No Sound !

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Hi,
Bought an Apple TV today and after checking with the sales guy would the HDMI cable work with all TVs and getting a "yes" I go home only to find that my 10 yr old LCD HD TV doesn't have a HDMI slot, only a DVI.Long drive back,swopped cable for HDMI/DVI and home.Picture but no sound ! Tried different things like setting audio to 16 Bit and sound effects on,but no joy.Am I snookered? New TV?? Or just no Apple TV? Hoping someone can help.Thanks
 

dtravis7


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Hi Dennis,

Thanks for coming back to me so quickly.I had a read of that article and realise I am a bit in the dark and apart from the two cable I have tried,am not sure how the rest would work.

The cable from the store, an Advent brand,says that it is a DVI to HDMI cable suitable for connecting devices with a DVI port to HDMI enabled devices such as TVs,monitors and projectors.When I went back with the HDMI x2 cable, there was a discussion between the store staff and the Apple rep(the store is a general TV/Computer/Audio store with an Apple sales desk ) and this was what they came up with.In trying to research I saw mention of audio cable and don't know if a separate audio should be rigged up as well?Looking at the Apple TV, I see a small what looks like slot that maybe is pushed in but didn't touch it and don't know what cable would go there anyway.But the DVI slot is the last slot free.

I must admit that I realised today how much time has caught up with me.A 10 yr old HD TV, although by all accounts a good quality ,appears to be verging towards obsolete for the purposes of HDMI and there is a sense that if I can't get the Apple TV rigged up,it will be a case of forget about it or buy a new TV.No Apple TV is not the end of the world but it is probably only a matter of time before the TV I have will be 'found out' on some other aspect.The day started with excitement buying the iPadAir and ends with the old versus the new. Not sure I can justify getting rid of a perfectly good TV but as I said, a reminder of how quickly one can become out of date LOL
 

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I will search more and see if I can find the answer. Maybe it's the TV itself.

Bobtomay, if you see this please reply.
 

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DVI does not carry audio - at all - it is not capable of carrying audio - it will require a separate audio cable.

With an older HD TV with no HDMI, would guess you are still using component (the three connection red, green, blue) &/or S-video for your other external devices and a separate audio cable.

10 years ago would have been right about the end of the component era and the beginning of the HDMI era. HDMI wins because it carries HD video and multichannel audio in a single cable.

On a TV set of that age, would guess it's one of the top main stream brands - Sony, Panasonic, a couple others - there were not that many that even had a DVI input back then - most were still VGA only.

The issue - you will need a separate audio cable and two choices - getting the audio to the TV or to an audio receiver.

First - the ATV only has audio via HDMI or optical - both are "digital" only.
The TV is going to have only "analog" audio inputs.

Connecting the audio from the ATV to the TV.
"If" the TV has an audio port that works with it's DVI port - it's going to be the standard stereo RCA (red & white) analog port. You are going to need to look at the back of the TV - does the TV have an audio port labeled for the DVI port?

If it does, you will need a digital to analog audio converter - something like this one.
Note: this one will not convert 5.1 digital - it will only convert digital 2 channel to analog 2 channel.
Which means that, for listening to /managing your music (which would likely all be stereo) on the TV, it will work for that. It is not going to work for pretty much any iTunes purchased/rented movies/TV shows as just about everything today is 5.1 audio.

edit:
If you try this one, you might also try changing the settings of the Apple TV - Dolby Digital to Off first - then try Audio Output to 16 bit

Upgrade a little and possibly try one like this - which claims it will decode all the common 5.1/7.1 formats - it will probably do an ok job if you're listening to your TV speakers.

Next step up is going to be finding one that actually bears the Dolby and DTS logos and probably pay good money for those logos on the package.

Along with any of the above, you'll also need:
toslink cable
RCA stereo cable

Connecting the ATV to a audio receiver
This is a better option if you're using a stereo or surround receiver rather than your TV speakers.
Any receiver made since the mid-late 90s should have either an optical or coaxial (digital) input.
If it has optical - just need an optical cable and you're in business.
If it has a coax port - it should be orange and looks just like the red/white RCA ports - you will again need a converter - "optical to coaxial" - something like this.



edit: have no problem recommending monoprice.com - I don't know anything about Parts Express.
 

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dtravis7


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Thanks Bobtomay. I knew for sure you could help him. I had a feeling he would need to use the RCA jacks with the DVI but did not want to lead him down the wrong road! :D
 
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Thank you bobtomay and dtravis7 for all the help.For a variety and number of reasons we decided to buy a new TV. All electrical components have a tendency to be pricey here not to mention that the only store where they might be got is a haul away- by Irish standards anyway.Another lesson learnt about moving with the times.But I am very appreciative of all the help given to me on this and indeed many other issues.

Yes Nick,made the journey - there, back,there and back again today as I left back the Apple TV.Ireland,like a lot of places I'm sure, can be a strange place to travel in if you have no car available and it was only that lady wife didn't need the car like she thought she would yesterday and today that freed it up.

Bought a new TV with wi fi etc and loads of more modern connections:[ and will see how we get on with that and if the Apple TV is still needed we can get it another time or on line now that we know.We just have to get our act together and move with the times :(
p.s. talking of moving with the times I learnt yesterday that if your iPad is linked to your iMac and you delete all the favourite icons off the screen of the iPad to tidy it up, you also delete them off your iMac !! Nice one Larry:[ The good news though is that I didn't delete any of lady wife's so it goes to show that there is a silver lining to every cloud,in this case a very lucky lining.Whew

Larry
 

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