[Kevin M]

I have the Halo edition 360 and I hoped that I could run both that and my Sony up-converting DVD player to my HDTV and just run one optical cable to my receiver cutting back on the forest of cables behind my system....no such luck it seems as neither of the HDMI cables seem to want to pass a 5.1 signal to my TV and therefore to my receiver.

Bogus. I mean was this not one of the selling points of HDMI, it's ability to reduce the amount of cables needed to pass high quality A/V signals to HT systems?

[craig_curtis]

yea I 'm right there with you. I foung a CHEAP hdmi cable on amazon, but if it doesn't pass the audio, I'll have to buy the $50 xbox specific cable, since it has the special widget for optical audio out of their LAME proprietary connection system.

[Zack Gibbs]

HDMI does output 5.1, as far as I know it's the only way to output the new lossless formats of HD as optical/coax doesn't have the bandwidth. Your problem is the TV isn't going to divert the HDMI signal to your receiver, it will only output stereo. You can't use your TV as the hub, the A/V receiver is the hub, you connect all your components to that and it goes out to the TV.

[Jeremy Little]

Zack has it right. You need to pass the HDMI to you receiver, then out to the tv. The tv cannot pass on the hdmi audio in 5.1 and the optical port on your tv is just for the integrated ATSC tuner.

[TonyTone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zack Gibbs

HDMI does output 5.1, as far as I know it's the only way to output the new lossless formats of HD as optical/coax doesn't have the bandwidth.

I thought optical/coax does have the bandwidth to pass the new(er) HD audio formats, but that it was the implementation that prevented them from doing so--i.e., specification only allowed for pass-through via HDMI only. Sorta like how component video is quite capable of passing 1080p but the powers that be proclaimed that such would not be allowed.

[Kevin M]

Well if there is a way to make the 360's HDMI cable pass 5.1 to my HDMI switching Receiver then I haven't found the necessary menu in the 360's control panel to make it do so....for that matter I can't make my Sony up-converting HDMI DVD player do so either....any advice?