2. home-theater
  3. 1228883002

HDMI Terms and Troubles...

Having been lured in and taken the bait from a sales person that assured me I would be able to "grow" with a particular Sony unit...I now refuse to buy anything Sony as it.'s build out is simply stupid, therefore all things Sony must be the same. Besides, I am not a fan of having any one particular format forced into my home (ie BlueRay).
In all honesty though, the Sony does everything it's "supposed" to do...and it does it well...I made an error in trusting a particular sales person.

My questions start with HDMI terms...in respect to "pass-through" and "decoding".
Am I correct in presuming that the term pass-though is exactly that and nothing more? No processing of any kind happens to the signal and whatever your source is, that's also what comes out to your display?
Whereas decoding actually takes the signal and enhances or corrects it according to your setup?

My problem is this...my Sony has 3 HDMI inputs and NONE of them will allow me to get the audio from that signal and go to the surrounds. I have to install additional audio cables from each source and essentially double my cable mess. I just want a simple clean look.
My home is modest by most standards (under 1K sqft) and my wife and I almost never go to theaters anymore, so we try to enjoy our movies the best we can. I am seeking guidance in selecting a new center-piece for my setup. I do not need DSPs or separates, or any of the like... Just a simple tuner/receiver 5.1 unit with about 100WPC+/-, perhaps with THX and at least 4 HDMI inputs that WILL allow audio extraction to the surrounds.
I have seen the ONKYO TXSR806 suggested here and there. Then someone said the "805" is/was a better unit???
Perhaps the 706 unit?
I would like to keep the budget right about 500.00 for this as my sister-inlaw owes me a bit less than that from last year...so I am x-mas shopping a little for myself.

Any and all suggestions in the right direction will be appreciated.

TIA,
Hillard
deaf_one
sufentanil's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
sufentanil
782 posts
 
It's hard to answer your questions without a little more information.

Are you using a Sony receiver to try to decode the new Blu-ray high resolution audio formats (such as dtsHD), or are you trying to have it process a Dolby Digital or dts audio stream via HDMI?

Any HT receiver worth its salt should allow processing of the audio signals via the HDMI connection alone. But not all can accommodate the Blu-ray-specific formats (and these can ONLY be transmitted via HDMI).

Which Sony unit do you have now?

Michael
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
Many Sony receivers came out with HDMI inputs that were merely 'pass-through' and incapable of processing audio or video. These required an additional audio connection from the player and, for the HD audio codecs, that had to be multichannel analog cables.

Sony was less than candid about this 'feature' and disappointed a lot of users. It was in the user's manual and, while such practices are rare on decent modern AVRs, I still recommend downloading/reading the manual before purchase.

Kal
saki70
907 posts
 
A bit confusing .
Are you using an HDMI cable from your Bluray player to your AVR ?

Is your AVR HDMI compatible ie. does it accept the above mentioned cable and have the ability to process the signal ?

Are you trying to get the audio signal from a bluray disc ?

Is the audio signal in one of the HD formats ?

Good luck.
sonofnorway
62 posts
 
"My problem is this...my Sony has 3 HDMI inputs and NONE of them will allow me to get the audio from that signal and go to the surrounds"

What model "Sony" are you referring to in this statement? TV? Or receiver?
More to discover