Audio connection

Hi

I’d like to connect my WD TV Live via component cables to my home theatre but I’d also like to connect the audio to a pair of outdoor speakers and be able to nominate where the  audio is played. Inside or outside. I’d appreciate any advice as to how to go about this.

Cheers

The easiest way is to split the analogue audio output: 1 set to the HT system, and the other cable to the outdoor set. 

The more advance method may be to use the optical output and connect that to a external amp for the outdoor speaker. Via the system setting you can select which output you want to use.

Well first things first; I may be reading things wrong, but I think you believe that connecting the red/green/blue cables of the component video cables gives you both video and audio. That’s not the case, those only carry the video signal. However if your TV and/or home theater have component video inputs use that one instead of composite video.

As for the audio: if your home theater doesn’t have optical audio inputs then it’s pretty simple. Just hook the stereo output of the WDTV live to the HT receiver, and connect the “zone 2” output of the receiver to the outdoor speakers. That way you can play the WDTV live’s signal both in your living room and outside, or only in one of them, or play different things, and control it all with your HT remote.

If your HT has digital inputs, then connect the digital output of the WDTV live as well, so you can play stereo on the outside but still enjoy 5.1 audio in your living room. However at least my Onkyo A/V receiver isn’t capable of decoding digital inputs and send them as analog signals to “zone 2”, so in my case I’d need to hook both outputs.

Thanks for the advice.

I will connect the video content via the component jack. Can I use the composite jack connection to carry the audio to the home theatre? Can I also use the optical audio output to carry the audio to the amp in another room and depending on whether the amp or home theatre are on this will determine where the audio is played. I would also assume that if both where on the audio would play through both output devices?

Cheers

Ofc you can carry the audio to the HT with the “composite jack”. Even though both composite video and analog audio come in the same break-out cable on the WDTV, they are independent of each other, you can choose to connect either of them, it doesn’t affect the other.

In your case, if you can make use of the component video output, you don’t need to hook the yellow connector (composite video). So basically, you can use the analog audio connectors to send audio to the amp, and connect the optical audio to the HT. That will allow you to have surround sound on the HT and stereo sound on the amp, but probably not at the same time, as I don’t think the WDTV can have both outputs running at the same time.

If for any reason you’d like sometimes to listen to the WDTV output on both the HT and the other amp, the other option I mentioned on my previous post, is to hook both amps using the “zone 2” output of the amp that receives the analog output from the WDTV, not optical. That way you could listen to the stereo signal on both amps at the same time (when you switched to “stereo” in the WDTV preferences), or 5.1 on one of the amps (when switched to “digital”).

Thanks for all your help

Cheers