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Old 01-23-2014, 11:05 PM
  #19461  
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Ever since I got rid of my old analog TV set, and migrated the home theater system from a mishmash of legacy hardware connected together via and component and optical cabling in favor of a "simple" all-HDMI setup, it has been nothing but problems.

I literally cannot get audio to play out of the HTPC into the receiver, despite the fact that it USED to work, and I can still see the video.

I'm starting to understand why normal people complain about this **** being unreliable and hard to use. It's because it is. But it didn't used to be.

Seriously, I'm not being nostalgic here. For 10+ years, my PC, TV, and audio receiver worked together flawlessly, interconnected via an array of "obsolete" cables and standards. As soon as I replaced them all with modern hardware and interconnections, it's all gone completely to ****.
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Old 01-23-2014, 11:28 PM
  #19462  
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Originally Posted by Joe Perez
Ever since I got rid of my old analog TV set, and migrated the home theater system from a mishmash of legacy hardware connected together via and component and optical cabling in favor of a "simple" all-HDMI setup, it has been nothing but problems.

I literally cannot get audio to play out of the HTPC into the receiver, despite the fact that it USED to work, and I can still see the video.

I'm starting to understand why normal people complain about this **** being unreliable and hard to use. It's because it is. But it didn't used to be.

Seriously, I'm not being nostalgic here. For 10+ years, my PC, TV, and audio receiver worked together flawlessly, interconnected via an array of "obsolete" cables and standards. As soon as I replaced them all with modern hardware and interconnections, it's all gone completely to ****.
I used HDMI for about 2 years, then out of nowhere, everything stopped being friends and no handshakes were had. Even when it did "work" it was frustrating to make it actually work. I would have to turn things on in a certain order, and sometimes turn things on and off a few times before it would sync and start displaying video and transferring audio. I'm all back to a mix of optical audio, coaxial audio, component and rca video inputs for TV/home theater, and DVI on the computer. Looks just as good, and it's instantly there. No black screens waiting between sources, or random drops of video. Though my PS3 does like randomly blinking black for a second or two, maybe every hour or two.
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Old 01-24-2014, 12:37 AM
  #19463  
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What brand receiver? Certain brands are notorious for bad HDMI. That's why I buy Yamaha. Rarely hear of HDMI issues.
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Old 01-24-2014, 01:11 AM
  #19464  
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I've had Sony, Pioneer and Yamaha, all within the HDMI age, and all have been buggy with HDMI. Two of them failed within the first two years of owning them. Currently on the Pioneer, about a year in, and I hope it lasts a little longer. They REALLY don't make things like they used to. Out of the 3 so far, the Sony was by far the worst. They used to be known for making really quality products, but after my own experience, and seeing people around me have bad experiences with Sony, I don't think I'll be buying from them unless I have no choice, or get it really cheap. And don't get me started on Samsung's **** build quality and customer service.
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Old 01-24-2014, 05:03 AM
  #19465  
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Originally Posted by Joe Perez
Ever since I got rid of my old analog TV set, and migrated the home theater system from a mishmash of legacy hardware connected together via and component and optical cabling in favor of a "simple" all-HDMI setup, it has been nothing but problems.

I literally cannot get audio to play out of the HTPC into the receiver, despite the fact that it USED to work, and I can still see the video.

I'm starting to understand why normal people complain about this **** being unreliable and hard to use. It's because it is. But it didn't used to be.

Seriously, I'm not being nostalgic here. For 10+ years, my PC, TV, and audio receiver worked together flawlessly, interconnected via an array of "obsolete" cables and standards. As soon as I replaced them all with modern hardware and interconnections, it's all gone completely to ****.
I'm curious, so you're motherboard has on-board video and sound?

My HTPC is roughly 4 years old, sound is on the motherboard, but there is a separate 1.5GB video card. So I still have to use HDMI for video and Optical for sound (unless there is some way to get sound through the video card?)

Roku and PS4 are all HDMI and it works just fine.

I'm using a Denon AVR-E400
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Old 01-24-2014, 07:00 AM
  #19466  
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My HTPC is roughly 4 years old, sound is on the motherboard, but there is a separate 1.5GB video card. So I still have to use HDMI for video and Optical for sound (unless there is some way to get sound through the video card?)
I have seen a sound input on a video card before, but I remember it only being 2 channels, which is kind of pointless for a Home theatre system.


You guys are making me nervous, I just spent the time and effort to run HDMI for the TV through the wall in keystone jacks. (I hate having a mess of cables behind the TV.) I would be a little annoyed if all that work was for nothing.
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Old 01-24-2014, 07:33 AM
  #19467  
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Originally Posted by NA6C-Guy
I'm all back to a mix of optical audio, coaxial audio, component and rca video inputs for TV/home theater, and DVI on the computer.
I am very seriously tempted to go back to this, to be quite honest. I never had any problems at all back when I had my monstrous old CRT set, with analog component video and a motley combination of optical and coaxial S/PDIF with several conversion stages. Use an HDMI switch for the video, and a coaxial switch for the audio, and treat the two as totally discrete entities.




Originally Posted by mgeoffriau
What brand receiver? Certain brands are notorious for bad HDMI. That's why I buy Yamaha. Rarely hear of HDMI issues.
Onkyo HT-S3500. But it doesn't matter- same thing happens if I plug the PC directly into the TV. It just no longer recognizes the fact that it has audio capability via that link.




Originally Posted by NA6C-Guy
I've had Sony, Pioneer and Yamaha, all within the HDMI age, and all have been buggy with HDMI.
I don't think it's a brand-specific thing. Pretty much everyone I've talked to about this over the years (most of whom are actual engineers) have similar experiences. It's just a flaky, badly-implemented standard.

I also lost ARC functionality somewhere along the way. It had been working fine, then it just stopped, and it's never worked since.



Originally Posted by z31maniac
I'm curious, so you're motherboard has on-board video and sound?
No.




Originally Posted by Davezorz
I have seen a sound input on a video card before, but I remember it only being 2 channels, which is kind of pointless for a Home theatre system.
The PC isn't a primary playout device, I have a dedicated set-top box for that which supplies DTS and AC3. I use the PC for simple ****, like emulating an 8 bit NES and occasionally derping around in Youtube. (Though sine my new tablet seamlessly interfaces with the TV's built-in Youtube app, that's not so much needed anymore



Originally Posted by Davezorz
You guys are making me nervous, I just spent the time and effort to run HDMI for the TV through the wall in keystone jacks. (I hate having a mess of cables behind the TV.) I would be a little annoyed if all that work was for nothing.
Well, it's not like you have a choice these days. Modern bluray players and similar devices won't emit an HD signal over component (it's not that they can't, it's that they specifically cripple them), and it's actually getting hard to find machines that even support component at all. DVI was prettymuch stillborn, and there's no likely contender on the horizon.

I kind of wish that consumer gear would use SDI, but I know that's never gonna happen- no support for DRM.
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Old 01-24-2014, 07:51 AM
  #19468  
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Old 01-24-2014, 07:55 AM
  #19469  
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It's just a flaky, badly-implemented standard.
well according to Wikipedia:
The HDMI Founders are Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic/National/Quasar), Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson, RCA and Toshiba
Which reminds me of the old saying: A camel is a horse designed by a committee.


Sony was by far the worst
This struck me as funny because I just happened to be on page 1 of this thread and you were complaining about Sony.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:07 AM
  #19470  
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Originally Posted by Joe Perez
I am not a superstitious person.

I don't believe in fate or karma. I will openly mock those who seek the counsel of fortune-tellers or tarot readers, who play "special" numbers in the lottery, or who claim to have "a system" for winning games of pure chance. I will happily kick a black cat under a ladder across a pool of spilled salt on Friday the 13th, while whistling the score from Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore.

(Well, I wouldn't actually kick a cat unless it was already dead, but you know what I mean.)

And yet I have recently received two fortune cookie fortunes in a row which are so amazingly specific and prescient that I'm starting to wonder if someone isn't stalking me in an extremely roundabout way, following me to Chinese take-out restaurants and bribing the girl behind the counter to substitute Perez-targeted fortunate cookies in my order.
Make that three fortune cookies.

In fact, the last one was deliberately egging me on to take the advice of the one before it. Like, it was actually being snide about it.

This is getting weird.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:12 AM
  #19471  
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I recently bought some used PC components from my brother to make a PC for the living room. About once a week the screen will flash white for a split second and then I have no audio.
I thought it was a driver issue. Does this sound like a HDMI problem?
PC is hooked directly to the TV.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:19 AM
  #19472  
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Originally Posted by Guardiola
About once a week the screen will flash white for a split second and then I have no audio.

I thought it was a driver issue. Does this sound like a HDMI problem?
No, it sounds like a "you need to lay off the drugs" problem.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:34 AM
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Without the drugs there is no video or audio. It's like the TV is turned off or something...
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:43 AM
  #19474  
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Originally Posted by Joe Perez
I am ashamed by the fact that a citizen of the Netherlands is so familiar with the abuses of the American social-services programs that he is able to casually make such an effective joke about them.
I am ashamed that 60% of American citizens are not and cannot.
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Old 01-24-2014, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Joe Perez
Onkyo HT-S3500. But it doesn't matter- same thing happens if I plug the PC directly into the TV. It just no longer recognizes the fact that it has audio capability via that link.
OK, HDMI audio issues are not uncommon with video cards. What video card are you using? Unfortunately, driver stability seems to be a big issue here. One driver will work, then the next one will break audio, then the next one will fix it, and so on, over and over.
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Old 01-24-2014, 10:31 AM
  #19476  
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I have a mishmash of HDMI and component and optical and coax spdif and the only problem I ever have is that our babysitters can't use it so I have to re-enable the TV speakers so they can use one remote. but my universal remote has too many repeats and only it and the TV remote can properly do this so... I have to dick around.

but otherwise everything works great.

half of everything goes from HDMI at the source to the TV and then uses the TV's optical out (or is it coax?). the other half uses component and either optical or coax directly to the receiver's component switcher and back to the TV.

if I need PC, I run a 10 meter HDMI from my laptop to the side input on the tv, extend the desktop, and keep on keepin on.

I also have a chromecast for so my wife and i can share funny videos on youtube.

the receiver is a ~10 year old Denon AVR 2805.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:00 PM
  #19477  
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Originally Posted by Davezorz
This struck me as funny because I just happened to be on page 1 of this thread and you were complaining about Sony.
Find me a page in this thread or any other where I'm not complaining. I dare you. Do it, do it.

Like this complaint. The number of times I have seen the supermoon on January 30th come up is TOO DAMN HIGH! It's always accompanied by a photo of the moon in such a perspective that it looks gigantic, as if you can really see that kind of difference from any other night. At most the moon is ~5% larger than average. Whoopdeedoo! And this one is a ******* new moon. So it'll be a slightly larger dark spot in the sky.

I can't wait for the equinox again so I can stand my broom up!
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Old 01-25-2014, 09:39 AM
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Originally Posted by NA6C-Guy
Find me a page in this thread or any other where I'm not complaining. I dare you. Do it, do it.

Like this complaint. The number of times I have seen the supermoon on January 30th come up is TOO DAMN HIGH! It's always accompanied by a photo of the moon in such a perspective that it looks gigantic, as if you can really see that kind of difference from any other night. At most the moon is ~5% larger than average. Whoopdeedoo! And this one is a ******* new moon. So it'll be a slightly larger dark spot in the sky.

I can't wait for the equinox again so I can stand my broom up!
It's literally post #5 in this thread.
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Old 01-25-2014, 10:36 AM
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Old 01-25-2014, 02:41 PM
  #19480  
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Hate to say NA6, the noob's right
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