Problem with HDMI

[lmorris]

Hi all i have a Sony bravia 40" LCD TV, Sony DAV-DZ660 surround sound, Sony PS3 and SKY +HD box. I have connected them all up using a HDMI splitter, all with good HDMI cables my problem is i get no sound through the surround sound. Weather its with DVD, Blue Ray or SKY, I have set the options in all the systems to HDMI but still nothing. I get sound through the TV'S speakers but not the surround sound speakers. When i connect the PS3 or SKY to the surround sound using a optical cable i get surround sound. surley I should be able to get surround sound using HDMI cables without the optical cable! Any ideas please.

[charlie angel]

From the specs of the Sony DAV-DZ660 at Sony's site, it looks like the HDMI connection is a switcher - so video only, not audio - hence why you need to use an optical lead for surround.

[lmorris]

Hi thanks for the reply, what do you mean by a switcher? i am new to this surround sound stuff. Will i be able to get dolby True HD and dts HD using an optical cable ?

[charlie angel]

All I meant was that the HDMI connection on that model is for video activity only (more commonly switching between video sources on an amp - DVD, games console etc) rather than audio decoding/passthrough.

Unfortunately you won't get TrueHD or DTS-MA through optical as it can't handle the bandwidth - you should get the core tracks from any Blu-Rays you play though (full bitrate DTS for example) so it should still sound very good :)

[lmorris]

Thanks i guess there is no way around this problem then?

[rwniel]

As the Sony DAV-DZ660 only has one optical digital input you'll either need to connect the surround audio outputs separately for both the PS3 and the SkyHD box via an optical digital switch such as this (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=84&url=http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/SW001.html). The alternative is to convert the coaxial digital input on the DZ660 to another optical digital input using a converter like this (http://www.thedvdforums.com/affiliatelink.php?localaffiliateid=60&url=http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=29293).

As previously mentioned, the DAV-DZ660 can't handle surround audio over hdmi hence the requirement to use separate optical digital connections to handle the surround audio (- specifically Dolby Digital, DTS 5.1 surround or pseudo surround via Dolby Prologic II processing if the program isn't being broadcast with a surround audio soundtrack for example). Unfortunately this is common on most all-in-ones and many (usually budget) standalone av amps/receivers as well.

Robert

[lmorris]

Thanks Guys for the help