Running Pioneer VSX-534 in audio only mode

gourav

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Just got my AVR yesterday and plugged it in today. I was trying to play music via Bluetooth (Amazon Echo) and HDMI (Pi Zero with Volumio) without keeping my TV on. But the AVR stops outputting sound if my TV is not on.

Is this normal or this can be changed somehow? I couldn't find a setting for this. I couldn't find anything on Google either.

And this is not because the AVR turns off due to CEC. I disabled that and tried. But the sound stops on turning the TV off.
 
Just got my AVR yesterday and plugged it in today. I was trying to play music via Bluetooth (Amazon Echo) and HDMI (Pi Zero with Volumio) without keeping my TV on. But the AVR stops outputting sound if my TV is not on.

Is this normal or this can be changed somehow? I couldn't find a setting for this. I couldn't find anything on Google either.

And this is not because the AVR turns off due to CEC. I disabled that and tried. But the sound stops on turning the TV off.

Check on the HDMI pass through settings.....and try again. Pioneer is a little tricky and so ensure you setup the same as per owners manual. When I owned the VSX 520, I did miss a couple of steps. After redoing setup carefully, I was able to get the desired output for music and movies.

In my experience with my Marantz, the TV has to be on if playing via Bluetooth.

Spotify (You need a premium account) works without TV as long as your phone (used as remote) and AVR are all on the same Wifi Network.

Suggest you check / post on this thread for possible answers.

 
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But the AVR stops outputting sound if my TV is not on.
Have you tried flipping the HDMI input on the receiver to the terminal where your Amazon Echo Dot or Pi device is connected? I assume these devices are connected direct to the AVR.

When the TV is on, the receiver will default to TV as its linked to ARC.
 
Have you tried flipping the HDMI input on the receiver to the terminal where your Amazon Echo Dot or Pi device is connected? I assume these devices are connected direct to the AVR.
Yes, the input was getting detected just fine. I was able to play, but only when the TV was on.

When the TV is on, the receiver will default to TV as its linked to ARC.
Yes, this was what was happening

Suggest you check / post on this thread for possible answers.
Thanks for the link, I hadn't found this thread on my own.

BTW, I figured it out. There is a mode button on the remote. When I press it, the receiver cycles between CEC and RCV modes. When the receiver is on RCV mode, it doesn't care whether the TV is on or not and continues playing. That's exactly what I wanted.
 
Interesting. Glad you could sort it out.

The Mode button actually has no relation or connection to sound flowing through the unit. It is merely a button you press to cycle between Receiver operation or CEC operation. When set to CEC, the Pause, Play, Rewind/Forward buttons on the remote (Smallest buttons. Row 6 from the top of the remote) will allow you to control what an external HDMI source is doing. You can control Netflix playback or music playback on a HDMI connected device using your Pioneer remote. You don't need the source device remote for basic operation.
 
Interesting. Glad you could sort it out.

The Mode button actually has no relation or connection to sound flowing through the unit. It is merely a button you press to cycle between Receiver operation or CEC operation. When set to CEC, the Pause, Play, Rewind/Forward buttons on the remote (Smallest buttons. Row 6 from the top of the remote) will allow you to control what an external HDMI source is doing. You can control Netflix playback or music playback on a HDMI connected device using your Pioneer remote. You don't need the source device remote for basic operation.
OK. Good to know.
As of now I don't have any external device connected to the AVR for video content. Video playback happens directly on TV and audio is transmitted via ARC. The only external device I've connected via HDMI is Raspberry Pi with Volumio, which doesn't seem to work with CEC. It is supposed to support, but it's not working. I'll look into this.
 
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