[David Allen]

When playing 1K tones from a standard-def Dolby Digital calibration disc from my Toshbia XA2 to a Pioneer HDMI 1.2 a/v receiver, I get 0dB (on an external meter), using bitstream mode (from either coax/spdf/hdmi). When I switch the HDMI ouput from bitstream to PCM, the tones come up at -4dB. Should I just calibrate based on HDMI PCM, and not worry about the difference with bitstream?

[Cavan.B]

I'd say calibrate at PCM mode only and let the player do all the decoding (i.e. don't use the bitstream mode). When you do get an HDMI 1.3 receiver, I'd change the setting to bitstream and recalibrate.