Xiaomi TV4 Audio Connection (ARC)

28 Sep 2018

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1) Audio Connection Options

2) What if Audio Receivers don't have digital input?
3) What if Audio Receiver has only Digital Coaxial Input
4) What if the Receiver only has Toslink Optical connection?
5) What if the Audio Receiver only has Blue Tooth?
6) What if the Audio Receiver only has HDMI (ARC)?
7) How to connect HDMI(ARC), SPDIF and/or BlueTooth?
8) Can We use Ordinary 2 Wire RCA cable as SPDIF cable ?
9) No Sound Output for HDMI ARC Connection
10) Only Stereo Sound Heard
11) What if Everything failed to Work?
 
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Audio Connection Options for MiTV4

Xiaomi TV4 has no analogue audio output connections e.g  RCA A/V connection.  It has only a digital Co-axial SPDIF and a HDMI with ARC (Audio Return Channel) for audio connection.    It has also a Bluetooth 4.2 connection but not all audio receivers or sound boxes have such advanced facility.  This article will discuss the following type of sound connections in Xiaomi TV

1.  Co-axial SPDIF   

    a)  Use Co-axial SPDIF to RCA audio converter   
    b)  Direct connection using Co-axial SPDIF cables 
    c)  Use Co-axial SPDIF to optical SPDIF convert 

2.   Bluetooth

3.   HDMI ARC 

     a)  Direct connection using HDMI version 1.4 cable
     b)  Use HDMI ARC to co-axial/optical/RCA converter  

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What if Audio Receiver does not have HDMI ARC or Digital Inputs ?

These receivers would have only analogue stereo inputs using  RCA cable connection or 3.5 mm jacks.   As Xiaomi TV4 does not  have any analogy outputs,  one would need to use audio converter described here (link)

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What if Audio Receiver has only Digital Coaxial Input ?

The connection will be straightforward using a  digital audio coaxial cable which looks like ordinary RCA cable but of better quality for digital signal transmission as shown below

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What if the Audio Receiver only has Toslink Optical connection?

a)  A HDMI or SPDIF converter would be required.  The following shows a setup using TV's HDMI with ARC to connect to the Audio Receiver's Toslink Optical port using a HDMI converter.   

b)  If audio receiver has HDMI with ARC input,  just use a HDMI cable for direct connection to TV’s HDMI3 that has ARC.

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What if the Audio Receiver only has Blue Tooth?

The connection will be straightforward by pairing the Audio Receiver directly to the MiTV using Bluetooth 4.2

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What if the Audio Receiver only has HDMI (ARC)?

What is ARC?

ARC stands for Audio Return Channel.  ARC was introduced in 2009 and it is now a standard in most smart TV.   The operation will  require the use of devices and cabling system that comply with HDMI 1.4 and above. Using ARC,  one would not need to have additional audio cable  as ARC can  use some of  the HDMI internal cable for sound transmission.  Usually,  TV has only one HDMI with ARC and is always labelled accordingly.   Connection using non-ARC HDMI outlets will not produce any sound.

Why need HDMI ARC? 

SPDIF,  whether co-axial or otherwise,  supports  only up to Dolby 5.1 but does not support Dolby 7.1;  only HDMI can support Dolby 7.1.  Ordinary audio system and many TV soundbars/receivers that produce simulated surround  support only stereo.. However，most Xiaomi TV have only Dolby 5.1 except for  65" Xiaomi TV4.  It has an external soundbar that support Dolby Atmos,  which is an equivalent to  Dolby 7.1.

Connections Using ARC

ARC let users send sound from a source (output)  to a sink (input) through a HDMI cable .  In the case of  connection between a TV and a audio receiver,   the TV is sending audio signal to the audio receiver through ARC.  In the case of the a TV and a video player,  the video player will be sending the video signal to the TV and if the video player's HDMI output  has an ARC,  the TV can send audio signal to the video player or vice versa using the same HDMI cable.

 

Not all ARC transmissions are perfect.  Having established a proper connection does not mean the system will produce proper sound.   It will depend much  how the TV can decipher the content providers' signal information and send the correct signal to the audio receiver or video player.  Therefore,  it is possible that one can only hear stereo sound (2 channels) while playing video contents known to have Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.

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How to connect HDMI(ARC), SPDIF and/or BlueTooth?

The sound connection is not plug and play.   It requires proper setting up in the TV and the devices such as soundbars and audio receivers

a)  TV and Receiver Settings for HDMI ARC or SPDIF

To connect up the HDMI ARC or the SPDIF cable for sound output,  one would have to activate the control setting on the TV so that  the TV will direct the sound output to the respective HDMI or SPDIF output. 

On MiTV4,  there are 4 possible settings in the Sound Output Section

1. "自带扬声器"   TV’s own speaker system with Stereo (most people use this option)

2.  "HDMI(ARC)"   Sound connection using HDMI cable through ARC outlet

3.  "SPDIF"   Sound connection using SPDIF coaxial cable

4.   "小米家庭音响"   Using  Xiaomi’s Home  Sound System connected through coaxial cable

Select 2 if one is using HDMI ARC output

If one selected S/PDIF,  one would also have to set the decoder to  "RAW DATA" so that the sound system will output 5.1 surround sound.  If one were to select the decoder to "PCM" as shown, only stereo or two channel sound will be heard.

After that One would also need to consult the manual or seek manufacturer's advice on how to set or activate the control setting of the audio receivers or video players so that they can receive audio signal through ARC or send video signal through the HDMI connection.

b) BlueTooth

Connecting the Bluetooth device is relatively easy.  All one has to do is to pair up the devices.  To pair up,  fire up [Setting] and select [Device and Bluetooth],  MiTV will search for available Bluetooth device in the room.  If the Bluetooth device does not show up,  try turning on the Bluetooth device as it may be switch off by default.

Testing

After having connected up all the cables and done with the setting,  one can download the various sound test files available from here for testing

FAQs 

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1.  Can We use Ordinary 2 Wire RCA cable as  SPDIF cable ?

The SPDIF cable or the Digital Audio Cable used for SPDIF sound transmission is actually a better designed co-axial cable that looks exactly identical to the ordinary 2 wire RCA cable we used to connect up analogue stereos in the olden days.  They all have a centre copper wire,  braided wire mesh,  external PVC shield and a RCA header as shown below

Therefore,  they should all give a working audio digital  signal although many users claimed the specially designed SPDIF cable is of better quality and hence,  providing a better working audio sound.

One can easily test if the cable is faulty just by measuring the the electrical continuity of the cable using a multi-meter.

If there is no sound when SPDIF cable is connected and before starting to complain,  

1.  Make sure that MiTV's sound output and the audio receiver's sound input is set properly to the correct setting as shown below. 

2.  Make sure one has plugged the cable in the right RCA socket using only a co-axial cable.

 .  The co-axial socket is the 2nd one on the right and next to TV aerial socket when one faces the TV.

3.  Turn up the volume as high as possible.  For some designs,  3/4 of full volume for the TV and the sound bar is not uncommon depending on the signal input and the quality of the cable.   For some reasons,  the SPDIF output from devices by specification is always lower than the  other kind of sound devices

souce:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF...specifications

 

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2.  No Sound Output for HDMI ARC Connection

Please refer to this link for more information.

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3. Why Only Stereo Sound Heard

1.   Make sure that the setting in the TV and the Audio receiver have been set correctly  to HDMI ARC

2.   Try some other TV channels to find out if the TV is compatible to receive proper sound signal information  from the content provider. Sometimes,  the internet transmission might affect the transmission of ARC signals.

3.  Refer to this link for more assistance

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4.  What if Everything failed to Work?


If everything failed,  just connect the audio system using HDMI converter as shown in para 3 or the type as shown below.   May be the audio system does not accept the ARC connection.

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