Home audio & video forum: Audio Return Channel Problem

TV model Samsung LN32B460. The speaker works when I'm watching DVD/CD. If I'm just on my regular channels, the speaker doesn't produce any sound. ARC is enabled using HDMI cable and TV sound settings is set to external speakers. Samsung confirmed it should work. Sooooo... I don't know =s

I've already set and used stereo but still nothing. Regarding the Anynet+, I'm using the Home Theater Systems remote to control both the TV and the Home Theater System. I guess that's enabled or compatible. And if not, it does say I can't choose the ARC option if the TV is not compatible via Anynet+ which I can change on and off and is available.

I don't see any reference in the user manual to ARC. That is required for ARC to function, btw.
Also, this Samsung HT-D550 lacks appropriate HDMI or Component inputs, so you miss out on the convenience of being able to simply connect your HD cable box (etc.) to the unit instead of to the HDTV. Ideally you would connect it all like the following to circumvent not having ARC on the HDTV. The burning question is whether or not you can send a video signal to the HDTV, and a separate audio signal to the 550 to facilitate proper surround sound. There may be a setting in the cable box menu you can try anyway.
HD Cable box (HDMI out) --> (HDMI in) Samsung HDTV
HD Cable box (digital optical out) --> (digtal optical in) Samsung HT-D550
Samsung HT-D550 (HDMI out) --> (HDMI in) Samsung HDTV
Let me know how it goes...
-Pedro

I guess that's the only option left for me. It's kinda retarded that the HDMI cable won't do the trick since the manual stated that you only need the HDMI cable to have the ARC feature work. I'll let you guys know.

The respective devices must support ARC, not simply utilize HDMI. It's right in the standard if you read here:
http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx

http://hometheater.about.com/od/hometheaterglossary/g/Audio-Return-Channel-Arc.htm

No offense, but this in no way is surprising since it involves a Samsung piece of electronics (ROTFL). Their "customer support" can really be a mind**** sometimes.
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Hi guys,

Appreciate all the infos that you have given. Unfortunately, I still can't get it to work. I've tried everything. RCA cable doesn't work. Optical Cable does not work as well (is there any size for the cable or are all optical cables the same?). HDMI doesn't work as well. I've upgraded my HDTVs firmware. I want to upgrade the Home Theater Systems firmware, but could not see any online on their website. So I've boxed up all the components and returning them. I'm going to have them try it at the store and probably show me how to install it (if I did miss anything).

Thanks again!

=)

It's always a good idea to do a little legwork before buying these type of products. Drop a detailed message into a forum like this one, or @ AVS forum to see precisely what you need to achieve certain functionality w/ your AV/HT system. IME and O, the store clerks are generally less than reliable for this type of verification since of late they frequently are advanced order takers at the highest capacity, certainly in the big box stores. They just want to move product.

Anyway, I would encourage you to simply pick up a traditional home theater receiver with plenty of digital inputs/outputs to accommodate the various devices you want to use. If possible, separate the receiver/speakers from the disc player. This way if/when it goes bad, you won't lose all functionality. FWIW, decent little Blu Ray players are around $100 now, so it makes little sense to get the 'all in one' type HT system like you just returned.

In the future I would also be cautious about performing firmware upgrades willy-nilly, unless you were 100% certain that such an upgrade would solve your problem. [ I'm really not quite sure *why* you are upgrading the firmware of the HT unit(?)] It's always prudent to look for documentation regarding a specific issue instead of what the CS on the phone says to try.

Digital optical cables are all the same, FWIW.

Vince, were you able to figure out what the problem was? My HT5500 wont produce the regular tv sound, only the tv speakers play. The home theater plays dvd's fine, and the theater sound kicks on when played. Samsung is no help, waste of phone time...please let me know.

It's an issue with the ARC standard. All components need to support it for it to work.
I will cut and paste what you nee to focus on below-
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<span class="subject">Manual is wrong, in that case
<div class="subtext"> by <a href="http://www.cnet.com/profile/Pepe7/"><font color="#2964bf">Pepe7</font></a> - 8/24/11 9:46 AM

In Reply to: <a href="http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7596_102-539086/audio-return-channel-problem/?tag=contentBody;threadListing#message5191650"><font color="#2964bf">Optical Cable</font></a> by <a href="http://www.cnet.com/profile/vincesamoy/"><font color="#2964bf">vincesamoy</font></a>

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<div class="collapsable"> The respective devices must support ARC, not simply utilize HDMI. It's right in the standard if you read here:
<a href="http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font color="#2964bf">http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx</font></a>

<a href="http://hometheater.about.com/od/hometheaterglossary/g/Audio-Return-Channel-Arc.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><font color="#2964bf">http://hometheater.about.com/od/hometheaterglossary/g/Audio-Return-Channel-Arc.htm</font></a>
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Looking at the tv manual, no ARC supported......so optical audio cable should solve it thanks for the response