Hi all,

I have just purchased the WD TV HD Media Player. After my purchase I learned it does not support DTS which I really need since I'm planning to buy a 5.1 surround system. I have a 46" Sony TV with 3 HDMI ports.

I'm also planning to buy a reveiver (probably together with 5.1 speakers as a package) but the only thing I don't understand is how to setup everything.


1. Should I connect the HDMI from the WDTV to the receiver and then to the TV or won't that pass the video along.

2. Should I connect the HDMI from the WDTV to the TV and then an HDMI from the TV to the receiver or won't the TV pass the DTS audio along.

3. Should I connect the WDTV with HDMI to the TV and an optical from the WDTV to the receiver (I would prefer one of the methods above since (I could be wrong) I think HDMI would pass better quality).


Any help would really be appreciated!

I think you have to go with option 3.

Quality is the same... after all we are talking about 0 and 1 (00111010101) in both HDMI and Optical.

;)

thx for the response. Do you think the above options are possible or are they simply not possible. Thanks.

Would this work as a receiver?

http://www.mustbuyelectronics.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=210

Thanks!

Depending on the receiver and television you have to pick wich connection would work better. It really depends on the capabilities of the receiver and wether you would see an improvement on picture quality by having the video passing through the receiver.

In the next couple of days i am going to be getting a denon AV receiver and am planning on conecting all my av stuff(ps3, wdtv stereo) to it (Via HDMI, Optical and component respectively) and just having one hdmi cable go to the tv from the receiver.

Depending on the receiver and television you have to pick wich connection would work better. It really depends on the capabilities of the receiver and wether you would see an improvement on picture quality by having the video passing through the receiver.

In the next couple of days i am going to be getting a denon AV receiver and am planning on conecting all my av stuff(ps3, wdtv stereo) to it (Via HDMI, Optical and component respectively) and just having one hdmi cable go to the tv from the receiver.

So do receivers have the ability to pass video through them and would it work to just have an HDMI connection between my TV (recent Sony model) and the receiver (the one I mentioned in my previous post)?

Cant tell if that thing has HDMI in, but if it does all you need to do is plug the hdmi from the WDTV to the reciever.

Then the hdmi out from receiver to tv.

Or you can go
HDMI>>TV (video)
OPTICAL >> RECEIVER (audio)

I dont think you want the audio to go to your tv via optical then to receiver like you said in #3. Imo that is the least optimal set up and some tv's will not support it.

Some HDTV's only output stereo from the toslink unless you are using the internal tuner.

Cant tell if that thing has HDMI in, but if it does all you need to do is plug the hdmi from the WDTV to the reciever.

Then the hdmi out from receiver to tv.

Or you can go
HDMI>>TV (video)
OPTICAL >> RECEIVER (audio)

I dont think you want the audio to go to your tv via optical then to receiver like you said in #3. Imo that is the least optimal set up and some tv's will not support it.

Some HDTV's only output stereo from the toslink unless you are using the internal tuner.

Thanks! "WDTV -((HDMI))- Receiver -((HDMI))- TV" seems a great setup.

Could someone PLEASE tell me if this will work as a receiver and if I will be able to do the combination I mentioned above?
http://www.mustbuyelectronics.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=210

Could someone PLEASE tell me if this will work as a receiver and if I will be able to do the combination I mentioned above?
http://www.mustbuyelectronics.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=210

I had a situation like this where a Sony home theatre (can't remember which) had optical inputs and DTS decoding onboard BUT it could only decode DTS form its internal DVD player and NOT form external device connected to optical in, so I 'd say: it's not guaranteed, it's best you ask at the shop to perhaps try it out (any old DVD player will do, just make sure you bring a DTS DVD disc along :D

IMO your better off getting something without a dvd player. An audio receiver is what you need, and then you will know for sure if it does dts as well.

It seems lots of these dvd home theatres arent as good as a good ol receiver. Unless the dvd is one of your main concerns.

This may be a stupid question, but I am new to this game and just want to know. To get DTS sound you have to connect the blu-ray player to the reciever using an optical cable. Is this correct or not? The reciver is a one year old denon.

For verification and clarification:

Using a new version of the WDTV Live,
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Network-ready-Player-WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN/dp/B002KKFP9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272933016&sr=8-1

I'll be playing a variety of video files with different (yet common) audio tracks, including AC3, AAC, DTS, etc.

Which of the following would be the best method to achieve 5.1 surround sound?
1) WDTV --HDMI--> HDTV --Optical--> Denon 1910
2) WDTV --HDMI--> Denon 1910 --HDMI--> HDTV

go with # 2.

Note: WD Live does NOT support DTS-MA or DTS-HD and never will. WD Live does support DTS-"Core". WD Live does support DD HD but not in all containers. Example - at this time, not supported in MKV container. So one should expect audio playback problems with various combination's of audio codec and containers. http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/HD-Audio-Support/idi-p/92#comments

Thanks for the response.
Which format combination should I try to go with to achieve true surround sound?
AVI and AC3? MKV and AC3?

I've been experimenting quite a bit, especially with music lately and the best setup is definitely hdmi out for vid and optical out for aud. it's been pretty hit or miss on 5.1 files. almost all .wav files play perfectly (receiver decodes dts) but any odd file type for music (i.e. .vob, .iso) is a gamble - some will play but some get an error saying the file type is not supported. every .flac I've tried has also had the same error - I think I read that wdtv doesn't support multiple channel flac files. fortunately, most of the torrent dts music files I download are encoded in .wav and play perfectly through my receiver. usually it's one file for the whole album, which stinks because in most cases wdtv can't recognize tracks, so you can only seek through the whole album. about half the .iso dts albums I've dl play, so it's basically just trial and error. most everything I dl sounds awesome - it all depends on the receiver -definitely have to connect optical out to the receiver. good luck...