Updated Oct 15, 2026
In this article
This article is for anyone who has wired a Brane X to a TV through an HDMI ARC audio extractor or an optical-to-analog converter and gets no sound. The usual cause is one TV setting. Work through the checks below and you should have TV sound from your speaker.
Symptoms
- No sound at all from the speaker.
- A pop or click when playback starts, then silence.
- Distorted sound.
Set the TV’s audio format to PCM
- Open your TV’s audio or sound settings.
- Find the setting for the digital audio format. TVs call it different things, for example Audio Format, Output Format or Audio Type. You have the right one if the choices are some mix of Auto, Passthrough, Dolby, 5.1, LPCM and PCM.
- Select PCM. If your TV only offers LPCM, select that.
- Play something and listen again.
If you have never changed this setting, it is most likely on Auto, and Auto is what causes the problem.
Why PCM matters
PCM is plain, uncompressed digital audio. The HDMI extractors and optical converters used for this kind of setup can only read PCM, and they have no way to tell the TV that. Left on Auto, a TV will often send a compressed format such as Dolby instead. The adapter detects that audio is arriving, which is the pop or click you may hear, but cannot decode it, so it passes on silence. With no signal reaching the speaker, the green Soundbar Mode light stays off. Setting the TV to PCM makes it send a format the adapter understands.
Check the rest of the chain
The adapter
- If your adapter has both HDMI and optical inputs, make sure it is switched to the one you are using.
HDMI
- Plug the HDMI cable into the TV port labeled ARC or eARC. Usually only one HDMI port has it.
- Turn on ARC in the TV’s settings if your TV has that option.
- Use an HDMI cable that supports ARC. Any cable rated HDMI 1.4 or higher does.
- Turn on CEC in the TV’s settings if you want the TV remote to control the volume. Without it, you adjust the volume on the adapter.
The speaker
- Turn on Soundbar Mode (previously called AUX Passthrough) in the Brane Audio app: open your speaker, then go to Input Options > Soundbar Mode. See Use Soundbar Mode.
- With Soundbar Mode on, look at the front of the speaker while the TV is playing. A solid green light means a wired signal is reaching the speaker. No green light means no signal is arriving, so the problem is between the TV and the speaker: the TV’s output setting, the adapter or a cable.
- If the sound is very quiet or hissy, check Input Options > Max Volume. It sets how loud the speaker is when the source is at 100%.
- Make sure no wireless source is playing to the speaker. AUX only plays while Bluetooth, AirPlay, Spotify and Alexa playback are stopped.
HDMI and optical both work. If your adapter offers both, HDMI is the better choice because it lets the TV remote control the volume.
For the wiring itself, see Connect Brane X to your TV or Set up a stereo pair with your TV.
If it still does not work
Wired setup varies from TV to TV, so two details let us look up the right settings for yours:
- Two or three photos of your wiring, showing the TV ports, the adapter and the back of the speaker.
- The brand and model of your TV.
Still stuck? Contact support and send us those details.