HT-ZF9 with KD-43XD8305

[ch3nks]

i just bought a HT-ZF9 sound to connect to my KD-43XD8305.

hooked it all up, connected it to HDMI3 ARC.

enabled IR passthru, and Bravia Sync is enabled so i can control it with my TV remote.

first problem, when i change the volume, the volume changes on the soundbar as expected, however the volume control level on the screen doesn't match the volume level on the soundbar display.

example - soundbar volume 22, tv shows volume 46.

second question - how do i see what audio format is being output by the soundbar? eg DD5.1, DTS, TrueHD, Atmos etc etc?

at the moment i have it set to "auto sound" for the sound presets. set the "vertical s" to ON. and changed no other settings at the moment.

i'll be using the soundbar for all content - Live TV, Bluray (which is rare), and Netflix, Plex etc via the apps on the TV.

[LightFoot]

---

@ch3nks wrote:

1. first problem, when i change the volume, the volume changes on the soundbar as expected, however the volume control level on the screen doesn't match the volume level on the soundbar display.

example - soundbar volume 22, tv shows volume 46.

2. second question - how do i see what audio format is being output by the soundbar? eg DD5.1, DTS, TrueHD, Atmos etc etc?

---

Hi @ch3nks 

1. This is normal. You can not compare the two. The TV volume shows the volume of the TV amplifier and the soundbar volume shows the volume of the soundbar volume. For example my HT-ZF9 volume goes up and down in steps of 2 using the TV Remote. Edit I have never used the HT-ZF9 remote to change the volume so just tried it. The volume displayed on the HT-ZF9 is half of what is shown on the TV. This is normal.

2. This depends on the input. If the TV is the input then the audio format is shown on the small display on the HT-ZF9 because the video is not passing through the HT-ZF9. However if you connect something to HDMI 1 or 2 on the HT-ZF9 then pressing DISPLAY on the HT-ZF9 Remote it shows on the screen because the video is passing through the HT-ZF9.

[ch3nks]

well i wouldn'y say it's "normal".

it quite un-intuitive on Sony's behalf to display different volume levels on two connected devices.

the TV was clever enough to know that the SB was connected and to disable the internal speakers, yet can't sync the volume level between the two devices.

the problem i will have going forward is that the SB only has 2 HDMI inputs, but i have more than 2 HDMI devices.

TV STB, Bluray, Nvidia Shield, Nintendo Switch.

now, the switch obviously isn't important, but the other 3 are.

and i've noticed that the audio is out of sync when viewing live TV via the TV STB, but isn't when viewing content from plex etc on the TV.

[LightFoot]

Hi @ch3nks   By “normal” I mean it has always been like this, certainly for the last 30 years I have been using a Sony TV with a Sony AV Amp or Soundbar.

[ch3nks]

you were using HDMI connected devices 30 years ago?

considering HDMI only first came out in 2002 then i find it hard to believe you were doing anything like this 30 years ago.

it may have always been like this for a sony HDMI soundbar connected to a sony HDMI TV to misrepresent the volume level, but it's far from "normal". the TV volume range goes from 0 to 100, the soundbard appears to go from 0 to 50. the TV volume level increases in 2's, the soundbar volume level increases in 1's.

if this is normal then i'd hate to see what abnormal is.

[LightFoot]

Hi @ch3nks   I cannot understand why you are attacking me. You do know that this is a user community (not SONY). We are all customers like yourself. I have simply stated that this is normal for SONY. It is what it is.

[ch3nks]

where's the attack? i simply countered your "30 year" claim as being dubious at best.

and yes i am aware it's a community.

and you saying it's "normal for sony" is hiding your head in the sand to what is essentially confusing, at best, data provided by their products.

you may think it's acceptable to just say, meh it's normal, doesn't mean other shold toe your party line.

[LightFoot]

Hi @ch3nks   I take it you must always have the last word. 😂

[Zoli-LND]

TV has 0-100, soundbar has 0-50.

Thus, TV always doubles the soundbar's value.