No Sound from Chromecast to Receiver

I received a Chromecast device for Christmas this year! I was so excited to turn my Samsung HD television into a smart TV but I immediately ran into issues with getting no sound from receiver when using Chromecast. I was getting sound out of my TV speaker but I really wanted to play my Netflix movies or YouTube videos or anything else using my Chrome browser over my surround sound speakers attached to my audio receiver. After about an hour of adjusting settings on my Onkyo AV Receiver and another hour or so of research on the Internet, I found a solution with the help of a co-worker!

Why is a computer geek blogging about Chromecast, HDMI and AV equipment? I decided to post my experience because I think it will help a lot of people who are completely intimidated when it comes to audio visual setup and configuration like I am. Besides, Chromecast is a really cool technology.

First, it will help to describe, in detail, what my setup at home is like.  I’m going to refer to Chromecast as (CC) from here on out.

Equipment
Samsung Series 5 – 550 LCD TV
Onkyo HT-S3200 – AV receiver (HT-R370)
Chromecast Streaming Media Device

TV to AV Receiver Connection
HDMI cable plugged into HDMI-In jack on back of TV going to HDMI-Out jack on back of AV Receiver.
Digital Optical Cable plugged into Digital Audio Out (Optical) jack on back of TV going to Digital-In (Optical) jack on back of Receiver.

Therefore, I have only 1 HDMI cable and one Digital Audio Optical cable plugged into my TV. The only other thing plugged into my Samsung TV is the CC device which I have plugged into the USB port. This is really nice since the USB port powers the CC device. If I didn’t have a USB port on the TV, then I would need to plug the CC device into a power outlet with the power adapter which comes with the CC.

I read many articles regarding how I needed to connect my CC device to my receiver using the included HDMI adapter. I also read articles on how this would not work with my setup because my receiver and TV do not support ARC (Audio Return Channel). My equipment is approximately 3 to 4 years old so it did not come with HDMI 1.4/1.4a which is the version of HDMI with the ARC specification. However, all I needed to do was connect a Digital Optical Cable from my TV to the Digital-In jack in my receiver. My TV is mounted above the fireplace and my audio equipment is hidden in a cabinet so I needed an extra long Digital Optical Cable cable and snaked it through. Just a note, if you go to buy an optical cable at a brick and mortar store like Best Buy or Radio Shack, you will pay triple or more than buying it on Amazon.

When I first connected the AV Receiver to my TV, I did it the way most people do (I think). Like I stated above, I connected one HDMI cable from the main HDMI-In jack on the back of the TV to the HDMI-Out jack on the back of the AV Receiver. Then, I connected the rest of my equipment like a DVD Player, Cable/Satellite box and CD player to the remaining HDMI or coaxial jacks on the back of the AV receiver. Then on the AV Receiver, I configured the audio settings for the DVD Player to the Digital Audio Optical jack, the CD player to the coaxial jacks and the Cable/Satellite to the other Digital Audio Optical jack.

I know, this looks and sounds very confusing. I’m confused just writing it! But it all worked for years until I wanted my CC device to play over the audio system through the AV Receiver. I can’t believe how much simpler the whole connection is now that I connected a Digital Audio Optical cable from my TV to the AV Receiver. All I had to do was change the audio settings on my Onkyo receiver for the DVD and Cable/Satellite jacks to play audio through the Digital Audio Optical jack that is connected to the TV.

Chromecast is pretty cool technology. I can stream video or pictures directly from any wireless device, including my smart phone, to my TV. The quality is high definition and of course, the audio is now playing through my wonderful Onkyo speakers.

I hope this helps someone. If so, feel free to leave a comment!

George Almeida

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere. I'm an Information Technology Director. I specialize in Windows operating systems, applications, servers, storage, networks and also have a technical background on the IBM iSeries platform. My only purpose for this blog is the hope that it helps someone, someday, somewhere. Any meager proceeds derived from our sponsors will be donated to charity.

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Donald del prado
Donald del prado
10 years ago

Hello George,
Im struggling with this problem for 3 weeks
Followed your steps , also did the same with the cables
Im using a yamaha reciever mod HTR 5063
How do i change the settings?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanx. Sorry for my english. Im from south america (suriname)

Kent
Kent
10 years ago

I have the same Onkyo receiver, with a PS3 in the BD/DVD input and an Apple TV in the VCR input. Both use the digital coax for audio.

I’ve plugged the CC into the receiver, and I get no audio. Searching the Onkyo manual, it say “HDMI is for audio and video signals” but I can’t seem to find way to make it actually play the audio stream from the CC. I’m beginning to wonder if I can actually input audio into the receiver via HDMI.

Any thoughts?

Kent
Kent
10 years ago
Reply to  George Almeida

Thanks George.
Super frustrating, because the manual even says that HDMI is the best audio input, but doesn’t support it. Lame.

Jaden
Jaden
9 years ago

I am having same problem as well. I bought pioneer reciever 5.1 sound. I made it work connecting with chromecast at BD.. But problem is I don’t get audio out. there is no sound coming from receiver. But when I hook the chromecast back to my tv it worked fine… I followed the instruction using hdmi and connect digital audio cable from tv to reciever. But still doesn’t work I was trying to do it for 4 hrs until I give up and return the receiver I bought. What was I trying to do is do mini karaoke. Hook chromecast… Read more »

starboy
starboy
9 years ago

George, many thanks for this info! I have a Vizio VL420M tv, and an Onkyo HT-R370 Home Theatre system. So, while my Vizio and Onkyo work just dandy, they are certainly a few years old. It has bugged the heck outta me that I could only get the Chromecast audio through my tv speakers rather than through my home theatre speakers; I always thought the Chromecast would be fantastic except for that one obnoxious problem. I thought I was just stuck with cruddy tv speakers for the Chromecast. I have a LOT of various electronic devices (TiVo, Roku, Blu-Ray player,… Read more »

ZeToggle
ZeToggle
8 years ago

I have a pioneer vsx-300k, on hdmi input i get no audio to my speakers, this setup used to work but then suddently no audio comes through, iwe been trying everything, but no succsess, no hdmi in sources gives audio to speakers, but connecting a AUX and running the source “portable” works, someone help, since i use this as a hdmi switch as well

ZeToggle
ZeToggle
8 years ago
Reply to  ZeToggle

I mean a vsx-s300

Shonn
Shonn
8 years ago

I have optical out from TV to my receiver. When I use tv smart apps, like YouTube or Amazon, audio from receiver is perfect. I now connected the CC to HDMI-3 jack on TV, but get no audio for CC. If I switch to TV speakers it works. What am I missing?

Kate
Kate
8 years ago

Hi George, I know this is a year and half plus after this post- But thought it was worth a shot (especially since I’ve literally wasted a full 20+ hours trying to research this to no avail.) Anywhooo- I was given an excellent pair of Bose speakers (older wooden version) along with a nice Kenwood Receiver/DVD/CD/blah blah you get the point. I was able to hook it up perfectly fine to my cable box and works great on my t.v. Problem is the Only reason I wanted to hook it up is so that I could use it with my… Read more »

Kate
Kate
8 years ago
Reply to  George Almeida

Thank you so much for your quick response- Your answer is exactly what I was thinking, but hoping I was wrong:( I was praying that there was possibly a cheap cord or cable I could buy to solve it but I think you’re right- just too many years between them along with the evolved technology makes it a sucky situation!

You’ve definitely saved me a ton of time trying, along with my marriage;) Thank You Again!!!

Kate
Kate
8 years ago

Oh and obviously and Google ChromeCast 🙂

Rebecca
Rebecca
8 years ago

Dear George – I wonder if you can help!!! i have an Onkyo TX-SR307 receiver and a Panasonic TX-P42G10B tv. I can get a great picture when I connect my Chromecast (2nd Gen) to a spare HDMI port on the rear of the receiver, (which is the VCR/DVR port), but for the life of me I cannot get any sound through the receiver. Do you have any ideas……………Please its driving me crazy. I dont want to keep having to use my Bose mini sound link, plugged into the TV’s headphone socket, although the sound is a million times better than… Read more »

Rahil Devgan
Rahil Devgan
8 years ago

Hi George. Thanks for this, would appreciate any help with Chromecast to soundbar. TV is a Philips 58″ PFT doesn’t seem to have an ARC (no labels on HDMI ports (3). ) just bought a Samsung curved soundbar HW-J6501. When I start Chromecast it gives me sound via the TV. Thanks

Matt
Matt
8 years ago

Hi George. I’ve been reading through this thread and I have the same problem. I am pretty technologically stupid when it comes to anything like this so I am asking for your help. I have my tv- Sharp LC-55UB30U and my receiver- Pioneer VSX-523. How can I make this work? Looking at the back of my tv it does not look like there is a digital optical cable connection. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated!

Matt
Matt
8 years ago

I am reading through this thread and it seems very helpful but I just have a question as I am still having the same problem. I am trying to broadcast sound to my receiver from my iPad watching YouTube videos through my chromecast. I do not see a digital optical cable connection on the back of my TV. My TV is a Sharp LC-55UB30U and my receiver is a Pioneer VSX-523. Any help would be appreciated! I have a party on Saturday night and would love to have this figured out by then. Thanks George!

Matt
Matt
8 years ago
Reply to  George Almeida

George, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me with my little audio problem. All I needed was the digital optical audio cable, like you suggested, and I was up and running as soon as I changed the settings on my receiver. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to help me out….a complete stranger! Best regards,

Matt

Zach
Zach
8 years ago

I have an only TX 2100 and it doesn’t have HDMI ports in the back of it so what do I do

Ron
Ron
7 years ago

George,

I realize this is an old thread but what the hey? Video but no sound from CC through older Yamaha HRT-6130. Too old of unit to support HRC as stated in the thread? CC works on tv native speakers, done the factory reset. Still no sound. Any help would be much appreciated!

Anthony M Cole
Anthony M Cole
6 years ago

Where do you plug the HDMI from the cc?

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