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ATV3 with external speakers via TV

Hi,

I have been using an Apple TV 3 for a fair while now with my TV and have had no issues. I am now sick of the low quality sound that my TV's internal speakers produce so I went and bought a cheap (but surprisngly good) set of 2.1 PC speakers and connected them via RCA cables to the TV.


Normal TV programs are now played through the external speakers but audio from my Apple TV (connected to the TV via HDMI) does not play through the external speakers, only through the crappy internal ones. Any ideas on how to fix this? I had a look through the TV settings (very limited) but nothing seemed to be wrong there, and nothing stood out to me in the ATV settings.


I was under the impression that if I plug external speakers into the TV via RCA any audio that the TV produces should be sent to the external speakers...

Apple TV, Other OS

Posted on Feb 12, 2014 10:28 PM

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17 replies

Feb 13, 2014 12:15 AM in response to appleiser

Hello


RCA-cables are used for analog signals.

When connecting a device (for example ATV) via HDMI to TV, the sound sent is in digital format. The TV would have to convert this input signal to analog and output it to speakers, i.e it has to have a built in digital to analog converter for the sound output. I don't know how old your TV is, but the most TV sets should have this function.


The reason why the speaker set works with programs from TV is probably because you have connected the TV to an antenna, and the signal is analog.


Did you try to connect another unit with hdmi to TV and see if that works (DVD player)?


Regards

Jeton

Feb 13, 2014 12:28 AM in response to appleiser

You could also try to change sound settings on ATV.


Set the audio output mode for the Apple TV:


With your Apple Remote, select Settings > Audio & Video.

Change the Audio Output setting from Auto to 16 bit.


Turn off the Dolby Digital Out setting (your TV or receiver may not be properly detecting a Dolby Digital signal):


With your Apple Remote, select Settings > Audio & Video.

Change the Dolby Digital Out setting from On to Off.

Feb 13, 2014 1:45 AM in response to Jeton

Ok so I have a digital set top box (that I dont really use) that can be connected via HDMI so I tried that. It has the same issue, doesnt work with external speakers but fine with the internals. So does this say that my TV can't convert the digital audio to analog? Although it can decode it and play it through its internal speakers, just cant convert it and output it?


If that is the case, the TV has optical output as well. Is that what I have to use for digital audio out? My external speakers don't have optical input...


I couldn't find anything about it in the manual.


The TV is a Celestial LT4286mx (kinda old now).

Feb 13, 2014 3:06 AM in response to appleiser

It may be a problem with the TV's internal DAC, allowing it to convert the signal and play sound on the TV speakers, but not allowing the analog signal to output to audio out ports when input is digital. You can use the optical out from the TV also, but then you have to get an external digital to analog converter to be able to connect it with you speakers. Or you could use the optical out from the ATV as well.


For example one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Optical-Coaxial-Toslink-Converter/dp/B0074JZ8ZW


Best regards

Jeton

Feb 13, 2014 3:12 AM in response to Jeton

If its digital TV I am watching, why is the audio analog? Surely that would be digital as well...


Also, would the TV be able to send the analog audio through the optical out? Or will I need a set of speakers that has separate inputs for analog and digital and seitch between the sources? Ie should the TV be able to convert analog audio to digital and output it via optical??

Feb 13, 2014 3:23 AM in response to appleiser

First of all, speakers doesn't work with digital signals, it has to be a contionous analog signal for the

speaker diaphragm to move and produce sound. Therefore, any digital sound in the end has to be converted to analog before it reaches the speaker.


Optical signals are digital, so the TV cant send analog sound via optical. In that case you either have to use a speaker system with a built in DAC with an optical input, a receiver before the speaker system, or you could use the external DAC that i linked in previous post, connection an optical cable between your TV and the DAC, and on the other side of the DAC connection the two rca- cables between the DAC and the speakers.

ATV3 with external speakers via TV

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