Help setting up a yamaha 6130b for surround sound!

[riviera]

Hi.I am new to this forum and the whole home theatre scene.I just bought a samsung 50" plasma,a samsung 1600 bluray player,and have a Rogers Hi def pvr.All have HDMI and optical capabilities.I have a Yamaha 6130B A/V receiver that I am going to use,but I have don't know how to set up the input-output wires to get 5.1 sound.(I have 5 speakers and a sub already)I was told this receiver only has HDMI pass through,which won't power the speakers on the reciever,(why that is I don't know)so I am at a loss how to hook every thing up to get 5.1 sound from my Bluray player,and TV(if that is even possible).As you can see, I need some help.Thank you very much in advance for any advice you can give me!!!!!Sincerely,a stumped and frustrated new home theatre owner.

[HT gearhead]

Not to worry, just plug in one HDMI cable from your bluray player to one HDMI input on the Yamaha receiver and another HDMI cable from the PVR to the other HDMI input on the receiver. Then connect a third HDMI cable from the HDMI output on the receiver to the HDMI input on the tv. You wont get 5.1 out of the tv itself but you will still get sound from it. The 5.1 will come from the Yamaha unit itself through your surround speakers and sub. Hope this helps.

[57]

The thing that HT_gearhead neglected to mention is that you'll also need a digital audio connection (coaxial or optical) from the two devices to the AVR if this AVR doesn't handle HDMI audio. If the unit does more than HDMI switching and handles HDMI audio, these will obviously not be required. This should be covered in the owners manual and you can always check by simply using HDMI. Sometimes the various digital audio inputs need to be "assigned".

See the following post on Cables & Connections:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76085


And the following post useful for those new to the forum - search tips, FAQs, etc:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741

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

[riviera]

Thank you for your replies!I guess my main area of confusion is:The two optical inputs on the back of the receiver are labelled DTV/PVR and the other one is CD.So what optical plug goes where and from what device?Also do you know why there are HDMI inputs on this receiver if they don't support audio?And why would I want to run my video from my bluray and PVR through the receiver?I am really mechanically inclined,but this stuff is all new to me and has me a bit confused.In a nutshell I just want 5.1 sound from my Bluray to watch movies,the TV I am not too concerned about.Thanks again.

[eljay]

The two optical inputs on the back of the receiver are labelled DTV/PVR and the other one is CD.So what optical plug goes where and from what device?

Connect your Blu-ray player to whichever input you like. To hear the audio, select that input. Same goes for your PVR.

Also do you know why there are HDMI inputs on this receiver if they don't support audio?

The HDMI connectivity allows a user to connect more than one component to a display that has only one HDMI input*, and to pass through both the audio and video from a selected component to the display.

(*Since most, if not all, newer displays have more than one input, this isn't a particularly useful feature anymore.)

[57]

What eljay says about the inputs is correct, use whichever you like and choose that input when you want to listen to it. However, if you don't like to remember that "CD" is your DVD player for example, then you can "reassign" that digital input to whatever input you want (DVD for example). This was mentioned by me earlier and should be covered in the operating manual.

Some people like to use their AVR as a "switch" so that they don't need to change inputs on the TV, or as eljay said, people could be short on TV HDMI inputs.

I usually recommend that you connect HDMI directly to the TV if possible, as this allows you to optimize (calibrate) each input on the TV for the particular device. It also precludes any deleterious effects than an inexpensive AVR can have on an HDMI signal . In this case it'd even save you an HDMI cable. See the second link in post 3 about optimization.

A Harmony remote is often useful for doing all the "switching" - one button press gets you what you want.

[wgauci]

Riviera, I did a quick check online of your manual. What 57 is pointing out is correct, your receiver doesn't output audio through the hdmi to the speakers, only the hdmi display/output.

So you can connect your PVR to the DTV/CBL input on your receiver with either a hdmi cable or a component cable and then use an optical cable to the digital audio input marked DTV/CBL. Then connect the blue ray with the same connections to the DVD input using either the hdmi or component connections and a digital audio cable to the DVD digital audio input on the receiver, there is no digital optical input. This will allow all audio inputs to be output to the speakers and you leave the display on mute.

It's odd that they give you one optical input for the cable box and a one digital coaxial connection for the DVD. They're both digital connections, you're just going to have two use to different types of cables. The receiver doesn't output the audio to the speakers via the hdmi connection because the HTR6130 is a more entry level receiver. You'd have to go to one of the higher priced receivers to get the hdmi audio outputs, i'm guessing the 6150 or higher unless you get one of the previous models, I have the 6080 and it does audio over hdmi.

[pharsyde]

...congrats on the new gear.

not really clear from your thread if you bought the 6130 ..or you have already. not to tell you what to do ..just info. that may be of interest to you.

. there's a bunch of newly featured yamaha's coming out soon well under (in some cases) $ 500. the RX-V465 reads as a great little reciever with the lastest audio formats Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master Audio..

even better .. its HDMi capability allow transfer of video and audio data. if you bought the 6130 think about returning possibly .. you'll be way better off waiting the next little while for a RX-V 465 (for example)...crammed with technology you'll be happy you have

if you paid a $ 1,000 or more (assumming new) for the 3 devices just purchased ... you may be willing to pay a relative-reasonable sum more for the much better reciever from a technology point of view.

..until than. lets us know if you can't get audio when you run the blu-ray player.

[57]

...It's odd that they give you one optical input for the cable box and a one digital coaxial connection for the DVD...

As stated earlier, there are simply 3 digital inputs (two optical, one coaxial) that (I'm pretty sure) can be assigned to whatever inputs you want to assign them to, even though they come "pre-assigned" to certain inputs.

[riviera]

Thanks you everyone for your responses.I am learning.........So,as 57 stated in one of his posts,it is better to route the HDMI cables from my blu-ray and PVR directly to my TV,which I have done already, should I use the digital inputs on the receiver for sound only,and run an optical cable from my blue ray and PVR into the inputs on the receiver?Should I use optical wire or Digital coax(orange input)for the DVD?I guess I should have asked more questions before I bought this receiver,so I could get audio from the HDMI inputs,and not have to worry about all this confusion.Anyways thanks so much for your responses everyone,have a happy easter!Regards;Tom

[57]

Should I use optical wire or Digital coax(orange input)for the DVD?

They are equivalent, so run what you like, or what's available. Read the first link in post 3.

If you have some more money and can return this unit, perhaps that's something you should consider? Read the third link in post 3 if you're going to do that.

There may be more confusion to come when it comes time to set up the audio options on your DVD player - depending on what you do regarding the AVR and connections. We'll be here.

[frosty vibe]

Like 57 said in post #6 the HDMI port has to be matched the corresponding audio input,. i.e. if your PVR is linked the HDMI labelled DVD then your audio cable needs to be connected to the digital audo labelled DVD as well.

You can reassign the inputs as covered in page 48 of the manual.

For instance, my PVR is connected to the DTV/CBL HDMI and I am running coaxial cable for audio and it is labelled as DVD. What I had to do is to change audio input #1 to DTV/CBL so that when i switch to DTV/CBL input I am getting input from both HDMI for video and coaxial for audio.

As a sidenote, the 6130B doesn't handle 1080p well with PS3.

[57]

riviera stated in post 10 that he is bypassing the AVR with HDMI, which is good for several reasons:

1. He won't run into any HDMI signal degredation.
2. He won't have the 1080P issues (flicker, no signal, handshake, etc) associated with some inexpensive AVRs
3. He won't have to assign the audio inputs to the same input used by the HDMI, even though that's relatively easy as mentioned by frosty vibe above
4. He can calibrate the TV inputs for each device, if necessary.

Now, if riviera decides to change AVRs, then the discussion will change.

[riviera]

I have SOUND from all five(six with the sub) speakers!!Thank you all for the help.The only way I can get dolby digital, is to use the bitstream audiophile mode from my samsung blueray player.The PCM mode and the bitstream re-encode mode only give me the prologic mode on the receiver.Is this the correct mode I should be using?Thanks for the help guys!

[57]

Bitstream is correct for the digital audio connection. The other modes you mention are for the HDMI HD audio options, which your AVR doesn't allow.