Streambar pro mounting tips

How to use a game console or Blu-ray player with your Roku Streambar, Roku Streambar Pro, or Roku Smart Soundbar

When your Roku^® Streambar^®, Roku Streambar Pro, Roku Smart Soundbar, or Roku TV Wireless Soundbar is connected to your TV, you can enjoy premium high quality audio from your TV's built-in tuner and enhance the audio experience of any device connected to your TV, such as a game console, Blu-ray™ player, or cable/satellite set-top box. You can use the TV remote to switch the active input to whatever device you wish to use, and the sound from that device will automatically play from your audio device. For deeper, richer bass you can also add a Roku Wireless Bass or Roku Wireless Bass Pro, and for immersive surround sound you can add Roku wireless speakers.

This article provides more details about how you can use all your devices with your Roku Streambar, Roku Streambar Pro, Roku Smart Soundbar, or Roku TV Wireless Soundbar.

How to connect your Roku audio device to your TV

Before you connect a game console, Blu-ray player, or other device to your TV, you need to set up your Roku audio device first.

If you have a Roku Streambar, Roku Streambar Pro, or Roku Smart Soundbar you will need to connect it to the HDMI port labeled ARC on your TV. If another device is already using the ARC (Audio Return Channel) port, consider moving that device to a different HDMI port – only one device can be connected to the HDMI ARC port. If your TV does not have an HDMI ARC port, you will need to connect a second cable. In addition to the HDMI cable, you need to connect the included optical cable to your TV's optical output, sometimes labeled Digital audio out or Digital output. This connection carries TV audio to your Streambar or Smart Soundbar, while the HDMI connection delivers video to the TV.

If you have a Roku TV Wireless Soundbar, can wirelessly pair your soundbar to your Roku TV. There are no messy audio cables to connect or complicated setup.

Refer to the appropriate article below to find your Roku audio device's detailed set up instructions:

Do I need to adjust my TV settings?

If you are connecting your Roku Streambar, Roku Streambar Pro, or Roku Smart Soundbar to the HDMI ARC port, it is important you check the settings on your TV since ARC and related features may be disabled by default. If ARC is disabled, the HDMI ARC port will behave like a normal HDMI port and you will not hear audio from your TV (and devices connected to the TV) on your Streambar or Smart Soundbar. If you are using a Roku TV Wireless Soundbar, you do not need to change any settings on your TV.

You should also check the status of a related feature called HDMI-CEC (or just CEC) that helps simplify how you use your entertainment system. CEC allows commands to be shared between devices over the same HDMI connection you use for audio and video, letting you control common features of different devices without having to juggle remotes. If CEC is disabled, you will not be able to use your Streambar or Smart Soundbar remote to turn on or off your TV, or your TV remote to control volume on your Streambar or soundbar.

When you are looking for these settings on your TV, keep in mind that some manufacturers such as Hitachi and Vizio refer to ARC and CEC by their proper names, while others like LG, Panasonic, and Sony use brand-specific trade names. Some manufacturers even combine ARC and CEC into a single setting like Samsung's Anynet+. For help understanding the various trade names, review the detailed article describing how several popular TV brands go about enabling ARC and CEC.

How to connect your other devices

If your other devices are already connected to your TV, you do not need to change how they are connected to use them with your Roku Streambar, Roku Streambar Pro, Roku Smart Soundbar, or Roku TV Wireless Soundbar. If you need help connecting your other devices, review the guidelines below.

TV tuner

To use the tuner built into your TV, you need to connect an HDTV antenna to the antenna input on your television, and then let your TV perform a scan of the local channels available in your area. This process typically takes several minutes before you are ready to begin enjoying amazing sound from free "over-the-air" broadcast television. If you need help and your Streambar or soundbar is connected to a Roku TV, read the detailed article about setting up the Live TV input. If you have a non-Roku TV, refer to the online documentation for the brand of your television, or contact the manufacturer directly.

Game console, Blu-ray player, cable/satellite box, etc.

There is nothing particularly unique when setting up these devices. Just connect each device to an available HDMI port or composite audio/video port on your TV, based on the manufacturer's recommendation, and make note of the name of each input (e.g., HDMI 1, HDMI 2, VIDEO 1, AV 3, ...). Once your Streambar or soundbar is connected, you simply need to switch the active input on your TV (using your TV remote) to the name of the input where you connected each device. In just a moment, you will begin hearing the amazing sound from your Streambar or soundbar.

Game console on your Roku TV: If you are setting up a game console on your Roku TV, you can use Automatic Game Console Configuration to achieve optimal gameplay settings with little effort. In addition to supported features being configured automatically, the appearance of the generic input tile you see on your Home screen will be modified with a name and image that matches your game console, making it obvious where to go when you want to play video games.

Why is there no sound from my other devices?

Is volume at an audible level? - Use your Roku remote to adjust the volume on your Streambar or soundbar or check that it is not muted.
Are you using the HDMI ARC port on your TV? - If so, check the TV settings and make sure ARC and related features are enabled. If ARC is not turned on, your TV will not pass audio back to your Streambar or Smart Soundbar.
If you are not using an HDMI ARC port, do you have an optical cable connected? - If you are using a standard HDMI port, only video will be transmitted to your TV from your Streambar or Smart Soundbar. You must connect the optical cable to the digital output on your TV to get audio transmitted back to your Streambar or Smart Soundbar.