ARC getting the best of me... Someone set me straight

Glowrdr

Can't believe I even have to ask this question, but I'm just not getting it apparently. ARC. So I picked up a new Sony 65" X900e over the weekend, and want to connect it to my SC-37. Being a 4K TV, and a non-4K AVR, I'm trying to give ARC a go. My Dish Hopper does not have dual outputs on it, so I can't just HDMI to the TV for picture, and to the AVR for sound.

What I have so far is all of my components (Dish, Xbox and Apple TV) connected to the TV. I am thinking ARC is like the old school Optical cable, and that I can use it for pushing sound back to the receiver. Is this correct? Lets just say ARC is HDMI2 in this example. The other thing that confuses me, is does the TV need to be on HDMI2, or once you turn ARC on - can I turn it to any input, and it will know that HDMI2 is ARC and output sound no matter what selection I have?

The other side of things is the receiver. I just moved this weekend, and have not yet found my remote (that's another issue). Using the front panel, I have not figured out how to turn on ARC for the Pio SC-37. I think its under the control section (the TV recognizes when I change this setting, and says its changing the sound output if I toggle it on or off). Anyone have this receiver and can just tell me where I need to go? I was reading the manual off the website, but didn't find what I was looking for.

Am I just that in the dark about how ARC works, or am I being derailed because I can't properly configure the receiver without the remote? (It was set up "normal" at my old house, but I bought the new 4K TV in the process of moving)

Thanks in advance guys. Its been awhile since I've been around! Even snagged my a Magnifi Mini on Black Friday for my bar downstairs. Can't wait for that to arrive! (which, this whole ARC conversation will be helpful for that as well)

mdaudioguy

A quick search of the SC-37 manual seems to indicate that it doesn't support ARC.

Glowrdr

I found this directly from the features on the site - "And the SC-37's support for HDMI 1.4a's Audio Return Channel (ARC) means fewer cables needed for connecting to your home theater."

mdaudioguy

Why not connect all of your components to the AVR instead? Of course, it would be easier to control this way if you had a remote... So, get a Logitech Harmony remote and be done.

Glowrdr

The main reason is due to the 4K content from the Dish to TV. Can you/anyone else confirm if the receiver supports or passes through 4K content? I don't believe it does, so I'm essentially trying to use the TV as the switcher instead of the receiver like I had previously.

I could just go with an optical out for (Dish) sound (and use HDMI direct to TV for video), but I don't believe that will pass through anything higher than 5.1 - but I could be wrong. Its been so long since I've had to actually make any configuration changes to the system (I can't even be sure there is any content from Dish that would be higher than 5.1, so it might be a non-issue anyways until I get some sort of UHD player)

Glowrdr

I found this on another site (Denon) - To turn on HDMI control in the receiver press the SETUP button on the remote, select VIDEO, then HDMI Setup. In that menu you will be able to turn on HDMI Control. Once HDMI Control is turned on the receiver will accept the ARC audio from the TV.

Sounds like the Control area that I was in is correct. I think I just need to get the remote for my Pio so I can see what the heck is going on. I should almost just do a factory reset on the receiver to get rid of all the custom mapping I had before. I think that could also be **** me up at this point.

Glowrdr

Just in case anyone ever needs this, I found the information I needed on page 73 of the manual (For Pioneer SC-37)

<Unable to copy and paste from the manual for some reason> - Basically I needed to turn Control ON, TV Audio to 'Via HDMI' and be sure to use one of the 2 HDMI ports labeled Control on the back of the receiver. Everything works as I was expecting, using the TV as the switcher instead of the receiver.

mdaudioguy

Yep, my quick search of your manual was for "ARC." Should have searched for "Audio Return Channel!"
Glad it's working as you wanted.

Airplay355

I thought ARC won't work unless ALL of the components are HDCP 2.2 compliant? I tried with my 900e and the picture flickered in and out from a Roku. Was that a different problem?