I need help connecting my time warner cable box to my stereo a/v receiver. I do not want to connect from the tv, i want to turn the tv off and just use the cable box so as to listen to the commercial free music.The best answer i have so far is to take the optical out from the cable box and and connect this to the sat/tv in on the av receiver. Does this sound rite ?? I also have a optical in on the a/v receiver which i guess they don't want to use. Any help will be greatly appreciated, cannot find answer anywhere on net.. john perry milwaukee, wi}
Optical cables can only be fitted to optical inputs and outputs. If you want to use the RCA connectors to make the hook up, the output is marked on the cable box and you can select whichever audio/video input you prefer on the receiver.
It should. I can't comment on whether Time Warner has seen fit to make the connection flexible enough to simply require a cable be inserted. More than likely you'll have to go into the menu of the cable box and possibly the receiver to assign the input/output to the optical connection. There are simply too many variations on this for me to say "do this" and everything will be hunky dory. Make the connection and see what happens. If you have no signal, start with the menus - one piece at a time - and see if that doesn't clear up the problem. Referring to your owner's manuals would be a good idea here, they should tell you what needs to be done to make the connection work. Be careful with the optical cable, they are somewhat more fragile than a conventional copper cable.
John, if you join Audio Karma, there is a home theater forum with lots of knowledgeable folks who can help you. If you only want to draw a stereo (2 channel) audio signal from your cable box, the stereo/analog outputs on the box connected to your receiver will do fine. Meanwhile, run the video directly to your TV. I do this and it sounds great. You can shut the TV off once you select the music choice channel.
Thank you all for your replies. I think the reply about changing the menu in the box might be right. unfortunately time warner was no help. they do not install stereo hookups. the mfg of the cable box also was no help as i did not buy the box from them. They said to contact time warner. hahaha,, catch 22. i will also look at the other forum ,, would be nice to just hook up the optical and shut off the tv, but i was told that if i turn off the tv the sound stops.. thank you again. john perry, Milwaukee, Wi. (go brewers ! )
You have to consider tech assistance at companies such as TW are temporary jobs. most of the employees walk off at lunch time. There's no real technical training for those folks. Add to that the simple fact there are numerous ways to set up any system. When I would install a system for a client I would try to get them to explain what they expected from the system operation. If they had ideas which coincided with one hook up technique, then we could go that way. If not, then we had to decide what was most important to the client.
Running your output from the TW box to your receiver will provide you the ability to play music without using the TV as a pass through. Realize, of course, you'll likely have to turn on the TV to monitor what channel you are selecting and gathering information. Running the video portion of the signal through your receiver will generally not be the best quality signal transfer though.
Inexpensive video circuits in AV receivers will degrade the video content and then try to make up for it by including what the manufacturers call "video enhancements". The enhancements are typically going to give you lower quality overall with a video signal that can look rather cartoonish. IMO, the best way around this is to run cables which do not combine audio and video signals then run audio to the receiver and video directly to the TV. This would allow you to have audio from the receiver while not running the TV. But it will complicate the switching as you watch TV programming. A learning remote control with several macro commands will eliminate that problem but will also usually cost you more money and may not be totally compatible with the remote controls used by the other components in the system. Once again the complexity of modern day entertainment systems makes total compatibility near impossible.
Therefore, when you call in for tech assistance with any of the companies, they can only go by what the computer in front of them says to tell you. If you say "XYZ" happened, they turn to the "XYZ" section of the computer program. They read back what the computer outputs as a solution. If that doesn't work, they transfer you to a higher level of tech support and those folks have "XYZ+1" on their computer. I know it's difficult to stay calm under such conditions but you have to realize what the tech support people have been given and be patient.
Buying from a reputable retailer often is the best answer since that reputation has been established by after the sale service. Sometimes that's not possible, AV retailers don't sell TW product. They will be familiar with the cable systems in their area and can typically guide the client to the best solution for their desires. And sometimes what the client wants isn't compatible with how the system can operate and compromises must be made.
john, if you run your cables to your receiver, you should not need to power up the TV just to listen to music. You might also consider running just audio cables to the receiver and still running the video cable to your TV monitor. More complicated but a better quality by separating out the signals.
Thanks for all the info,, will try the audio optic cable to another receiver before running the 20 ft under the basement to av receiver i want to use. I just thought the music on the tw box was nice (oldies like me ) and would be nice for parties ect. Hopefully running the optic cable will take care of what i want. DO NOT buy the optic cables from local stores go on line (amazon) and you will find good deals on them,, again,, thanks for all your help, John Perry, Milwaukee, Wi (ret)
Be careful with optical cable runs of more than 5 meters. The quality of the cable becomes critical to its success and cheaper cables - as found on sale on Amazon - may have signal loss/degradation at greater lengths. If you decide you want to run an optical cable of 20' in length, I would try the cable with your equipment before I went to the trouble of securing it permanently in place.
"i will also look at the other forum ,, would be nice to just hook up the optical and shut off the tv, but i was told that if i turn off the tv the sound stops.. thank you again."
You're very welcome. I see that you did join AK and welcome aboard. Already, several people responded to you. The guys on the home theater section are serious HT enthusiasts who know what they're talking about and have current info. They're up on the latest developments They won't talk down to you or make you feel stupid for being new to the hobby. You'll get better advice there than you will find anywhere else. As with the HT section, if you need help with something strictly audio related, you'll get plenty of great advice in the audio forums there.
As long as the audio signal from the cable box goes directly to the TV whether by optic, coax digital or analog stereo, there is no excuse why the sound should cut out when you turn off the TV. I can turn off my TV with the cable box and receiver on and continues to come through.
Oops! As long as the audio signal goes directly to the receiver, NOT the TV, there is no excuse why the sound will not continue with the TV off. Sorry about the typo.
2 main types of optic cables are glass fiber and PLASTIC. The best of the plastics are sold thru Blue Jeans Cable and are Mitsubishi Eska fiber. This is still MORE lossy than the glass fibers and 20ft may be 'stretching' it.
IF POSSIBLE�..see if you have a Coaxial output / input and use the RCA terminated Digital Cable.
Make sure your cable box is configured PCM only in the audio setup section.