How to output only sound through HDMI

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Ian Feldmann

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Jan 12, 2015
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Hi, I have a very specific problem, I have an HDMI passthrough reciever and am using it for my PC. I want to get the best sound quality possible but dont want to plug my display into the reciever. When I have the hdmi cable plugged into the reciever even without a display plugged into the reciever the pc says there is. Is there a way to only output sound and not video to the reciever, its a pain when I have it plugged in because my cursor will go off the screen to the "second" display
 
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Can you not 'mirror' displays. Have one going to the receiver and one to your monitor (I'm assuming that you have a monitor also).

Alternatively there are devices to split HDMI into the audio and video channels separately.
 
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Also, some receivers have an audio in capability over an RCA plug pair. You could take an output from your PC on a 3.5mm cable and run this to the receiver I expect.
 
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Yes, HDMI is digital audio, RCA is analogue.

I'd suggest investigating the devices that will separate HDMI data into the audio and video components, then you can drive your monitor and receiver as you'd like.
 

nonononono

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Feb 19, 2015
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I have the same issue. Since I have a lot of tech plugged in The only way I can output Sound to my surround sound unit is via HDMI which the p.c then calls another monitor. Like you I don't want the p.c wasting graphics power generating another video feed when all i want is audio out. Sadly no solution so far.
mike m
 

Raven Null

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Mar 31, 2016
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I know this is an old thread but I was having a similar problem.

Disable the monitor it tries to create, right-click on the volume icon and select devices (might not be exact wording) right click HDMI out and select as default device.
 

Joe_165

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Sep 11, 2016
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I can tell you what I did, hopefully it can apply to you. I have a 270x plugged into a 4k monitor with display port and plugged into a reciever with HDMI (both ports are on the 270x, not the motherboard), It showed up as a 4k monitor and 1080p monitor. Then I set it to "duplicate these displays", then it let me change the resolution to 4k for both. I imagine if I hooked up the reciever to a 1080p monitor it would look funny.

It took a lot of mucking around, so there may be a missing step. But I imagine it's the same, plug both the reciever and monitor into either two different ports on the graphics card or into two different ports on the motherboard. Good luck.
 

Monstieur

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Nov 7, 2016
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The easiest solution is to clone displays with the AVR. AMD lets you clone different resolutions and refresh rates and still use the highest one. nVidia only lets you clone different refresh rates but uses the lower resolution of the two.

Another way is to buy an Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD and feed it with a dummy HDMI video signal from another device like an VGA to HDMI adapter instead of connecting it to your GPU. You don't need to plug the VGA end into anything for it to generate a HDMI signal.

The best way is to get a HDMI pattern generator with 7.1 channel analog audio input and connect it to your analog sound card. This completely solves the problem and there is no secondary display on the PC.
 

Joe Faith

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Apr 4, 2017
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I had a VERY similar issue, but with an even further problem. I have DVI-D going to a 144 HZ 1080p display (that can ONLY go past 60hz in DVI-D mode, HDMI will not output 144hz on this particular unit), and HDMI audio going to an HD Audio Yamaha unit that does DTS-HDMA, Dolby TrueHD, and LPCM. As you all surely know, only HDMI can carry those sound signals so I have to use that and cant use opti, or coax, or anything of the sort.

My issue was not the fact Nvidia's card was detecting the Yamaha unit as another monitor, that didn't inherently "bother" me. My problem was that the only way I could keep my 144 Hz refresh rate was to "extend" the display, as duplicating it cut the refresh rate down to the HDMI's max capability. Disabling the display cut my HMDI audio,and leaving the display extended, meant annoyingly being able to drag things off screen.

So what to do?

I Went into the Nvidia Control Panel and manually cut the "Yamaha's resolution (lol)" down to 480p, with a 30hz refresh rate. This made it technically "impossible" to span the displays, while still leaving the span setting on and gave me back my ability to not throw windows into the abyss past the right bordfer of my screen, whist still keeping my 144 hz refresh rate.
 

mlee 2500

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Oct 20, 2014
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Right On!

It's unbelievable that in this day and age the state of PC audio is so pathetic. It basically boils down to:

1) Use the Analog outputs and all the drawbacks and limitations associated with that

2) Use the Optical S/PDIF and limit yourself to two channels of native PCM

3) Play esoteric games with your S/PDIF to manufacture a "fake" DTS or Dolby surround signal

4) Pass all the PCM signals through your AV receiver. Awesome! Unless of course you are using a high resolution monitor or high refresh rate...there are no AV receivers designed to deal with PC monitors using the latest HDMI or DisplayPort specs. Hey, maybe you can screw around with dual monitor configs. Hope it doesn't create overhead.




 

Monstieur

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I tried this on my GTX 1080 and found that TrueHD & DTS-HD MA bitstreaming does not work below 720p or 1024x768. Only DD, DTS, & PCM works. If I increase the resolution to the above then HD audio bitstreaming works.

What do you mean by "impossible to span". It still shows up as a second display, and audio only works if I choose to Extend the desktop. Even if I push it to the corner, it still causes massive lag when dragging a window and it touches that corner. It also causes massive flickering and delay when Alt-Tabbing out of fullscreen applications.
 

arni.leibovits

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Nov 23, 2017
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I have the same question. I'm using one HDMI output to get 4K/HDR video on the TV and another HDMI out to get TrueHD/DTS-HD audio on the receiver. Unfortunately this receiver only supports 1080p, so cloning the displays is not an option.

I've found on other forums that some people solved this using Ultramon (paid software). I'm evaluating the trial now to see if this works.
 

Spixe

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I had the same problem, and came to this forum looking for an answer. I found one, albeit in a different way. I also know this answer comes late, but it might help others. I don't think this should make a difference, but just in case, I'm using DVI to HDMI from my PC to my Yamaha receiver. This is the one I wanted to disable the display on, but keep the sound. I use an HDMI cable from my computer to my 4k monitor. I'm also using windows 10.

Go into Nvidia Control Panel and duplicate the displays. This will inherently force your 4k into a 1080p/i resolution, and grey out all other resolution options. Close Nvidia. Right click on desktop, go to Display Settings. It'll show the cloned displays. Here, you can change the resolution to 4k, and it'll force the Yamaha (or whatever sound device hopefully) to match the primary monitors resolution.

Using this method, you can keep your high resolution display cloned with a lower resolution display (which is primary for audio), without having to worry about a mini extended display. Of course this only works when you have one monitor or multiple monitors used as clone, although it might still work even if you have one extended and one cloned, I don't see why it wouldn't. Hope this helps some people.
 

arni.leibovits

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Nov 23, 2017
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For some weird reason this actually works, but it forces the output to 8-bit, and HDR mode cannot be enabled.
 

musiclistener

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Jan 30, 2018
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I have the same issue for trying to plan for a future purchase. I use a PC as my primary entertainment center for my TV, and have a receiver with currently 5.2. I am thinking in 2019 I will take the OLED plunge upgrading from a 2012 panasonic plasma. This should offer HDMI 2.1 with 120HZ 4k. I will need to route the HDMI from a new 2019 graphics card supporting HDMI 2.1 directly to the TV. How will I be able to get the Dolby TrueHD / DTS Master Audio / Dolby Atmos / Auro 3D sound signal to my current Receiver? Is there any good option?

The options I believe I will have available:

1. Upgrade my receiver to one with HDMI 2.1 or one with eARC. I believe the 2019 OLED's will have eARC support.
2. Buy a powered HDMI splitter 1 in and 2 out. One of these will come out and support HDMI 2.1 I think.

Hope either of these responses helps. Please let me know if there is another better option. It is crazy to me that you almost need a new receiver to just get a better picture to your tv with sound. eARC should address this in the future, or at least until they come out with a new sound format not supported by eARC.
 
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