Figuring out my Sony Soundbar...

**greycobalt** · **09-15-09, 08:19 AM**

A few months ago, I purchased the Sony Soundbar to go with my TV and Xbox. I tried to link to it but the forum got mad at me. :-x It's model number is HT-CT100.

I fail miserably at getting these kinds of things to perform at their maximum capabilities, but this one has been truly frustrating me. It's supposed to simulate surround sound (and occasionally it does), and it displays when it's doing this on the small screen on the receiver/sub. Half the time, it will say 2.1 ch, and the other half, it'll say 5.1 ch. I can't figure out why it would keep switching between them, and whether or not it's my fault.

Today, I purchased a PS3 and attempted to hook it into the receiver as well. The same problem occurs. Should I have the two consoles plugged into the TV via HDMI, or into the receiver itself? And if they're going into the receiver itself, do they both need optical cables along with the HDMI? If they do go in the TV though, what exactly is required to extract the fake 5.1? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Even just telling me where I'm supposed to be plugging what into at this point would set me straight.

The actual TV itself is Sony also, and maybe someone could tell me how to set up some of the menu interfaces a little better, because I suck at it. Is there any way to make a certain input (HDMI 1, for example) the default channel for the TV? Occasionally when it turns on, it'll be set to the actual TV mode, and I'm not sure why it does that.

On another note, if anyone happens to know a good deal about this soundbar thing, whenever I turn on the system after it's been off, it defaults into muted mode. It's obviously not a pressing matter, but it's super annoying.

Thanks for listening to my massive rant about my home theater ineptitude.

**tonyvdb** · **09-15-09, 10:25 AM**

Welcome to the Shack Garrett, Always go from the PS3 and other equipment connected to the receiver first. HDMI is the best connection method as it passes audio and video. if you want sound out of your display without having the receiver on you can then run an optical cable from the PS3 to the display as well.

**greycobalt** · **09-15-09, 04:29 PM**

Thanks for the quick reply.

So HDMI carries the right signal to be 5.1 without an optical cable in addition?

**tonyvdb** · **09-15-09, 04:33 PM**

Yes all you need is HDMI for both audio and video.

**greycobalt** · **09-15-09, 04:36 PM**

Perfect, thanks. So I should then also connect my TV to the receiver via HDMI?

**tonyvdb** · **09-15-09, 04:38 PM**

Yes thats the best way to do it. The only issue is you will have to have the receiver on whenever you use the PS3 or any other device that runs to the receiver first and uses the display

**greycobalt** · **09-15-09, 04:45 PM**

Oh, that's fine. Thanks very much for the help!

**greycobalt** · **09-15-09, 11:36 PM**

So, the PS3 works perfectly with that setup, thanks. But, my 360 refuses to be in 5.1 now. I'm not what I did wrong, or if I need something extra connected, but it's driving me batty. Thanks again for the help.

**tonyvdb** · **09-15-09, 11:51 PM**

Do you have audio out on the xbox set to bitstream?

**greycobalt** · **09-16-09, 12:02 AM**

Uhhh, I have NO idea. Do I do that on the console, or is that a setting on the receiver?

**tonyvdb** · **09-16-09, 10:35 AM**

That will be in the Xbox setup menu.

**greycobalt** · **09-16-09, 04:03 PM**

The only options I see for sound on the Xbox are Dolby Stereo, Dolby 5.1, and Dolby WMA.

**tonyvdb** · **09-16-09, 09:17 PM**

Hmmm, well then Dolby 5.1 is the option you want (I assume that your already using that) it is possible that the games your using simply dont support 5.1 audio.

**greycobalt** · **09-16-09, 10:45 PM**

It does.

I'm just inept. Is there a setting on the receiver I'm messing up?

**tonyvdb** · **09-16-09, 10:59 PM**

Ok, lets back up a bit. Are you hooking this up through a receiver before going into the soundbar?

**greycobalt** · **09-17-09, 01:19 AM**

Yeah. The soundbar receiver is also the sub. Everything is hooked into the back of there, then a single HDMI cable connects that to my TV. They all have some weird synergy because of BraviaSync, but I wouldn't think that would cause my Xbox to not work. So I'm not too sure what's really causing it.

**tonyvdb** · **09-17-09, 10:24 AM**

I'm not really sure what else to suggest, Have you tried to contact Sony about this?

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