# Anyone used both composite and component breakout cables at the same time?



## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

I want to use both composite and component breakout cables on my TiVo Roamio OTA at the same time.

Since there's only one mini jack on the back of the Roamio has anyone used a simple mini plug to two mini jacks "Y" cable to connect both breakout cables and does it work?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

just4tivo said:


> I want to use both composite and component breakout cables on my TiVo Roamio OTA at the same time.
> 
> Since there's only one mini jack on the back of the Roamio has anyone used a simple mini plug to two mini jacks "Y" cable to connect both breakout cables and does it work?


A basic Roamio/OTA doesn't have Component output.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

That answers my question and is a disappointment.
The TiVo CS agent that sold me the cables indicated that the Roamio WAS composite and component Gotta love people who know their product.

I'll have to find another solution or away go the Roamios.

Thanks.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

just4tivo said:


> That answers my question and is a disappointment.
> The TiVo CS agent that sold me the cables indicated that the Roamio WAS composite and component Gotta love people who know their product.
> 
> I'll have to find another solution or away go the Roamios.
> ...


You may find a picture of the rear on eBay. Composite works well. I use it to drive headphones.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

just4tivo said:


> That answers my question and is a disappointment.
> The TiVo CS agent that sold me the cables indicated that the Roamio WAS composite and component Gotta love people who know their product.
> 
> I'll have to find another solution or away go the Roamios.
> ...


You could get a mini, and then use that to get component output. Just an option.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> You may find a picture of the rear on eBay. Composite works well. I use it to drive headphones.


It's a common 3.5mm mini socket.

I need higher res video than a single RCA plug and stereo audio output yo another device along with the HDMI output.

As nice a box as the Roamio is TiVo's penny pinching on their hardware and poor customer service and even worse tech support is driving me away.

I was just getting used to their interface while ignoring how many times the guide is incorrect and I didn't record what the guide showed would be on.

With so many people wanting to cut the cord the Roamio OTA with lifetime service is the perfect product at the right time so TiVo discontinues it... go figure.

I appreciate the reply.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

pl1 said:


> You could get a mini, and then use that to get component output. Just an option.


Yea, I could buy a Mini, give up a tuner in one of the Roamios, and add more complexity to my system

Why should I when other content provider's boxes give me the ports I need?

I'll spend the money from selling my two Roamio OTAs with lifetime service and 3 year warranty and end up with a simpler solution.

I liked TiVo but you never really know a company or a product until you pull the trigger and really see who and what they are. Now that I've taken the plunge it seems that TiVo is not for me.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

The "penny pinching" is understandable on a low-end box. If there's a mistake it's that they didn't include OTA on the higher-end boxes which do support Component out.

Of course you can use an HDMI splitter and an HDMI to component converter, which would set you back $50 or so.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

jonw747 said:


> Of course you can use an HDMI splitter and an HDMI to component converter, which would set you back $50 or so.


I need stereo audio and component video out along with HDMI. I guess I could get enough converters, adapters, and cables to accomplish that but it's less grief to dump the TiVos, go another direction, and get there for less money and less complexity.

I just want to watch TV.


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## neogeek87 (Nov 9, 2015)

I use this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R19BG7O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

Seems to work fine for my OTA. Have not tested this in conjunction with composite though

Why do you need component and HDMI at the same time?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing.. I'm wondering why you need it.

If you're trying to record on another device -- you'll get the "HDMI NOT PERMITTED" if your TV isn't connected to the same input as that Tivo, while both HDMI & Component are connected.. (That's why I have my P4 connected via component through my XS32 hard drive/DVD recorder.. Though nowadays, I watch most of the P4's content through my Roamio via streaming.)


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

neogeek87 said:


> Why do you need component and HDMI at the same time?


In normal duty the Roamio is connected to TV with HDMI

I want to be able to send a show recorded on the Roamio to a DVR-DVD burner that does not have an HDMI input. It has component video input and stereo audio input. It will record HD so a resolution above SD component video is necessary.

Because of space limitations there is no access to the rear of the hardware to plug and unplug and frankly no single piece of hardware will force me to do that.

Watching the scalpers gouging people on Amazon I'm sure I can recover my cost for the two Roamio OTAs with lifetime service cause I paid the deal price.

No hard feelings... I like the Roamio a lot, but it lacks the basic industry standard connections I expected and I'm underwhelmed by the stupid billing system, customer service, and tech support at TiVo. Would be nice if TiVo offered as much support as this forum does... thanks.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

mdavej said:


> So why is a Mini not an option? I would think it would be ideal for that purpose so you could watch something else on your Roamio while doing realtime recording with your DVD-R and Mini.


Sure, I can spend another $150 on a Mini to get the industry standard outputs that other hardware STILL offers. It is my fault for not researching the Roamio OTA to the depths of it's outputs BUT I did call TiVo tech support and asked if both breakout cables, that come together as a set, would work at the same time using a "Y" connector and the tech said "yes, I have done it myself".

It's bad enough that I have to spend money on a converter to change optical out to digital coax out when the additional coax output would have cost TiVo pennies in production and now costs me $35 and adds an additional wall wart and two more components to fail. I won't add revenue to a company that already short changed me on what I needed?

I'm always amused when some are so quick to spend other people's money and/or tell them what they do or don't want or/or need.

I thank those who posted with substantive info and the others can keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

I vote with my wallet.


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## mickinct (Sep 14, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> Sure, I can spend another $150 on a Mini to get the industry standard outputs that other hardware STILL offers. It is my fault for not researching the Roamio OTA to the depths of it's outputs BUT I did call TiVo tech support and asked if both breakout cables, that come together as a set, would work at the same time using a "Y" connector and the tech said "yes, I have done it myself".
> 
> It's bad enough that I have to spend money on a converter to change optical out to digital coax out when the additional coax output would have cost TiVo pennies in production and now costs me $35 and adds an additional wall wart and two more components to fail. I won't add revenue to a company that already short changed me on what I needed?
> 
> ...


YOU missed the mini for $70.00 here. I just recvd mine today lifetime service incd, http://electronics.woot.com/offers/tivo-mini-10?ref=el_cnt_wp_2_15


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

mickinct said:


> YOU missed the mini for $70.00 here. I just recvd mine today lifetime service incd, http://electronics.woot.com/offers/tivo-mini-10?ref=el_cnt_wp_2_15


And you still miss the point...


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## mickinct (Sep 14, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> And you still miss the point...


What model of recorder do you have??


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> I need stereo audio and component video out along with HDMI. I guess I could get enough converters, adapters, and cables to accomplish that but it's less grief to dump the TiVos, go another direction, and get there for less money and less complexity.
> 
> I just want to watch TV.


Be sure to let us know what you find that can do everything the Roamio OTA can do for less money, less grief, less add-ons, less complexity, with more features.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> It's bad enough that I have to spend money on a converter to change optical out to digital coax out when the additional coax output would have cost TiVo pennies in production and now costs me $35 and adds an additional wall wart and two more components to fail. I won't add revenue to a company that already short changed me on what I needed?


It's not pennies, though, and why should everyone pay more for a feature they don't need just so you can have it?

btw, if you want to archive programs from your TiVo and you own a PC, there are far better ways to go about it than using a DVD recorder in this day and age.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

mdavej said:


> Wow. I give you a $69 solution that's far better than your original plan, and this is the thanks I get.


And you *STILL* miss the point...

You don't know what I want to do or why I want to do it or within what constraints I have to do it in.

I didn't ask you for an alternative solution. I posted a simple question and Joe answered it in the first reply and I thank him for that. That's all I needed to know.

Anything posted after that is background noise whether well intended or not.


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## just4tivo (Dec 9, 2015)

jonw747 said:


> It's not pennies, though, and why should everyone pay more for a feature they don't need just so you can have it?


It is pennies... well less than $.50 per unit over the production run of the model last time I priced it out.

Because some devices only have coax digital and some devices only have optical digital when many devices offer both.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> It is pennies... well less than $.50 per unit over the production run of the model last time I priced it out.
> 
> Because some devices only have coax digital and some devices only have optical digital when many devices offer both.


And even if the additional cost was just $.50 if you multiply that over 1M units, that's $500,000 saved if they don't add it to the product.

So go buy an adapter? Buy a mini? Or return it. It's your choice how you spend your cash just like it's TiVo's to decide what they want to put in their low-end product. Too bad the CSR you talked to wasn't clear.


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## danorum (Nov 25, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> I want to use both composite and component breakout cables on my TiVo Roamio OTA at the same time.
> 
> Since there's only one mini jack on the back of the Roamio has anyone used a simple mini plug to two mini jacks "Y" cable to connect both breakout cables and does it work?


Some great discussion here, but since I am using component on a Mini, I would let you in on a little more info that might help in understanding. For component, you actually use both sets of cables. The composite cable (red/white/yellow) is used for the audio (red/white) part and the component cable (red/green/blue) for the video part. The Tivo Mini has both small jacks (one for the composite cables and one for component). I am driving HDMI to one TV and component to another (that doesn't have a free HDMI input).
The Roamio and Romio OTA do not have 2 jacks, they only have the Composite one. Also, the specs on tivo.com show Component on the Pro device, not the base model. While the customer support people should know the difference, I would give them a little benefit and maybe think they misheard/misunderstood you. I know lots of people that mix up component/composite, even ones I wouldn't expect to.

I know you have said you didn't want workarounds, but I thought I would pass this one on anyway. Because this is an OTA unit, you should not have copy protected recordings on it. I would suggest pulling the shows from the TiVo using something like KTTMG and burning the DVD from a computer. You may even get a better recording that way.

I just switched from a combination of DirecTV and media PC and can do so much with Tivo that I am very happy so far (just a week or two in).

Dan


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## danorum (Nov 25, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> I want to use both composite and component breakout cables on my TiVo Roamio OTA at the same time.
> 
> Since there's only one mini jack on the back of the Roamio has anyone used a simple mini plug to two mini jacks "Y" cable to connect both breakout cables and does it work?


I meant to also add that even on a plus/pro, I am not sure if you could use both composite and component at the same time.

Dan


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

just4tivo said:


> In normal duty the Roamio is connected to TV with HDMI
> 
> I want to be able to send a show recorded on the Roamio to a DVR-DVD burner that does not have an HDMI input. It has component video input and stereo audio input. It will record HD so a resolution above SD component video is necessary.
> 
> ...


What I (and most of us Tivo users) do is to just download the shows to a PC, perhaps remove commercials, then burn to DVD, or just archive the shows.

Plus, we don't have to sit there, pause/skip through the commercials, until the end and stop the DVD from recording.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

ThAbtO said:


> What I (and most of us Tivo users) do is to just download the shows to a PC, perhaps remove commercials, then burn to DVD, or just archive the shows.
> 
> Plus, we don't have to sit there, pause/skip through the commercials, until the end and stop the DVD from recording.


TiVo users under the Time Warner Cable regime generally don't have that option due to copy protection; component is a solution for that problem.

Or are you criticizing the use of DVD recording as an outdated technology? It seems to me that OP is looking for an economical solution that takes advantage of equipment he already has in hand, and isn't looking for ways you can spend his money.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

just4tivo said:


> Yea, I could buy a Mini, give up a tuner in one of the Roamios, and add more complexity to my system
> 
> Why should I when other content provider's boxes give me the ports I need?
> 
> ...


If you got the OTA's with lifetime, you can either try returning them or just put them up on Ebay and probably make a nice profit and use that to buy the product you think will do the job you want. 
I would suggest to avoid further disappointment, you check the specifications first this time.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

ej42137 said:


> TiVo users under the Time Warner Cable regime generally don't have that option due to copy protection; component is a solution for that problem.
> 
> Or are you criticizing the use of DVD recording as an outdated technology? It seems to me that OP is looking for an economical solution that takes advantage of equipment he already has in hand, and isn't looking for ways you can spend his money.


He said he's using the Roamio OTA so TWC shouldn't be a concern unless he modified the unit.

Keep in mind threads on a public message board aren't just for the benefit of the OP, even if he discards all the suggestions he's received in disgust; that doesn't mean someone else won't benefit from them.


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