HDMI and Surround Sound

[funked up]

Ok, I just got my panny plasma and HD-A3 hooked up last night. I have a HDMI cable running from the HD-A3 to my Sony Reciever STR-DG510 and then another HDMI cable running from the reciever to the Panny. Right now I have great picture and sound from the tv, but the reciever is not picking up the surround sound. Do I have to also run an optical cable to get the surround sound? I thought all I needed was the HDMI cable. The manual for the reciever shows a HDMI cable and a optical cable running from the HD-DVD player to the reciever, but the HD-DVD player manual only shows the HDMI cable. Is there some kind of setting I need to change to get this to work? There was some stuff about PCM and bistream in the audio setup of the HD-A3, is there something I need to change with this? Please help.

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok, I just got my panny plasma and HD-A3 hooked up last night. I have a HDMI cable running from the HD-A3 to my Sony Reciever STR-DG510 and then another HDMI cable running from the reciever to the Panny. Right now I have great picture and sound from the tv, but the reciever is not picking up the surround sound. Do I have to also run an optical cable to get the surround sound? I thought all I needed was the HDMI cable. The manual for the reciever shows a HDMI cable and a optical cable running from the HD-DVD player to the reciever, but the HD-DVD player manual only shows the HDMI cable. Is there some kind of setting I need to change to get this to work? There was some stuff about PCM and bistream in the audio setup of the HD-A3, is there something I need to change with this? Please help.

Set your player to bit stream. Make sure your receiver can play audio from HDMI, not all do. If not you will need the optical cable. If it does you will have to assign the audio input correctly.

 

[funked up]

Set your player to bit stream. Make sure your receiver can play audio from HDMI, not all do. If not you will need the optical cable. If it does you will have to assign the audio input correctly.

Thanks, I'll try that. But I think chances are this reciever doesn't play audio from the HDMI cable, since it was a fairly inexpensive reciever and it shows hooking both the hdmi calbe and the optical cable up in the manual. Oh well. The optical cable should work fine.

 

[mudrummer99]

alternative

what i would suggest for this setup is the same thing i ended up doing. anytime you add a connection, it adds the possibility for interference, especially on more inexpensive gear. i would suggest hooking the hdmi directly to the television and the optical to the surround for best results for all. of course this would be dependent on if you have other sources that you wish to run through the receiver to the tv through the hdmi and you only have 1 hdmi input or a far more common problem, you only want the one cable going to tv because it looks nice

 

[TLS Guy]

what i would suggest for this setup is the same thing i ended up doing. anytime you add a connection, it adds the possibility for interference, especially on more inexpensive gear. i would suggest hooking the hdmi directly to the television and the optical to the surround for best results for all. of course this would be dependent on if you have other sources that you wish to run through the receiver to the tv through the hdmi and you only have 1 hdmi input or a far more common problem, you only want the one cable going to tv because it looks nice

I'm sorry but that is all nonsense. The member should proceed as I suggested.

I think you are getting confused by HDCP hand shake requirements for end devices and those that output HDMI that have to have repeater architecture.

 

[mudrummer99]

my suggestion has nothing to do with compatibility. i gave an alternate suggestion based on my experience with sony sound equipment. i have found that it often adds noise to the lines especially on the video signal end. but it was just an idea for thought not necessarily a suggestion to fix his individual problem. while we're on the subject, and since i can't post new threads could you give a suggestion on how to fix a minor problem i have. my sony lcd (kdl32s2000) doesn't want to output sound at all. i have used both the optical and the rca outs with different equipment being connected to the tv from all cabling types from hdmi to coax. my setting are set to the manufacturers suggestions for output of sound given in the owners manual. any ideas?

 

[Seth=L]

my suggestion has nothing to do with compatibility. i gave an alternate suggestion based on my experience with sony sound equipment. i have found that it often adds noise to the lines especially on the video signal end. but it was just an idea for thought not necessarily a suggestion to fix his individual problem. while we're on the subject, and since i can't post new threads could you give a suggestion on how to fix a minor problem i have. my sony lcd (kdl32s2000) doesn't want to output sound at all. i have used both the optical and the rca outs with different equipment being connected to the tv from all cabling types from hdmi to coax. my setting are set to the manufacturers suggestions for output of sound given in the owners manual. any ideas?

I find this unlikely, even though I loathe Sony audio products.

To the OP, the STR-DG510 for certain does not process audio from HDMI, it is pass-thru only. The Optical or Coaxial will carry the audio just fine. If you have only one HDMI source there is no reason to use the receiver to switch. If you have enough HDMI ports on your display you should just directly connect them and send the optical out from the TV. This cuts the cost of an additional Digital audio cable and an HDMI cable, with no quality loss.

 

[TLS Guy]

my suggestion has nothing to do with compatibility. i gave an alternate suggestion based on my experience with sony sound equipment. i have found that it often adds noise to the lines especially on the video signal end. but it was just an idea for thought not necessarily a suggestion to fix his individual problem. while we're on the subject, and since i can't post new threads could you give a suggestion on how to fix a minor problem i have. my sony lcd (kdl32s2000) doesn't want to output sound at all. i have used both the optical and the rca outs with different equipment being connected to the tv from all cabling types from hdmi to coax. my setting are set to the manufacturers suggestions for output of sound given in the owners manual. any ideas?

That seems a strange fault. I have a 32 inch Sony Bravia LCD TV inour lower level sitting room, it outputs audio fine. A TV will not output HDMI because it is considered an end source. It should output at least on the analog RCA jacks. I think it would be just about impossible for those to go dead and still have audio from the TV speakers. Make sure you have your receiver inputs correctly assigned. Try plugging those analog audio outputs into some simple device. If you get audio, you trouble the other end.

 

[mudrummer99]

thanks!

tried using rca hookups using different inputs on my reciever, all but one worked, must have been the one i kept using before. never even crossed my mind it could be a dead terminal on the receiver end. just another reason to upgrade i guess. tv in 2.0, yay

 

[SteveIL]

A peek at Sony's website seems to indicate that the DG510 only passes the video out through HDMI, not the audio...

"HDMI™ Pass-through

Powerful HDMI™ connectivity allows for uncompressed 1080i video to pass through directly to your HDMI™ capable television2. [A separate cable would be needed for audio.]"

sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&productId=8198552921665061593&langId=-1

-Steve