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galahan

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 15, 2008
69
7
I have hdmi-cec enabled on my atv4. Generally it's great because I only have to use one remote to control everything. The one downside is that if I want to only stream audio, it doesn't seem possible without the tv being turned on. If I turn the tv off, everything switches off.

Is there any way to play audio without having the tv on and still having all devices connected through hdmi-cec?
I tried searching but didn't find anything.
 
You might check your TV to see if the screen can be turned off. My Samsung SmartTV has that capability, but it requires the native remote. It let's me use the ATV4 for audio-only, works great :)
 
but no tv then no speakers for sound to come off .... jokinggggg
of course you probably have a home theater connected so I would say no. If its something you use a lot then put the atv4 in a non-cec hdmi port.

You might check your TV to see if the screen can be turned off. My Samsung SmartTV has that capability, but it requires the native remote. It let's me use the ATV4 for audio-only, works great :)
you mean like a screensaver off screen or w a home theater?
 
you mean like a screensaver off screen or w a home theater?
Like a screensaver on TV (screen turns black, backlight goes out). But the motherboard keeps working, so audio still passes through without issues.
Because my home theater has no HDMI inputs at all, I have to use my TV as a HDMI switchboard. And when I'm not wathcing it, just listening, I turn the screen off from TV's power saver options.
 
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As far as I know you can't. The only work around would be using a screen off function every time if your tv has it, or going with remote like a Logitech harmony. CEC has more disadvantages the advantages. I can't use it because on of my devices even when not being used keeps changing the hdmi source on my Tv.
 
An alternative for AirPlay music playback would be to get an Apple Airport Express which has a 3.5mm line out you can connect to an auxiliary input on your home theater system.
 
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