How to Connect Soundbar to Roku TV

Evan Gower December 20, 2019

With almost every TV today being a smart one, their operating systems come in many shapes and forms. Some of them work quite nicely, while others are clunky at best. To get that worry out of the way, people usually purchase a streaming device and connect it directly to the TV. That allows them to get many different streaming options, along with a user-friendly interface. In most cases, that’s an improvement to the one found on their TV.

Roku is among the most popular options on the market. There are even TVs with Roku OS. Today, we’ll be looking at how to add Soundbar to your Roku TV.

Improving Roku TV Sound Quality

Using a Roku TV is a great experience, but when it comes to sound quality, that largely depends on the TV you have. To improve on that, people usually decide to connect their Roku TV to an external sound system.

Depending on your preferences, you may want to connect it to your hi-fi audio/video receiver. That way, you can enjoy your music and movies with a powerful and crystal-clear sound. If you’re looking for a convenient solution, it doesn’t get better than using a soundbar.

Placed under your TV, they take very little space, and considering they’re usually pretty well designed, they can make your entertainment rig quite stylish.

Connecting Roku TV to Your Soundbar

When it comes to connecting your soundbar to a Roku TV, that proves to be not the most intuitive part of Roku’s interface. But, worry not, the solution is quite simple. All you need to do is follow the next few steps:

Connect your soundbar to your Roku TV using an HDMI cable.
Turn on your soundbar.
Now turn on your Roku TV.
In the main menu of Roku TV’s interface, open the “Settings.”
Go to “System.”
Go to the “Control other devices (CEC)” section.
Here, first, you’ll need to enable the “ARC (HDMI 3)” option by ticking its box.
Next, do the same for “System audio control.”
With that done, return to the Home menu.

If you’ve performed all the steps above, you should be able to hear the sound from TV coming directly through your soundbar. And you’ll be able to control soundbar’s volume with your remote. Please note that your TV’s speakers will remain silent as long as your soundbar is active.

To better understand what you just did, here’s the quick run-through:

The “ARC” option you enabled, stands for “Audio Return Channel.” It sends audio from your TV to its HDMI port. From there, it travels via the HDMI cable to the corresponding port on your soundbar, making it play anything that’s currently on your TV.
The “System audio control” option allows you to control the volume levels of your soundbar directly from your remote control.

Setting the Soundbar for the Best Performance

With your soundbar connected to Roku TV, it’s time to set it up and get the best sound possible. Having so many streaming options, most of the content you’ll watch will provide high quality surround audio. That means you’ll be able to utilize the digital surround standards like Dolby Digital and DTS. They make sure you get that movie theater feeling when watching a movie or a TV show.

To capitalize on that, follow the steps below:

On your Roku’s Home screen, go to “Settings.”
Open “Audio.”
Select the “HDMI” option.
Set HDMI to “Dolby D+, DTS.”
Select “Audio Mode.”
Set it to “Dolby D+, DTS” as well.
Return to your Home screen.

This way, Roku TV will always send the proper surround audio to your soundbar, regardless of the standard the current film or TV show is using.

Theatrical Experience with Roku TV

Properly setting up your soundbar will improve your viewing experience on Roku TV. Combined with a large TV and a booming surround sound, you might as well feel like being in an actual movie theater. And if you want to listen to some music, your soundbar will undoubtedly provide for a much richer sound stage than a TV ever could.

Is your soundbar a better solution than the integrated speakers on Roku TV? Have you had any problems hooking it up to the TV? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.