Sony STR-DN1000 Receiver - HDMI Inputs - Needing a separate digital audio connection ??? WHAT? ...

Ok, so I recently bought a Sony STR-DN1000 receiver, it has 4 HDMI Inputs on the rear, and one output, which goes to my projector.

Here are my electronics :

Magnavox Blu-Ray Player - HDMI

Motorola HD Cable Box - HDMI

Nintendo Wii - Component Video

Xbox 360 - HDMI

So, Initially, I plugged my Blu-Ray, and the Cable Box in to their own respective HDMI Inputs #1 and #2 on the back of the receiver.

 

As I understand it, the HDMI cable delivers both the sound, and the image, through that one cable.  Under this assumption, when I press the HDMI #1 or HDMI #2 button on my receiver remote, it would "Switch" over to that input, thus delivering the sound and video from that source.

So, for the first week or so, this process seemed to work ok, but I did notice that the Sony seemed to have issues clicking/switching over to find the new source .....

Then, the other day, it actually stopped working completely, to where it wouldn't recognize the video or the sound from the Blu-ray or the cable box.
 

I called Sony tech support .... they told me the following :

Sir, you have to assign your blu-ray player, to one of the "Assignable" inputs on the receiver, in this case "BD".  So, on the receiver, I had to go into settings, and tell it that the BD video source, was coming from HDMI #2.  But, for the sound, I would have to run a separate Optical cable, or digital coax from the blu-ray, to the receiver, then assign it to that same "BD" .

I kicked and screamed all the way through this process, confused with the fact that Sony was now telling me in order to have the "Switching" work properly, I actually had to run a separate "Sound" cable ..... What?  Are you kidding?  What the heck is the point of HDMI, I may as well have normal Component connnections .... ????

I then did the same process for my cable box, I assigned it's HDMI input to the SAT button, then assigned the Sound, to a separate optical connection ....
 

Guess What?  Now, when I hit "BD" or "SAT" to get either my blu-ray or Motorola HD Cable box, the receiver recognizes the inputs without issue, and switches right away .....

Why?
 

Is my Sony receiver a piece of junk then?  Do all receivers act this way?
 

I have a friend who owns a Pioneer  $450 receiver or so, and he says his receiver always has clicking/switching issues when he does the same process ... sometimes he cycles the power on his toys to finally get the receiver to recognize the inputs ......
 

I told him my story ... and he said ... HMMMMMMMMMM ..... I wonder ....

Anybody have any input on this?

I really thought I could just plug four HDMI capable items into the 4 hdmi inputs on the back of my receiver, then hit the respective HDMI #"s on teh remote, and have everything work properly ....

 

What gives?

Thanks in advance .....

Sorry for the long post ...

As they said, you need to assign the inputs of the receiver, to whatever you plug into them. Since you now know how to do this, here's what I'd do:
I'd assign "HDMI 1" input to the HD cable box (I think you want to use SAT button, instead of tv, since it's digital cable, and no DBS button -----check manual).
Then I'd assign "HDMI 2" input to the BD (blu ray)
I've never connected game consoles, so I'm not sure of what to assign them to be.
If you run HDMI cables from the cable box to receiver's HDMI 1, and from BD to HDMI 2, then run an HDMI from the receiver, out to the tv's HDMI 1 input (or whatever).
Your manual says that you can change the names of the assignable inputs, and that may be what you need to do for the game consoles. Check your manual for those.

Once that is done, if you want to watch a tv program, you should just be able to push the "SAT" button on the A/V remote, make sure the tv is on the HDMI 1 (or whatever) input, and use your cable remote to change channels. May be able to program A/V remote, so you don't have to use cable remote. Then, when you want to watch a blu ray movie, turn on BD player, on the A/V remote, push the BD button, and you should be good to go.

It can get very confusing trying to use several remotes. This is why most of us suggest that you get a Harmony remote. It will do everything for you, so you only need one remote. Again, not sure about game consoles with Harmony though. Maybe someone else knows about that, and will chime in.

All this probably sounds harder than it is. Just go step by step. Read the manual carefully. Believe it or not, it will get you setup, if you follow the directions carefully. It can be a little intimidating, I guess.

I saw in your manual, that your receiver upconverts. So, even though the Wii uses component for video, it will use the same HDMI output from the receiver to the tv. Of course, since the Wii doesn't have HDMI, you'll need to use optical or digital coax for audio from it, to the receiver. You may need to assign the input for that too. You'll need to read the manual too, to get the settings for the audio over HDMI. For Dolby TrueHD and dtsHD from blu ray movies, you might have to set the player's audio output to Bitstream, since your receiver seems to decode the HD audio formats.

I hope you can decode what I've said here? 
Like I said............sit down and read the manual, from front to back. Then you'll be able to find answers quicker. Manuals are usually pretty good about walking you through stuff, but they tend to jump around some, and they seem to take it for granted that you always understand exactly what they're saying, which isn't always the case. Others may chime in too to help.
Good luck!

Thanks for the reply ....

but, my main issue, is that on top of running my HDMI cable for my Blu-ray and my Cable Box, Sony is also telling me to run a separate Sound Cable, like Optical, or Digi Coax for each... (blu-ray and Cable box)

When I assign the HDMI to the BD (Blu-ray), it only allows me to assign audio from a Digital coax or an Optical sound source ... not the same HDMI input that the Blu-ray player is coming in on ....

Same with the cable box .... so, in essence, for everything to work properly ... I really have to run two cables for the blu-ray and two cables for the cable box ..... that is what I don't understand ....

Why should I need to buy, install and run a separate sound cable, when I already have my very expensive HDMI cable that is supposed to be delivering both signals on its own?

Thanks,

The person on the phone at Sony doesn't know what they are talking about. They are not engineers. They are given a list of possible answers to possible questions. If it gets a little complicated, they are as lost as the person calling for help.

According to their website, and the PDF of the manual, that Sony receiver is supposed to decode the HD audio formats. If it does, it has to do the audio over HDMI, and should work the way I explained. Plain and simple. Or something is wrong with it.

I was trying to explain how it should work over HDMI, in the above post. If you have tried what I said, and it still doesn't work, take the receiver back and get a refund, and buy an Onkyo, Denon, or Yamaha. Sony makes a good tv, but they're not one of the prefered receivers.

Here's an interesting tidbit from your manual (page 26):
• HDMI 3 input has a better sound quality.
When you need a higher sound quality,
connect your component to the HDMI IN 3
(for AUDIO) jack and select HDMI 3 as input.
So, according to that, I'd plug the BD player into HDMI 3 input.

Other tidbits:
• The audio and video signals of HDMI input
are not output from the HDMI OUT jack
while the receiver menu is displayed.

• Audio signals (sampling frequency, bit
length, etc.) transmitted from an HDMI jack
may be suppressed by the connected
component. Check the setup of the
connected component if the image is poor or
the sound does not come out of a component
connected via the HDMI cable.

• You can enjoy High Bitrate Audio (DTS-HD
Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD), multi
channel Linear PCM only with an HDMI
connection.
Earlier I said to set player's output to Bitstream. Looks like you may need to set it to output LPCM instead.

• Set the image resolution of the playback
component to more than 720p to enjoy High
Bitrate Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio,
Dolby TrueHD).

• The image resolution of playback
component may need certain settings be
made before you can enjoy multi channel
Linear PCM. Refer to the operating
instructions of the playback component.

Make sure you have the front speakers and surround speakers selected (SP A + B) see pg. 38.

Like I said, if after all this, it still doesn't work, get a refund!

Your receiver works fine. I also have the DN1000 and what you need to do is just press HDMI1 or HDMI2 etc, instead of BD or SAT on your Remote. that will get you both the picture and the sound. Just press the HDMI button that your component is connected to. I to was confused, but i figured out that you need to press the hdmi button on the remote.This is a great receiver and i've had it for just a week now. Don't give up on it

Glad someone with the same receiver chimed in.
Out of curiosity though, wonder why they have BD and SAT buttons on the remote, if you're not supposed to use them?

I really dont know why Sony designed the remote that way. This receiver doesnt allow reassigning of the inputs like other brands like onkyo. They expect you to use a Bluray player with optical or coaxial cables for sound? Doesn't make any sense!

So, are you happy with this receiver? I used to own an Onkyo 607. Hated the muffled sound and lack of power.

That sounds like a setup and/or speaker problem.

I have a Asus eee B206. I have it connected via HDMI, and the HDMI1 my DN1000, and get great picture, but no 5.1 sound. I've tried everything but I can only get 5.1 sound via optical from my Asus.

So, therefor I've connected an optical from the Asus to the BD optical in on my DN1000. How (exactly) do I get my rec. to, when I press HDMI1, show the picture (as it does) and also take the 5.1 sound from the BD optical in? Can the receiver do this?

Need4speed wrote "So, on the receiver, I had to go into settings, and tell it that the BD video source, was coming from HDMI #2."

 

How do I do this? I can't seem to find it in settings.

 

//Marc

You don't need extra connections for your audio.  I have the sony str-dh700 and I struggled with this too.  You need to set your Audio out setting to "Amp" instead of "Amp+TV"

There is a little note on page 28 of your manual that says:

• When you want to listen to the sound from the TV speaker, set "Audio Out" to "TV+AMP" in the HDMI Settings menu (page 81). If you cannot play back multi channel audio source, set to "AMP". However, the sound will not output from the TV speaker.

 

Audio Out (Setting HDMI audio input) Lets you set the audio output for HDMI from the playback component connected to the receiver via an HDMI connection. • AMP The HDMI audio signals from the playback component is only output to the speakers connected to the receiver. Multi channel sound can be played back as it is. Note Audio signals are not output from the TV speakers when "Audio Out" is set to "AMP". • TV+AMP The sound is output from TV’s speaker and the speakers connected to the receiver. Notes • The sound quality of the playback component depends on the TV’s sound quality, such as the number of channels, and the sampling frequency, etc. When the TV has stereo speakers, the sound output from the receiver is also stereo as that of the TV, even if you play back multi channel source. • When you connect the receiver to an image display component (projector, etc.), sound may not be output from the receiver. In this case, select "AMP". • When you select the input that you have assigned the HDMI input, sound does not output from the TV.

Will this receiver display the volume setting on the tv or projector screen (OSD) as you change it or will it only show the change on the receiver itself? 

I need to see the volume level as I change it as my stereo will be in another room from my projector. I will be using a remote extender for this. I am considering the Sony STR-DN1000, the Pioneer VSX-919AH-K and the Harmon Kardon AVR 254. My first choice is the HK because of its sweet GUI and sound but it seems so suffer from many bugs. I'm not sure if the Pioneer or Sony units with show the volume changes on screen through the HDMI connection to my projector. Any help is appreciated.

-Marv