# How is your Roamio HDMI connected?



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

There are some posts concerning audio dropouts. I just moved my HDMI output to my TV and the dropouts have all but stopped. My TV passes DD 5.1 to the AVR via optical. There are two ways to view this:

My basic Roamio doesn't like MY AVR.

My basic Roamio doesn't like ANY AVR.

I hope to shed some light on this issue. Thanks.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Poll fail
I connect to an HDMI capable AVR with speakers AND standby so 80% of the time I listen to audio via TV speakers through the on standby receiver but for movies I use the big speakers attached to the receiver fully on.

Both Roamios are perfectly happy with this hookup.


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## JohnS-MI (Jan 25, 2014)

Ditto above. HDMI to TV, optical to AVR.
I "usually" use the big speakers, sometimes (10-20%), I use the TV speakers (and the HDMI connection). If I don't expect big bass or surround effects, the TV speakers are adequate.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

I have 3 systems in house now, all are connected by HDMI to an AVR. I much prefer HDMI to AVR and certainly believe any issues you have are with your system, most likely the AVR. The only Roamio is connected to a Yamaha RX-V663, over 8 years old. I have connected the same Roamio to the other 2 AVRs, a Yamaha RX-V579 and RX-V471 and both also worked fine.


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## junesen (Jun 17, 2008)

TiVo HDMI to TV
TiVo Optical to AVR (for surround)
TV Optical to AVR (for regular viewing)

I notice a fair amount of lip sync problems when I have TiVo directly to the AVR, but that goes away if I go from the TV Optical out to the AVR. However, my TV doesn't pass Dolby Digital 5.1 from the Optical output, just Stereo.

The lip sync problem bothers me more than the non surround sound, so I usually watch in Stereo.

I have not noticed any audio dropouts. 

For those of you that can pass DD 5.1 from the TV output, what brand and model TV do you have?


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

My HDMI is not connected at all because someone somewhere always manages to have an HDCP encryption hissy fit. I use the component output and optical connection to my receiver for audio.


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## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

dianebrat said:


> Poll fail
> I connect to an HDMI capable AVR with speakers AND standby so 80% of the time I listen to audio via TV speakers through the on standby receiver but for movies I use the big speakers attached to the receiver fully on.


My setup and use are similar. My Roamio is connected to my receiver (Yamaha RX-V765) via the optical output which I use for scripted shows or movies (I turn the TV speaker volume to 0). It is connected via HDMI to the TV and I use the TV speakers for news, talk shows and sports. Have not had any issues this way.


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## raqball (Feb 23, 2015)

-HDMI out from Tivo to HDMI switch port 1
-HDMI switch out to my soundbar HDMI in port
-Soundbar ARC out to TV HDMI in 2
-I also run an optical cable between the TV and the soundbar.

My soundbar only has one HDMI In so that's why I need the HDMI switch. The HDMI switch I have is 4K. I have a Roku connected in the same manner but it goes into port 2 on the HDMI switch.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

junesen said:


> TiVo HDMI to TV
> TiVo Optical to AVR (for surround)
> TV Optical to AVR (for regular viewing)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the feedback. I have been using Sony TV sets for several years and have always had DD 5.1 pass though. I saw the marketing specs on the 2015 series and it listed DTS also. I would have to see that to believe it. I use an older Yamaha RX-V867. It has a Premiere connected and I never have any dropouts from it. I use the Roamio's A/V for wireless headphones. Never had a dropout there either. Only from the normal AVR HDMI connection. No CEC, No ARC.

I did see an article on TVs that are most likely to allow 5.1 on their optical output. Try Google.


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## NickTheGreat (Aug 31, 2015)

I have a cheap POS HTiB that I go through now. The Roamio seems to cope with it just fine. Someday I'll do a real system with an AVR, but this thing was free


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## ss-stingray (Aug 25, 2013)

I go from the Tivo hdmi to Samsung tv. I use optical cable from Tivo to AVR and turn tv sound down to O when I want surround sound. This works great for me


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ss-stingray said:


> I go from the Tivo hdmi to Samsung tv. I use optical cable from Tivo to AVR and turn tv sound down to O when I want surround sound. This works great for me


Thanks for the feedback.

I'm now running the Roamio's optical output to my AVR to see if there is a difference.

update: When watching Amazon, the optical is converted to regular DD 5.1 with a 640kbps bitrate. No DD+ that would happen with straight HDMI.


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## Keen (Aug 3, 2009)

I've got Tivo Roamio -> Xbox One -> Denon Receiver -> TV. Audio is stereo, as I kept having issues with trickplay and general handshake stuff with the X1 when DD was enabled.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

Tivo OTA -HDMI-> Pioneer Elite VSX-90 -HMDI-> Sony XBR70X850B

I have found that my Sony TV will not pass DTS back to the VSX-90 over optical or HMDI ARC, so I have everything going through the AVR. I have had no HDMI handshake issues with this setup (knocks wood).


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ncted said:


> Tivo OTA -HDMI-> Pioneer Elite VSX-90 -HMDI-> Sony XBR70X850B
> 
> I have found that my Sony TV will not pass DTS back to the VSX-90 over optical or HMDI ARC, so I have everything going through the AVR. I have had no HDMI handshake issues with this setup (knocks wood).


I use a Sony 40W600B. It's not an HDMI handshake problem since the video is not affected, only the audio. I think the DTS was on a big HD 3D set. I forget the model.


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## junesen (Jun 17, 2008)

JoeKustra said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I have been using Sony TV sets for several years and have always had DD 5.1 pass though. I saw the marketing specs on the 2015 series and it listed DTS also. I would have to see that to believe it. I use an older Yamaha RX-V867. It has a Premiere connected and I never have any dropouts from it. I use the Roamio's A/V for wireless headphones. Never had a dropout there either. Only from the normal AVR HDMI connection. No CEC, No ARC.
> 
> I did see an article on TVs that are most likely to allow 5.1 on their optical output. Try Google.


I think I read that article. What it said was that it depended more on the manufacturer than on the model. Sony and Vizio were two manufacturers that tend to pass 5.1. However that article is several years old and I was hoping that the industry has moved toward passing 5.1. However, that information is very difficult to obtain. The reason I'm interested in this is that I seem to have lip sync issues when I run the optical audio out from the TiVo to my AVR, but the problem goes away when I run the audio through the TV. Perhaps the problem will go away if I upgrade my AVR to a HDMI switched AVR. But it seems like the best solution is to have the TV pass through the signal (so you avoid the HDCP problems, HDMI 1.3 vs 2.0, etc.)


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

junesen said:


> I think I read that article. What it said was that it depended more on the manufacturer than on the model. Sony and Vizio were two manufacturers that tend to pass 5.1. However that article is several years old and I was hoping that the industry has moved toward passing 5.1. However, that information is very difficult to obtain. The reason I'm interested in this is that I seem to have lip sync issues when I run the optical audio out from the TiVo to my AVR, but the problem goes away when I run the audio through the TV. Perhaps the problem will go away if I upgrade my AVR to a HDMI switched AVR. But it seems like the best solution is to have the TV pass through the signal (so you avoid the HDCP problems, HDMI 1.3 vs 2.0, etc.)


That could be true. My model has a sync function but I don't need it. I'm on the Roamio optical and have had one dropout so far.

I'm looking at a Yamaha RX-V579. The price range is good and I don't need two zones. But I do need the 6 HDMI ports. I had a Sony ES series AVR, but I like the Yamaha more. Personal preference only.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dianebrat said:


> Poll fail
> I connect to an HDMI capable AVR with speakers AND standby so 80% of the time I listen to audio via TV speakers through the on standby receiver but for movies I use the big speakers attached to the receiver fully on.
> 
> Both Roamios are perfectly happy with this hookup.


I missed another one. Use the HDMI to the AVR and use the Roamio's optical to feed the sound. My testing, thanks to some external suggestions, works great. I will have to use HDMI audio for Amazon, but that easy to change. When I went back to all HDMI I had an audio dropout in 18 minutes. So, it's audio via optical from the Roamio and HDMI for video from the Roamio.

I can live with this.


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

JoeKustra said:


> There are some posts concerning audio dropouts. I just moved my HDMI output to my TV and the dropouts have all but stopped. My TV passes DD 5.1 to the AVR via optical. There are two ways to view this:
> 
> My basic Roamio doesn't like MY AVR.
> 
> ...


I guess it depended on your AVR.
I have my Roamio Pro connected to my Pioneer Elite receiver via HDMI and HDMI out from my Pioneer Elite to my Sony NX 810TV, no audio drops from any components I have connected to my receiver via HDMI. My receiver is used 90% of the time and the TV speakers suck as the do only 10% of the time. No audio drop outs anyplace.
Also, same using my Yamaha RX-V 667 with my Pioneer Kuro TV.

Sent from my LG G4 using Tapatalk


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

A lot of receivers are terrible at dealing with frequent digital audio format changes. With channel surfing and commercials that have different audio than the main program, they can go funny in the head trying to deal with the changes. The main reason I got a new receiver was that the old one weighed a ton and a new one was cheaper than shipping the old one back to the factory for new firmware that would fix the problem .


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Joe01880 said:


> I guess it depended on your AVR.
> I have my Roamio Pro connected to my Pioneer Elite receiver via HDMI and HDMI out from my Pioneer Elite to my Sony NX 810TV, no audio drops from any components I have connected to my receiver via HDMI. My receiver is used 90% of the time and the TV speakers suck as the do only 10% of the time. No audio drop outs anyplace.
> Also, same using my Yamaha RX-V 667 with my Pioneer Kuro TV.
> 
> Sent from my LG G4 using Tapatalk


It's really beginning to look like my basic Roamio doesn't like my AVR. I have found that I can still feed the video via HDMI and audio via optical. This kills DD+ from amazon, but it's only a few buttons to go back to HDMI audio, which when streaming or playing recordings is fine. I'm looking at the RX-V579 now, which has 4k support for the future.


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## rnaude241 (Sep 12, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> It's really beginning to look like my basic Roamio doesn't like my AVR. I have found that I can still feed the video via HDMI and audio via optical. This kills DD+ from amazon, but it's only a few buttons to go back to HDMI audio, which when streaming or playing recordings is fine. I'm looking at the RX-V579 now, which has 4k support for the future.


You are not alone. I connect my Roamio to AVR to TV and sometimes I need to first turn on the AVR before the Tivo. If the Tivo comes on before the AVR (sometimes) I get no audio. To solve this I have to go to the Menu then settings and standby. Tivo powers off then I power it back on and sound works fine. I have no issues with dropouts from channels or anything one the TV and AVR are on BEFORE the Tivo.

Not a huge PITA but never had this issue with my cable or DirecTV boxes using the same ONKYO AVR and TV


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

rnaude241 said:


> You are not alone. I connect my Roamio to AVR to TV and sometimes I need to first turn on the AVR before the Tivo. If the Tivo comes on before the AVR (sometimes) I get no audio. To solve this I have to go to the Menu then settings and standby. Tivo powers off then I power it back on and sound works fine. I have no issues with dropouts from channels or anything one the TV and AVR are on BEFORE the Tivo.
> 
> Not a huge PITA but never had this issue with my cable or DirecTV boxes using the same ONKYO AVR and TV


Have you disabled the TV's CEC or whatever the TV or AVR calls it? I had a problem with my Mini having no audio if my Roamio had used standby overnight. I just turned the TV off then on to fix the problem. I finally stopped using Standby. It is a cheap small TV, but it's what I watch during breakfast every morning.


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## pldmich (Dec 4, 2010)

For those of you with no HDMI input on your AV receiver and tv's that don't pass DD from the optical out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KBHX072?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

If you want HDMI 1.4 and 4K:

http://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Premium-Extractor-Converter/dp/B00BIQER0E/ref=pd_sim_23_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51OckVyi8YL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=08CCCFJDEWX45TCCVDJ1

Can place between HDMI splitter and TV.


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

I am using the TV's optical out to a Sony STR-DG520 Receiver with 2 speakers. Same for a BluRay and a WDTV, HDMI to the TV, TV optical to the Receiver. I am Not using the TiVo Optical out, but do listen to music (WAV) using the WDTV's optical out when I turn the TV off.

I am Not satisfied with the set up but am still very disappointed with the alternatives for listening to music. I've tried quite a few ways over the years but they have all been disappointing, too complicated, too slow and the sound quality is not good enough. I guess IPOD classic has spoiled me. I only use it with earphones, too much of a hassle when using a receiver and it is too small for my music collection. 

Currently for music I use a WDTV with a Harmony 600 remote. There is No metadata (select by subdirectory) and its kind of slow and the USB drive is Always running, have to unplug it to turn off. I use the TV to select an album, then turn the TV off and sit back and listen. I have MediaMonkey for Pop and ITunes for Classical but don't use them for listening, my experiments with HTPC is that it is too slow and using a wireless keyboard and mouse too much of a hassle, particularly with battery life. And constantly playing around with Win and Itunes updates is way too time consuming.

Its hard to believe it is still such a hassle to listen to a WAV music collection.


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## Keen (Aug 3, 2009)

tomhorsley said:


> A lot of receivers are terrible at dealing with frequent digital audio format changes. With channel surfing and commercials that have different audio than the main program, they can go funny in the head trying to deal with the changes. The main reason I got a new receiver was that the old one weighed a ton and a new one was cheaper than shipping the old one back to the factory for new firmware that would fix the problem .


My previous receiver had a small issue whenever trickplay was used. I'd lose audio for a few seconds. Not a big issue, but enough of a pain that I returned it and bought the receiver that was a step up from the same manufacturer. It didn't have the issue, and it's served me well for years now.


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## ToastyZ71 (Sep 27, 2013)

Have my Roamio Plus HDMI to my Sony STR-DE920 AVR. Most times there isn't a problem, but if there is, it's at turn-on, using my Harmony One. The audio plays fine, but the screen image is frozen to the first frame of video received from the Roamio. Have to powercycle the AVR to fix it. No HDCP messages or anything though.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ToastyZ71 said:


> Have my Roamio Plus HDMI to my Sony STR-DE920 AVR. Most times there isn't a problem, but if there is, it's at turn-on, using my Harmony One. The audio plays fine, but the screen image is frozen to the first frame of video received from the Roamio. Have to powercycle the AVR to fix it. No HDCP messages or anything though.


Thanks for the feedback. I don't think I've heard of that one.


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## ToastyZ71 (Sep 27, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I don't think I've heard of that one.


It's interesting, at least. Before I got the Roamio, I just had the Comcast DVR, set up in the same way, HDMI to the AVR and never had the issue. I have a feeling that there's something in the turn-on/wake from sleep sequence and timing done by the Harmony One that is causing it.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

I have a Roamio Plus and a Mini that feed an HDMI Matrix switch. One output is going to my AVR which goes to my main TV, and another output goes directly to a secondary TV. 

The matrix switch has "EDID management" which seems to keep things happy most of the time.


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