New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

No HDMI audio output on receiver?

post #1 of 9
4/23/09 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
I'm new to home theater (like so many people here looking for advice) so I apologize in advance for the newbie question.

I have seen a lot of threads about HDMI audio and comparing it to digital audio. My HTIAB system came from BB (Yahama 5.1) and it appears to not support HDMI audio. It does have HMDI inputs and 1 output but the manual states that "audio signals input at the HDMI jacks are not output from any speaker terminals."

I guess this means that the HDMI jacks are there for convenience if your TV has a single HDMI input?

Do the higher-end AV receivers have the ability to process audio coming from the HDMI cable?

Right now, I have the audio connected to the receiver via digital audio and I'm happy but I'm trying to learn.

I have a new PS/3 I am going to use to replace my Blu-ray and the setup manual there clearly states that you need to run the HDMI cable to the A/V receiver and then to the TV. I think they leave out the fact that not every A/V receiver can actually process the audio from the HDMI cable.

Is that essentially correct?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Ken
Reply
post #2 of 9
4/23/09 at 12:34pm

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
I guess this means that the HDMI jacks are there for convenience if your TV has a single HDMI input?

Yep.

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
Do the higher-end AV receivers have the ability to process audio coming from the HDMI cable?

Almost all receivers have this ability. Very few do not, you just happened to pick one that doesn't. One of the many reasons not to buy a HTIB.

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
I have a new PS/3 I am going to use to replace my Blu-ray and the setup manual there clearly states that you need to run the HDMI cable to the A/V receiver and then to the TV. I think they leave out the fact that not every A/V receiver can actually process the audio from the HDMI cable.

Is that essentially correct?

You can connect the PS3 via HDMI or optical for audio. You just have to go into the audio menu on the PS3 and select optical as your audio choice. You also won't get lossless audio, but will get DD5.1 and DTS.
Reply
post #3 of 9
4/23/09 at 1:05pm
Thread Starter 

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Thanks for the reply!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Stewart
Almost all receivers have this ability. Very few do not, you just happened to pick one that doesn't. One of the many reasons not to buy a HTIB.

Do you have some examples of a receiver that would make a decent upgrade? I have also read that in the HTIB speakers have weird features that don't necessarily make them compatible with other receivers. Is that true?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Stewart
You can connect the PS3 via HDMI or optical for audio. You just have to go into the audio menu on the PS3 and select optical as your audio choice. You also won't get lossless audio, but will get DD5.1 and DTS.

I assume you meant to say "and" instead of "or" in that first sentence.

So, is there really that much difference between the quality of the audio that I would get from the HDMI vs. the optical cable? Would the non-enthusiast even notice? Just curious.

Ken
Reply
post #4 of 9
4/23/09 at 8:11pm

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
Do you have some examples of a receiver that would make a decent upgrade? I have also read that in the HTIB speakers have weird features that don't necessarily make them compatible with other receivers. Is that true?

Too many to list and it's budget dependent. There's probably a few dozen receivers under $1000 that are very good. Some HTIB speakers have proprietary wire connections and almost all of them are low quality.

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
I assume you meant to say "and" instead of "or" in that first sentence.

So, is there really that much difference between the quality of the audio that I would get from the HDMI vs. the optical cable? Would the non-enthusiast even notice? Just curious.

Nope, I meant to say OR. You can send audio out from the PS3 via HDMI or Optical, but not both.

Quality difference? Yes, lossless is better. Noticeable to non-enthusiasts? Depends on who you ask. More knowledgeable people than you or I have debated this to death.
Reply
post #5 of 9
4/23/09 at 8:37pm

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Almost all receivers have this ability. Very few do not, you just happened to pick one that doesn't

I don't really agree with "almost all", and "very few". "Pass-through" only HDMI was far too common in years past in my view, I think only this year's models would truly qualify as "very few do not". Percentage varies by brand, and model year. Every year it improves though, as manufacturers support this feature lower & lower in their model line. Basically it started with only top-end models handling audio, then middle-end up, this year it's basically all but the bottom HDMI model for most major brands.

Quote:
Do you have some examples of a receiver that would make a decent upgrade? I have also read that in the HTIB speakers have weird features that don't necessarily make them compatible with other receivers. Is that true?

Yamaha 465 would be decent. HTIB speakers usually are compatible, you may have to strip the wires if they are using proprietary jacks, it's just that they usually aren't good enough to be worth the trouble. Non-powered sub would make things more complicated.

Quote:
So, is there really that much difference between the quality of the audio that I would get from the HDMI vs. the optical cable? Would the non-enthusiast even notice? Just curious.

It's going to be rather subtle, doubt most would notice.

For your PS3, just connect the HDMI to the TV for the video, the optical to the HTiB for audio.
Reply
post #6 of 9
4/24/09 at 4:58am

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

I agree with Steven for all but the following:

Quote:
For your PS3, just connect the HDMI to the TV for the video, the optical to the HTiB for audio.

Why not just connect to the receiver using the HDMI passthrough? He'd at least get the convenience of single remote swiching.
Reply
post #7 of 9
4/27/09 at 8:30am

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Tu
I don't really agree with "almost all", and "very few". "Pass-through" only HDMI was far too common in years past in my view, I think only this year's models would truly qualify as "very few do not". Percentage varies by brand, and model year. Every year it improves though, as manufacturers support this feature lower & lower in their model line. Basically it started with only top-end models handling audio, then middle-end up, this year it's basically all but the bottom HDMI model for most major brands.

Correct, I was not referring to every receiver ever made or else I would have mentioned that the majority don't even have HDMI (historically speaking). Since it seemed he just purchased his unit, I was talking about current models.
Reply
post #8 of 9
4/29/09 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Stewart
Correct, I was not referring to every receiver ever made or else I would have mentioned that the majority don't even have HDMI (historically speaking). Since it seemed he just purchased his unit, I was talking about current models.

Kevin (and everyone else) -

Thanks for the many replies. I bought this unit in December 2007 so it is not really current. I only started getting curious about the HDMI audio when I purchased the PS/3 which I got a month ago (and still haven't hooked up yet )

So, my HTIB is probably a model year or two behind.

I'm definitely going to check out the new Yamaha.
Reply
post #9 of 9
4/29/09 at 9:41am

Re: No HDMI audio output on receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by khill0
Do you have some examples of a receiver that would make a decent upgrade?

Yamaha makes a nice 5.1 receiver that processes HDMI audio, with 4 HDMI inputs, that retails for under $350, the RX-V465. It can process multi-channel LPCM, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS HD-MA over HDMI.

Unfortunately, BB seems to be dragging their feet in getting this year's models into their stores, but you can find it at Crutchfield for $329.99 with free shipping.

I have last year's RX-V563, which I recently picked up on closeout. Since you have a PS3 like myself, if you can find either the RX-V463 or RX-V563 for under $300, that is all you will need. Although the 463 and 563 cannot decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA, they can accept multi-channel PCM, which is what the PS3 is capable of over HDMI. The PS3 is kind of an odd bird when it comes to the lossless audio codecs, as it cannot transmit them as bitstream, only as LPCM. Although the x63 series only have 2 HDMI inputs, they do have multi-channel analog inputs and better speaker connnectors.

Both the x63 and x65 series have YMAO, which is Yamaha's speaker optimization program where you plug in the included microphone and it sends out test signals and calibrates your speaker settings. It will even tell you if you have the speakers wired out of phase. Supposedly, the x65's have an "improved" version.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home