HDMI Switcher & Surround Sound (1 Viewer)

[olivier.cn]

Hi,

I have an issue getting surround sound working in my setup and I believe it is caused by my HDMI switcher. Here are the facts:

[*]TV: Panasonic Viera TC-P55UT50 (2 HDMI in, 1 Optical out, one of those has ARC)
[*]Home Theatre: Sony DAV-HDX900W
[*]HDMI Switch: Rocketfish RF-G1185 HDMI Switch 4-in 1-out
[*]Setup:
[*]Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS3 plugged into the the HDMI switch
[*]HDMI Switch is plugged into the TV (in the non-ARC port) via HDMI cables
[*]TV plugged into the Home Theatre via Optical cable
[/list]
On my old set-up, with a Sony Bravia TV which had enough HDMI ports that I didn't need the switcher, surround sound worked.

Now, trying to set the audio output to "surround" on my game consoles gives me an error message and I cannot get the surround sound to work properly.

I would like to avoid paying $3-400 for an A/V Receiver or an HDMI matrix (with optical cables) unless absolutely necessary, but would very much like any help/advice on the matter!

Thanks!

 

[schan1269]

Sony* (and only a few models) is the only one passing DD incoming HDMI to outgoing digital.You won't get DTS at all that way.*supposedly some Samsung pass DD. But since this is the wrong way to do this (cause you don't get DTS, LPCM, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA/HR or DD+), no one cares to find all of the models(2-3% of all TV models available) that can pass DD.Connect it the right way. (Which is not necessarily a matrix. There are HDMI switchers with digital audio out...that keep 5.1 on audio output. Not all do)

 

[schan1269]

Caveat here. Forgot this was HTiB...Does it even accept anything more than DD on its Toslink?

 

[olivier.cn]

Thanks for the reply schan1269! So if I get this right, my Panasonic TV doesn't passthrough DD, so an HDMI Switch with Toslink could work for me? I believe my HTiB supports DD and DTS but not LPCM, Dolby TrueHD, etc.

Do you believe something like this HDMI switch do the trick?

http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-105557-Toslink-Digital-Coaxial/dp/B003L14WB8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1414383904&sr=8-3&keywords=hdmi+switch+with+optical+out)

Otherwise, I would likely end up getting a new receiver and use my current speakers to bypass the switch - I'm not against it, but if there was a way not to spend the extra money, it would be great!

 

[Jason Charlton]

Otherwise, I would likely end up getting a new receiver and use my current speakers to bypass the switch

Only you can't use those HTiB speakers with a regular AVR. Those speakers have an impedance of 3 ohms. This is the biggest drawback to the HTiB systems - you can't upgrade them piecemeal. If an upgrade is in your future, you'll likely have to start from scratch and perhaps move this system to a bedroom or other location.

 

[Robert_J]

Yes it would. I already use a Monoprice HDMI switch but I need additional inputs for my some new equipment and that's the model I was looking at.

 

[schan1269]

Technically you "could" use those 3ohm speakers...but...It would have to be a Yamaha or Onkyo.The power rating on those speakers is bogus. They might handle 20 watts of real juice...before going up in flames.Not kidding about the flames. Cousin had one of these 500w 5 DVD systems back in the day(married to a med student...graduated med school with no debt...).Anywho, I took a pair of the speakers and connected them to an Adcom* of roughly 150wpc(speakers were rated 180...)It took about a minute for smoke to emerge from the speakers and the wire caught on fire. Looked like a fuse for dynamite.I already knew that was going to happen. I was just having fun.*This particular Adcom was one of the amps spec'd for the Scintilla. So you don't have to look it up...The Apogee Scintilla was a 1ohm speaker. Capable of being wired to .5 ohm.

 

[olivier.cn]

Hi guys - thanks for replies! So in my haste I ended up ordering both the Monoprice HDMI Switch w/ Toslink AND a Sony STR-DH740 AV Receiver as I figured I'd try both set-ups and whichever one works best (and is the cheapest) I'd keep, returning the other.

The Sony STR-DH740 was delivered first and I was able to hook it up to the HTiB speakers (using new audio cables) and the sound came out properly in 5.1 Surround with the options for LCPM, DTS, etc.

I'm getting the Monoprice HDMI Switch w/ Toslink later this week but was about to return it as I'm quite happy with the new AV Receiver however I'm now worried my speakers may go up in flames... I'll try the HTiB with Monoprice HDMI Switch w/ Toslink and if I can get the 5.1 Surround that way, I think it'll be my preferred solution (cheaper and likely less risky!).

I'll update this later in the week - feel free to chip in with any other advice!

Thanks!

 

[schan1269]

Or, return the HDMI switch and pick up the Yamaha $120 5.1 speaker set.

 

[ArmSC]

Or, return the HDMI switch and pick up the Yamaha $120 5.1 speaker set.

YEP! I couldn't agree more this with...Yamaha set or Monoprice set would do you fine.