Question

Playbar & Sub With Sky HD Setup

  • 10 January 2017
  • 26 replies
  • 4281 views


Show first post
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

26 replies

As a quick update....

I ordered this off amazon yesterday:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01LL5RI3Y/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It arrived this afternoon and has sorted the issue. The Sky+ HDMI-out now runs into this little £20 plastic thing, which sends picture to TV via HDMI and 5.1 sound to PLAYBASE via Optical. The Sky+ "Digital Audio Output-HDMI" is set to Dolby D.

The PLAYBASE has completely come alive.

It's satisfying to have 'solved' the problem, but still utterly ridiculous that a £700 PLAYBASE, £700 sub, £600 TV and £50/month SKY box require a £20 bit of Chinese plastic to make them work properly.

But there you go...

I'm convinced the direct route of SKY+ > optical > PLAYBASE should work without the need to engage 3rd party plastic switches, so will keep working at it. But if anyone else is suffering the same issue, buy the thingy from Amazon. It works.


Hi Matt / all,

I realise this is a bit of a resurrection of this thread but hoping your experience with the Rooful box you linked to could help me.

I have a Playbar which is paired with my SkyHD + box, Apple TV and a BD player via a trusty Panasonic plasma (VT20) that I’ve no justification to part with and which still trumps most contemporary displays in pictutre quality to my eyes. Anyway, as is well documented there is no Dolby pass through via optical from the Panasonic which renders my Playbar a very expensive stereo upgrade only, other than for music streaming duties.

Looking for a proven solution I came across this thread and purchased the £20 box of tricks that Matt had success with. Essentially it’s not happening for me and I’m not sure if I’m just missing something obvious.

When I connect Sky via HDMI and the optical out from the Rooful to the Playbar I get nothing - no picture and no sound.

When I connect to Apple TV in the same manner I get picture but no audio. In settings DD is set to ‘on’ and I’ve tried ‘auto’ but also to no avail.

If it makes any difference I’m not using a 5V supply but instead relying on the power via HDMI per the specs for the Rooful box; I did note that the status LED are dimly lit when connected to Sky but much brighter with the Apple TV. Annoyingly there is no 5V supply included as it seems the manufacturer expects the majority of applications to be powered via HDMI. Also, for reference my SkyHD + box is one of the older 500gb models.

Any thoughts or other recommendations before I throw more money at this issue?

Thanks in advance,
Duncan