I have a strange problem with HDMI audio, which seems to be related to my TV more than to the other involved devices.
My current setup:
TV - Sony Bravia KDL46EX700
A/V Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR608
BD Reader - Sony BDP-S370
Game Console - XBox 360
All connections are made using HDMI.
I connected everything to the TV's HDMI inputs (which has 4 of them), because I find easier to select the active source on the TV instead of on the receiver; also, sometimes I use older devices with SCART connections, which the receiver can't handle.
The BD reader is configured for bitstream audio output, which it does at it should.
Everything works perfectly: the TV outputs the active audio source to the receiver, which does the decoding and sends audio to its 7.1 surround speakers. I can see the audio source format on the receiver, and it shows what it's actually receiving (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.).
Now, the tricky part...
When I put in a blu-ray disc which contains a DTS-HD Master Audio sound track, the receiver gets a PCM signal. But only with this setup, i.e. when routing the HDMI connections through the TV. If I take the HDMI cable out of the TV and plug it in directly into the receiver, without touching any single menu or anything else, the receiver gets (and shows it's getting) a DTS-HD MA signal.
I performed some other tests using digital audio files, and found the same behaviour to always apply: any audio format gets correctly streamed to the receiver, but DTS-HD MA gets converted to PCM. Also, when testing Dolby True HD, I found an even strange result: when going through the TV, the receiver gets (and shows it's getting) a Dolby Digital EX signal; when instead connecting the reader directly to the receiver and playing the same file, the receiver shows it's correctly getting a Dolby True HD signal.
What's happening here, and why? How can I fix it? Do I really need to route my HDMI connections through the receiver in order to use HD audio formats?
Message was edited by: Massimo80
