I recently bought a Playbar, but it doesn't work with the optical output from my ageing (but excellent) Pioneer plasma TV (PDP-436XDE). There is light coming through the optical but no audio. I know everything else works as it works fine when connected to my Sky satellite box or Apple TV (sounds great!) and music streaming also excellent. So it seems that just the TV is the issue. I have a workaround in that I have two optical leads, one from the sky box and the other from the Apple TV, which I can change as required, but its not really a satisfactory solution.
Does anyone have any experience with this connecting this TV to the Playbar or any idea how to sort this out? I've been through the settings on the TV pretty thoroughly, but without success. (I also can't disable the speakers, although I can disconnect them - they are a sound bar type).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Answered
Pioneer PDP-436XDE - optical connection to Sonos Playbar not working?
Best answer by RichieDeb
Thanks John. I found one on Amazon - a 4 into 1 optical switch with IR extender. Just another thing I'll need to power, but needs must. Not ideal, but better than I currently have.
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My guess is there's something going on with the TV not appropriately passing through the signal to the PLAYBAR. I've taken a look at the manual on-line, and it's pretty damn opaque. I can see where to connect the optical cable, but I can't really find any significant information on how to set up the TV to send data through to the optical port. It seems to imply that it's always on.
I'd actually recommend getting in touch with Pioneer's customer service to see what's going on, since you've proven that it really isn't a Sonos problem by directly connecting to the source devices, and having them work.
I'd actually recommend getting in touch with Pioneer's customer service to see what's going on, since you've proven that it really isn't a Sonos problem by directly connecting to the source devices, and having them work.
If you have to stick with multiple optical leads, get an optical switch. Life will be easier and frequent changes of cable aren't great for the equipment.
Thanks both for your responses. Bruce, not only is the manual opaque, so are the menu's on the TV! It's a great TV though and I'd rather not change it. Never really needed to go into the menus in any detail to be honest - only now I want the optical!
John, thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about this last night - not had a look yet but that might be my best bet!
Cheers!
John, thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about this last night - not had a look yet but that might be my best bet!
Cheers!
In the past I used a switch by ViewHD which had a remote control and an IR extender. It was quite cheap and worked well. There might be an auto-switching optical switch out there somewhere.
Thanks John. I found one on Amazon - a 4 into 1 optical switch with IR extender. Just another thing I'll need to power, but needs must. Not ideal, but better than I currently have.
I think you're going down the right road 🙂
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