How do Soundbars work?

Terak

Terak

New member
Hi guys,

I was hoping to get some info from anyone who might own a soundbar/speakerbar.

I have a pretty old(ish) tv, and have run into issues in the past trying to get my hi-fi to work properly with my TV to utilise my hi-fi's speakers.


I have been reading into sound bars and I'm interested on how they work. I was looking at particular at this model:
http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/tv-av/home-theater/speaker-system/HW-F450/ZK

I see it has 2 HDMI ports, one for input and one for output. Does that mean that I can link up the soundbar in between the source and the TV? Or is it more tricky than that?

EDIT:
My reason for wanting the HDMI port on a soundbar is that I have a HDMI cable linking my PC to my TV, so I play games on my TV. If I could use the soundbar as an intermediate device it would be simple to set up and use.

Perhaps another alternative would be is to use an HDMI splitter to get a cable to the soundbar and the TV?

Thanks
 
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I've got one of these and while I don't know HOW they work - I can tell you that they work well and sound awesome! Not quite as good as going a full set of surround speakers, but much neater and way less hassle.

Not sure about that HDMI thing - I'd like to try test it out but don't have spare cables :(
 
I bought a Phillips soundbar a couple of years ago. Don't know how it works but it works really well. Only problem I've had is the fan on the Sub is noisy on startup. Easy to setup with no extra cables and speakers make it a great alternative to the more expensive sound setups.
 
Bought a Sony soundbar just this weekend! Works really well - 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output. I plugged my HDPVR, PS3 and laptop in and let it output to my 46" Samsung D550. Even with the receiver switched off, you can still let the sources pass through and let the sound output through the TV.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Bought a Sony soundbar just this weekend! Works really well - 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output. I plugged my HDPVR, PS3 and laptop in and let it output to my 46" Samsung D550. Even with the receiver switched off, you can still let the sources pass through and let the sound output through the TV.
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Ah ok I see! So you can plug in from a source to the receiver, and then from the receiver to the TV. Thats what I wasn't sure on!

Thanks
 
Terak said:
Ah ok I see! So you can plug in from a source to the receiver, and then from the receiver to the TV. Thats what I wasn't sure on!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Bingo. Some equipment also have a nifty little thing called ARC (audio return channel). If equipment support this (HDMI v1.4 and higher, I think), you'll have another trick up your sleeve. What ARC does is that any audio directly input to your TV is returned to the soundbar "upstream" via the soundbars output hdmi cable and is then played over the speakers. So if you plug your xbox directly into the tv, you can still play the sound on your audio equipment without taking up any addition hdmi ports or splitting wires.
 
Mister 44 said:
Bingo. Some equipment also have a nifty little thing called ARC (audio return channel). If equipment support this (HDMI v1.4 and higher, I think), you'll have another trick up your sleeve. What ARC does is that any audio directly input to your TV is returned to the soundbar "upstream" via the soundbars output hdmi cable and is then played over the speakers. So if you plug your xbox directly into the tv, you can still play the sound on your audio equipment without taking up any addition hdmi ports or splitting wires.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Sony soundbar supports ARC. I just prefer keeping my TV's connections clean. Having everything plug into the receiver just looks neater, with only a single cable running to the TV.
 
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