Receivers don't process audio signals from HDMI connection?

[lunear]

One friend is going to buy a receiver and speakers to build up a home theater. He wants to connect the receiver and laptop with HDMI, and he wants the receiver can send the audio to speakers, video to HDTV.

However, the sales persons at BB, FS, and 2001AV all said receivers only pass through video signals only. He will not be able to hear sound, unless he buys high end receivers.

It is so ridiculous because HDMI claims to transmission A/V signals in one cable, and the audio is multi channels. If only connect your BD player with HDTV, you can hear stereo sound only. It makes HDMI not that useful.

Is there any good deal regarding receivers that can process audio from HDMI?

[Tom.F.1]

Receivers from almost every major manufacturer process audio from HDMI. Anything midrange up is pretty good at it.
All but the bottom of the line can do the new HD audio formats from BD.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POC...SX-818V-K.Kuro
probably can find that for 250 or less.

[lunear]

It is not true. Just like the link you posted, it says that receiver only "passthrough 1080P video".

If the receiver can process A/V signals inputted from HDMI port, it should be described like this:

• HDMI 1.3a (2 Inputs / 1 Output – Capable of Switching 1080p, DVD-Audio and SACD)

Just like the specfications of this:

Pioneer 7 Channel HDMI RECEIVER VSX9120

This is the cheapest one I can find that process HDMI A/V signals. However, it is still beyond my friend's budget. I googled it, and found that only receivers with HDMI Ver. 1.3a or above can do like that, because DTS HD can't be transfered through SPDIF ports, such as coaxial, or optical.

I don't understand why the manufactures don't add this function? It will cost them a lot? I don't think so. the decoding and DSP parts might be core and expensive. Just seperate A/V signals, and decode.

I wish someone can tell his/her story who has successfully tested using receiver to decode audio signals from HDMI connection, and then sending to speakers.

[skink]

Lunear,I believe your quite right.The 1.3a ver. was for the transfer of the new audio codecs.The other versions can pass the 1080p,but not the advance audio DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD.

[57]

You certainly don't need a "high end" AVR any more to get one that processes HDMI audio (Many BD players can do the decoding and send lossless audio to the AVR, so the processing doesn't have to be done in the AVR, but even some that process lossless audio have been on sale for pricing indicated below if you watch the sales).

Even some HTiB systems now have HDMI audio. Pricing is typically $400, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more, depending on brand/features. That's far from "high end", since AVRs can be priced in the thousands.

See the following post, useful when shopping for AVRs and the various features.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76082

[w3aponx]

One thing for sure is that you need to be careful about this. it's true that most people will just assume that receivers that have HDMI I/Os will process the embedded audio, but a lot of the more affordable (and commonly seen) ones do not. You want to skip the ones that talk about "passthrough" if you want audio decoding. Another thing is that you should never blindly believe the words of the sales persons at BB, FS and others.

Originally Posted by lunear

I wish someone can tell his/her story who has successfully tested using receiver to decode audio signals from HDMI connection, and then sending to speakers.

If you're looking for something affordable yet functional, consider the Sony STR-DG?20 family. The 720 will process audio on HDMI (although not the new HD codecs, but often what you can do is have your player decode to 5.1 or 7.1 linear PCM and send that over HDMI, so you might not need it). The 920 will decode the HD audio formats and add other advanced features, but is double the price.

I have the 720 myself, paired with a PS3, and basically I have 1 HDMI from PS3 to the receiver (linear PCM here), 1 HDMI from my HD PVR to the receiver (bitstream here), and 1 HDMI from the receiver to my TV (there's audio here but the TV is set to ignore it). No separate cables needed for audio (well, aside from the speaker wires), the receiver handles audio and video routing and it Just Works.

Check the suggested retail price on the 720, you can have it for 30% less easy in the big stores if you try. That's quite a bit cheaper than the VSX-9120, at least from the prices I've seen. I doubt you'll find something significantly cheaper than this that does what you want and is worth buying.

[lunear]

My friend bought a set of home theatre system. The receiver is Pioneer SX-310, which is a low end one. He connected the TV digital audio output to the digital audio input on receiver, and laptop to TV with HDMI. When OTA HDTV is on, the receiver displays "Dolby Digital", which indicates the HDTV audio signals are OK. When switchs to HDMI input, only display "Digital", and the surrond sound seems not real and sharp. Does it mean only stereo channels coming out through HDMI from laptop?

His laptop is Gateway M-FX6848.

[57]

I'm not sure if this is what you're doing, but you cannot usually go "through" an HDTV and maintain DD5.1 signals. See the bolding in the following FAQ:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870

You need to connect the device directly to the HTiB/AVR. If the device is directly connected, perhaps the configuration in the device is incorrect and only sending PCM or two channel audio.