No sound through optical output anymore?

Question

Level 1

9 points

No sound through optical output anymore?

I have had atv for a year just recently I can't get audio to come out of the optical output. I have always had it set up that it was connected to my tv via HDMI and the audio via optical.

Someone said that you can't get sound through optical when connected with hdmi. However my set up was exactly the same before and I could get sound from the optical output no problem.

I have checked and I am getting sound over hdmi. However my tvs speakers are poor and I want to use the optical output (as I was before)

I have checked all connections and cables and updated to latest atv version. Am I missing a setting somewhere? (have even done a full restore)

Posted on Nov 22, 2009 12:59 AM

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Answer 1

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,560 points

Nov 22, 2009 4:39 AM in response to chimpette78

Have you at any stage unplugged the unit form the mains, left it for 15-30 secs and tried again?

If not try this step which will reset some hardware aspects.

AppleTV had always allowed simultaneous audio on analogue, optical and HDMI.

I would be quite peeved if that changed in the future.

If you've done a factory restore, unplugged from mains and it's still playing up it's possible the optical port has failed, but also check connections at your amp, and if possible maybe another optical lead.

There is a Digital Output setting in the AppleTV configuration menus taht you might want to toggle to see if it helps.

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Answer 2

bobwild

Level 4

1,640 points

Nov 22, 2009 5:45 AM in response to chimpette78

I have only had my Apple TV for 10 days. I hooked up HDMI to the TV and Optical to my Surround receiver. ( Receiver does not switch HDMI). I was only getting sound out of my TV speakers. Checking the cable connections I realized the optical cable was not fully inserted in the AppleTV port. Make sure it is fully inserted and as said be other poster, check for a red light at the other end of the optical cable.

..Bob

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Answer 3

chimpette78 Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 22, 2009 11:57 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Hiya
I dug out my old ps2 as I knew it had an optical output as well. Seems that doesn't work either! So its not the ATV then.....

I am getting the light coming from the cable. Not sure if the light means that the cable is OK or can the light still show and the cable be faulty?

Anyhoo I have ordered a new cable and hope that fixes it. If not its my Receiver unit and thats a bit more expensive to repair/replace

Now to try and figure out why in itunes when syncing I can only see tabs for "summary" and "photos" and not music or movies. But thats a whole other issue........

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Answer 4

Nov 22, 2009 5:32 AM in response to chimpette78

Check you have a red light emanating from your optical cable. Check your amp settings, you'd be surprised at the number of users who have discovered a similar issue has been caused by selecting the wrong input on the amp or other simple setting error.

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Answer 5

asindc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2009 8:13 AM in response to chimpette78

Very interesting that this topic was posted last night. I just installed an ATV in my system for the first time yesterday and the exact same thing happened. I researched a bit but did not find direct discussion on this. I will try the suggestions in this thread tonight.

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Answer 6

asindc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2009 4:23 PM in response to chimpette78

Well, it turns out that my optical cable wasn't securing connected to my DAC. My ATV is on the floor about 3 feet below my DAC. My glass toslink cable is 1m long and reaches with only about an inch to spare. The cable sags a bit in the DAC connector, which breaks the connection. I have propped up the cable so it does not sag anymore and all is well. Thanks to all who have offered suggestions.

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