Cannot change to custom audio settings - "Audio system communication failure"

[Richlion2]

Hello, 

I managed to pair my Sony WH-CH700N Bluetooth headphones with my Sony Bravia KD49XG9005BU. However the sound quality is not as clear as I expect it to be. I managed to find instructions to ATPX mode:

https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/whch700n/v1/en/contents/TP0001615912.html

That doesn't change much. 

I have a blue ray DVD player and watching a live concert, the player is connected via HDMI ARC port (whatever that means). 

When in TV mode I managed to change the setting of audio from TV Speakers to Audio system.

But when using my DVD player via HDMI I cannot change any audio settings to increase Bass and Treble, or change to Music and this error message comes up:

"tv speakers active audio system communication failure" - what does this mean?

Very frustrating, the message means nothing to me, tried googling and many people have the same message and I cannot find what is the problem. 

Can anyone help? To put it simply - how do I control the level of Bass and Treble from my DVD, via HDMI on my TV?

Thanks, 

Richard 

[royabrown2]

@Richlion2 

ARC means Audio Return Channel. This port is intended for a soundbar or AV system, so that devices connected to the soundbar can send their video up the HDMI cable and in via this port, but when you are watching TV, the Audio Return Channel sends the TV sound back down one wire in the cable so the bar or AV system can handle the TV sound.

But this requires both ends to know about ARC, and it seems that your BluRay Player, on which ARC is wasted anyway, is rather over-ambitiously pretending to know about it when it doesn’t.

So plug your BluRay player into a different HDMI input and see if that makes the error messages go away, and allows you to use the settings on the TV to tailor the audio to your taste.

I’m assuming you don’t have a soundbar or AV system, and are just relying on the sound from the TV - true? This can be adjusted a bit, hopefully, but will always be limited by the constraints of keeping the TV thIn; so if you really like your audio, you might want to look at these options.

[Richlion2]

Thank you for your thorough explanation. I am trying to understand the difference between TV Speakers and Audio. And no, I don't have a sound bar. 

I have my amplifier connected from the jack audio, as if for headphones. 

My Blue-Ray is now connected to the other HDMI Port, I still have to use the TV Speakers output. Failure still comes up. Maybe I need to connect my Blue-Ray and Amplifier with an audio optical? Is that the Audio System the option means? Which connector does my sound system go into in the TV set?

I also have a jack audio in my amplifier, so I connect my headphones there. It's a world of difference and I can control Bass and Treble on the amplifier. 

Third - the option Sound -> "Adjust to experience the different sound effects"  seems to work intermittently. So I can set to Audio System, then I can change the settings between Music, Dialogue, Standard etc and is seems to work. But I don't understand why when I press the "Back" button and go back in the options are again grayed out. It's not consistent and makes no sense. it sometimes appears, then when it disappears it says "this option works only in Audio System mode".

[royabrown2]

@Richlion2 

First question - what is the make and model of your amplifier?

The Headphones output lives in a twilight world between TV Speakers, which it isn’t quite, and Audio System, which it isn’t at all, and not all the TV Speakers options will work with headphones.

But it’s how we run our upstairs TV into a little non-ARC soundbar, because it mutes the TV speakers, but still lets us control the volume with the TV remote, and we don’t use the remote for the soundbar at all. So it’s a good way to work for ease of use. But we have quite a few audio settings grayed out on the TV (a Samsung) so I think this is pretty universal.

As an experiment, though, unplug the headphones and try the TV over its speakers, and see if you then get the sound options.

But Audio System really means ‘turn off the TV Speakers, and with them, the custom audio settings’, and you set this manually when you want to listen to Optical Out or Phono Out.

It’s also used when your amp is connected to the TV by HDMI with ARC, but then the switch is automatic.

[Richlion2]

Boy, this is soooooo complicated. 😑

My amp. is a Yamaha, probably 5 years old, don't have the model with me. It has all the standard Red/White audio input connectors, something like here:

https://hub.yamaha.com/how-to-connect-a-turntable-to-an-av-receiver/

Although mine doesn't have any HDMI inputs, but I'll double check. It does have an optical input. 

I never though a pure amplifier would have an HDMI input socket. I'll be back home afternoon, so I'll double check.