Optical cable splitter

[gittist]

I attempted to use a 2 female to one male splitter to feed my Sony sound bar. One source is the DishTV box and the other is from the TV for when I'm watching the ROKU. No matter which one is plugged in first, the soundbar will pick up the audio but as soon as I get the other cable anywhere near the second female slot the sound bar goes silent.

I've noticed that the cable from the DishTV box is always showing light. Why would it be sending an audio signal if the box is off?

I'm making the assumption that the optical audio from the DishTV box straight to the soundbar is the preferred method instead of sticking the TV in the middle? The TV is a low end Vizo that's several years old but fits in the corner cabinet that I made.

Thanks

 

[mdram]

optical audio switch
amazon has em

 

[kwindrem]

I attempted to use a 2 female to one male splitter to feed my Sony sound bar. One source is the DishTV box and the other is from the TV for when I'm watching the ROKU. No matter which one is plugged in first, the soundbar will pick up the audio but as soon as I get the other cable anywhere near the second female slot the sound bar goes silent.

I've noticed that the cable from the DishTV box is always showing light. Why would it be sending an audio signal if the box is off?

I'm making the assumption that the optical audio from the DishTV box straight to the soundbar is the preferred method instead of sticking the TV in the middle? The TV is a low end Vizo that's several years old but fits in the corner cabinet that I made.

Thanks

What you are using is designed to send ONE optical signal two destinations. It will not combine/switch between two signal sources. Modern devices are typically not completely off and it's common for outputs to remain active even when the device is "off".

Some TVs will route audio from HDMI inputs to it's optical out but some do not. It is likely that any TV that routes HDMI audio to the optical output will also pass Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as PCM audio but it will probably not pass anything of higher quality (DD+ for example). That's probably OK with a sound bar. A quick check of your TV will tell you if that's an option for you or not. If your TV does not pass HDMI audio to the optical output, you'll need a 2 input SWITCH to select the audio to your sound bar.

You could replace the sound bar with one that has multiple optical inputs OR that has multiple HDMI inputs and an HDMI output you can route to your TV. The sound bar then becomes the selector for your system.

 

[KAB]

If your TV has an optical out and you are using 2:1 Soundbar, going through your TV is the easiest route. If you would ever decide to to go 5:1 surround, keep in mind that many TVs won't pass through HDMI to DD 5.1. That's when you would want a switch. To my knowledge, Sony and Vizio do, the rest don't.

 

[mdram]

If your TV has an optical out and you are using 2:1 Soundbar, going through your TV is the easiest route. If you would ever decide to to go 5:1 surround, keep in mind that many TVs won't pass through and HDMI signal to DD 5.1. To my knowledge, Sony and Vizio do, the rest don't,

5.1 Surround Sound Passthrough on TVs

some lg, samsung ect do also

 

[KAB]

5.1 Surround Sound Passthrough on TVs

some lg, samsung ect do also

I guess Samsung just started as of their 2017 models.

 

[RickDee]

optical audio switch
amazon has em

3x1 S/PDIF (Toslink) Digital Optical Audio Bi-Directional Manual Switch - Monoprice.com has one for less than amazon.

 

[mdram]

at the top of the table, select test bench 1.0 also
there are some 2015 models, and most of them have it
i can confirm my 2015 samsung does it

 

[KAB]

My 2016 Series 6 &7 do not. I just double checked to see. No center or rears!

 

[gittist]

thanks for all of the info. I ordered a switch. I use a Sony soundbar (it has a subwoofer) it b/c the sound quality on the TV is so poor that any soundbar is an improvement.