Contributor I

Connecting Playbar digital optical audio with Samsung TV UN55C7000

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
May 21, 2018
9 replies
6499 views

I purchased a Playbar this weekend. I attached it to the wall and went through the setup process. In setting it up I was able to get Sonos to recognize and work with my Comcast TV remote and I was able to play and stream music from my iPhone through the Playbar (it sounds excellent BTW), but I have been unsuccessful in getting my 8 year old Samsung TV (UN55C7000) to connect with the Playbar. My TV has a digital optical output, but it requires a male connection and not the female connection that Sonos provides with the Playbar. I bought an adapter to connect to the TV, but no luck in connecting to the TV and producing sound. I also called Samsung tech support to ensure that there was no setting on the TV that could be the cause. Can anyone provide some suggestion on how to resolve this issue?

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controlav

Lead Maestro

Huh? Playbars come with optical cables, and the connector on your TV should be identical to the one on the back of the playbar. No additional cables/adapters should be required. Optical cables only come with male connectors, and devices only offer female connectors. Suggest posting a picture of the back of your TV if you need more help.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

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tschonesAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for the quick replay and offer to help. I've added pictures of both the back panel of my TV and the adapter that I used. Lastly, it sounds like what you and I are calling male and female may be different or opposite. Once you see the pics I think we'll be on the same page.

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tschonesAuthor

Contributor I

One last thing, there are 2 digital audio outputs on the TV, one on the right hand side and one at the bottom. I've tried both and I can't get neither of them to work.

Airgetlam

I’d think the digital audio out (optical) is what you should be using. The picture is a bit fuzzy, but that sure doesn’t look like a TOSLink connection. The male end of the adaptor that you included looks right, but the female side does not look like TOSLink. Is there another adaptor that came with the TV? You may need to contact Samsung directly to see what they say.

Bruce

Airgetlam

Huh. I see on the Best Buy website a connector that seems to match what you posted, but it just doesn’t look right. TOSLink is flat at the bottom, with slight rounded shoulders....hmmm, a link would be good.

Here’s the adaptor you posted, which says it should work:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-toslink-to-3-5mm-mini-optical-adapter-black/6225006.p?skuId=6225006&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1ZXBmLaY2wIVlzyBCh2D4gJhEAQYAiABEgLd2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Here’s what a TOSLink end looks like:

http://www.freetv.ie/toslink-cables/

I wonder if something like this would fit your TV’s port. The other end would certainly fit the PLAYBAR

https://www.showmecables.com/toslink-to-mini-digital-optical-spdif-audio-cable

Bruce

Airgetlam

By the way, the user manual of the tv should tell you what type of optical connection that is. You can then google “that term to TOSLink” and find a cable that should work.

Bruce

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tschonesAuthor

Contributor I

Just to close this item, through Samsung tech support I was able to conclude that the TV was not sending out a signal out of the digital optical audio port. And unfortunately for me, the problem is not fixable on the TV as it is an 8 year-old TV. Since I don't really want to buy a new TV right now, I have connected the playbar to the Comcast TV cable box. Not the preferred solution as sound through the playbar only works if it comes from cable TV and not another source such as an Apple TV or Disc player, but for now it works.

Airgetlam

If you peruse this area of the forum, you'll find a lot of people who use an HDMI splitter with an optical out, in order to resolve that problem. Depending on the model you choose, it can have several HDMI inputs, and whichever one you choose as "active", the audio gets split out and sent through the optical port of the device, so that you can connect your PLAYBAR or PLAYBASE to it.

Bruce

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tschonesAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks for the idea Airgetlam and taking the time to post. I just ordered a splitter from Amazon. I think this will resolve my issue.:D

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