Audio to TV and Sound Bar, without turning on TV

[lpuerto]

Hey!

I have an AppleTV 4K and it's connected to the TV directly through the HDMI. Through the optical connexion I send the audio to a sound bar.

The TV and the sound bar are really simple ones and nothing fancy. TV is a dumb TV Samsung TV ue40h5004 and sound bar a Philips HTL3142S. We bought the sound bar because the TV speakers broke just after the warranty ended.

The setup works perfectly when the TV is on, and we have a great sound. Until quite recently we had with the AppleTV an AirPort Express connected directly to the sound bar through analog connexion, so we can play music from computer or phones easily on the sound bar without turning on the TV. However we just moved to a slightly bigger house and we decided that APE could have a better use on another room.

However we would like to continue to be able to play music using the AppleTV without turning on the TV, which sometimes it's just a distraction.

Since the sound bar has a HDMI (arch) I was thinking to get some sort of a splitter and split the HMDI signal, sending it to the TV and to the sound bar at the same time. On the sound bar can be selected where the sound come from.

Yet, I wouldn't like to add another powered device to the setup, which is a pain in the ***. We already have an optical splitter and optical to analog converter —which need to be powered— to be able to use a wireless headphones to watch TV. In other words, we are trying to reduce wiring, as much as everyone else around.

If anyone suggestions or ideas about how could be the optimal setup to achieve this, they're really welcomed.

Thanks!

 

[lederermc]

This post is very old and you never got an answer so maybe you found a solution. Regardless, the easiest way to play music on the sounder without the TV on (from a phone, iPad or computer) is to use the bluetooth in the sounder. I think whenever an Apple TV is "turned on", it going to try to turn on the TV and when ever the TV is turned off it will try to turn off the Apple TV. You might be able to turn off the HDMI CEC on your TV so that the Apple TV and the TV aren't conjoined twins... but then you'll have to power up and down both independently.

 

[26139]

This post is very old and you never got an answer so maybe you found a solution. Regardless, the easiest way to play music on the sounder without the TV on (from a phone, iPad or computer) is to use the bluetooth in the sounder. I think whenever an Apple TV is "turned on", it going to try to turn on the TV and when ever the TV is turned off it will try to turn off the Apple TV. You might be able to turn off the HDMI CEC on your TV so that the Apple TV and the TV aren't conjoined twins... but then you'll have to power up and down both independently.

This is what I do.

 

[lpuerto]

This post is very old and you never got an answer so maybe you found a solution. Regardless, the easiest way to play music on the sounder without the TV on (from a phone, iPad or computer) is to use the bluetooth in the sounder. I think whenever an Apple TV is "turned on", it going to try to turn on the TV and when ever the TV is turned off it will try to turn off the Apple TV. You might be able to turn off the HDMI CEC on your TV so that the Apple TV and the TV aren't conjoined twins... but then you'll have to power up and down both independently.

Hey!

Thanks. Yeah, it's a work around that I've thought, but it's just that a workaround. I really don't know why the AppleTV doesn't have a jack audio output, like an air port express, so you it can act as that when you are not operating the device with the TV.

Anyhow, I appreciate your reply!

 

[waw74]

Depending on your tv, you might be able to turn just the screen off