Got a 43 inch Samsung smart TV. Lately purchased a Zebronics soundbar and trying to connect with HDMI to TV. Most of the time soundbar not working but only sometimes it is working. But when i switch off power and on again, it stops working. I called up both Samsung TV and Zebronics customer care and they are blaming each other that it is their hardware bug. Zebronics soundbar guy says that since I am using 2 HDMI cables (one for Set Top Box and other for soundbar), the priority is taken by STB rather than soundbar so to avoid that , I should first remove HDMI cable from STB and switch on TV with soundbar connected. Wait for one minute and then I connect STB. That procedure worked for first time but second time it failed. I was annoyed and ordered a refund on soundbar from Amazon, ordered Blaupunkt soundbar from their original website. So what could be the problem ? Samsung TV or Zebronics soundbar ?
The conclusion is very simple. The problem is that one HDMI cable essentially overloads the other. You should use inputs-outputs that are completely separated from each other or a matching adapter, but I warn you that then there may be a time shift in the synchronization of sound and image. Therefore, it would be wise to find a method other than HDMI to connect the soundbar. Unfortunately, it is not possible to explain anything more precisely, because it is not known what capabilities your systems have and what your knowledge is in the field of electronics. (For example, do you know what input resistance means and what output resistance means, and what happens when connecting systems with different input-output resistances? If You know that all, then should be everything clear. Electronics, it is a breeze...)
Yes, I would vote for hdmi from stb to tv, then optical cable from tv to soundbar - but it may not matter if the first soundbar has already been returned.
Using HDMI E-Arc cable because both TV and Soundbar supports HDMI E-Arc and also HDMI is required to play Dolby Digital Plus. This Zebronics soundbar is Dolby Digital Plus. Zebronics service is pathetic. So I thought why not go for Blaupunkt soundbar which is Germany based and got some reputation. Soundbar return is planned tomorrow by Amazon.
On my samsung tv the manual states that the hdmi out from the tv can only supply 2 channels of audio. This was confirmed by my amp. I changed to optical and it's a massive difference...
HDMI is definitely needed to enable dolby surround in soundbars. Both my TV and Soundbar got e-arc ports which support 32 channels audio. But as I said Zebronics soundbar was randomly stops working, I returned it back, still waiting for Blaupunkt soundbar. Public holidays going here so a big delay in transit.
Kindly stay on topic. FYI, Blaupunkt products are now made by white-label ODMs (example). Most of the hardware components are sourced from Chinese OEMs, anyway.