every cloud, as they say!

By the way, does the name Quinnicus resonate? 😉

[royabrown2]

@theracles 

Loudly! I always wondered what happened there…..

[theracles]

@royabrown2 Well, spent most of today so far on my knees attempting to set up headphone /RCA line out settings from the dratted Sony set!

It seems to me that Sony have designed this TV to be as user unfriendly as possible!

When either were connected, it was totally impossible to control the "Sound Shaping" from the inbuilt sliders, Grrr!

For some reason, after an initially good RCA connection, I noticed that the soundbar had switched itself to "standby"

thereafter no sound was achievable with that input which left only the headphone option!

Accepting that, I found that the only control I now had over the volume with my main remote, the one for the YouView box which is paired with the TV, was now severely limited, it would turn down OK, but the sound disappeared at about "8" on the scale! Similarly, attempts to increase the volume deliver very little "gain" and were still within the realms of "neighbour friendly" levels when the Volume scale shown on the TV reached Max (100) 

All these irritations I could put up with but the apparently purposeful denial of access to any form of equalisation is totally unacceptable!

Given the amount invested, I shan't be returning the soundbar as it is not faulty, just hobbled by the constraints of my dratted Sony TV.

Seems I will likely be in the market for a new TV sooner than I thought, ... just not a Sony!!

[Marino.Manolo]

... OMG!

[royabrown2]

@Marino.Manolo @theracles 

No, LG (I would recommend). Our last four purchases were LGs. Before that we were all Samsung, but we are down to three of those now still in use.

I had a Sony Android TV for evaluation in 2015, and our son uses it still; it works perfectly and has an excellent picture, but was the wrong size for us to keep - 43”; too small for the lounge and too big for a bedroom.

I used to pop round there in the early days to solve queries here hands-on, but there’s not much a 2015 set can tells us about the more recent ones 😢

[theracles]

@royabrown2 @Marino.Manolo 

Hi guys, after my thwarted attempts to get a more pleasing "sound" experience with the soundbar, I have spent several more hours trying to re-configure my TV's sound output as best I can, to it's previous levels!

I've had to "manage my expectations" (I believe is the current idiom) regarding any improvement to this TV's audio output!

Soundbar is back in its box, awaiting another deployment opportunity!

Not really looking forward to educating myself upon the current plethora of technological advancements in TV's in order to make an informed choice of replacement. 😖

Thanks for your help!