Pioneer DVR-660H-K - no sound from digital coax when hdmi is connected

When you use other HDMI for video only but not audio, there's usually an HDMI setting for turning audio off there, then the other audio takes precedence.

I bought the DVR-460 recently. I haven't opened the box yet but going through the manual I downloaded, it looks like when you connect HDMI that's the only way to transmit audio (can't be routed to another connector).

I have a HDCP-enabled DVI connector on my TV and so I can use a DVI-to-HDMI adapter but then I'll have no audio. It talks about this on page 120 of the manual:

Initial Setup Menu
Audio Output
*This setting is not available when a DVI device is connected.

From this I'm filling in the blanks and assuming that it's all or nothing for audio using the HDMI connector.

So his options appear to be:
1) Live with TV audio
2) Go back to component cable and lose his 1080p upconversion
3) Upgrade his receiver

You can try to use a digital output from the tv to a digital analog converter, then using the rca output from the dac to your analog receiver.... but it may not work for digital signals coming over an antenna... mine doesn't, though it works for movies and music on the hd.

Every piece of A/V gear has a "gotcha" hidden somewhere waiting to trip up users with mixed old and new hardware: this audio glitch is Pioneer's. There is no setting you can make: the coax audio is only active when HDMI is turned off, and the recorder is feeding a traditional receiver/TV system with analog video (component/S/composite) and digital audio over the coax. If you turn on HDMI, the recorder assumes you've moved on from 2001 to 2011 and now own an up-to-date, completely HDMI-connected system. HDMI is a pretty monolithic, all-or-nothing standard so this lockout of simultaneous coax digital audio is not unusual.

There are workarounds, there always are for those persistent enough, but it usually isn't cost-effective unless you REALLY love the old receiver and can't possibly afford to replace it with an updated similar-spec unit. Some combination of HDMI splitter and audio converter should be possible, a lot of people have very elaborate expensive systems that would require a similar solution. But the cost of these accessories might exceed the cost of a new mid-price all-HDMI receiver, which is the easiest answer if it suits your budget and you're not attached to the old receiver for any particular reason.

Aside to kymics: you found a Pioneer 460 "recently"? You are lucky indeed: these 2008 "ultimate" Pios are rare beasts now, and fetch sky-high prices even used on eBay. Enjoy it: I own two 460s and love 'em!

Richard III dug up a old post(Jan '09) so that "recently" isn't really that recent
Someone recently did this over at VideoHelp and just about got run out of town

Damn! I *always* get fooled by these re-animated threads, if they concern Pioneers! I'm attracted to Pioneer threads like wajo zeros in on Magnavox or Rammitinski to Sony (like bees drawn to specific flowers).

Oh, well: "never mind..."

Personally I'm OK with reviving a old thread if questions from the past remained unanswered(and it doesn't get out of hand) it's not like we're overrun with new posts in this forum but I'd think most of the time the OP is long gone. As a reader of older posts it's always nice to have the OP fully answered. Sometimes I've searched for similar questions to mine only to find similar questions but not always answers. Of course if the OP was fully answered it doesn't really serve any purpose to "grave dig" as someone at VH said

The worst "gotcha" was not to include a digital tuner.

I don't know what you mean and I don't know what offence I'm guilty of. I wanted to get my digital TV signal to be outputed to my DAC and then to my receiver. I don't understand what it was you think I did.

I discovered this when I came back to say I think I'm going to go the computer route: TV and recording via Windows Media Center and either keep the Pioneer as another DVD player or throw it out.

Oh, by the way, Jan 09 is when I joined AVS forum. Could you be confused by that?

Well, the Pioneers after 2006 were pulled from the American market specifically because Pioneer (along with every other mfr except Funai) did not want to risk losing their shirts jacking up the price of their already-$499 DVD/HDD recorders by another $100 to just to comply with our inane premature DTV regulations (which didn't go mainstream until two years later, so they were correct in their assumption the thing wouldn't sell worth diddly at $599 or $649). The 2007 and 2008 Pioneers (like your 660) were intentionally designed without a digital tuner, strictly for the Canadian market which had no need of a DTV tuner and would not need one for quite some time yet (given Canada would lag the twice-delayed USA switchover by at least a year). Sure, it would have been great if the 460-560-660 had early-adopter ATSC tuners and were sold in the USA, but I'm very happy with them as-is since I'm stuck with a cable box anyway. Those final Pioneers were probably the best overall DVD/HDD recorder design ever sold, its a shame Pioneer tanked during the 2008 global meltdown or they might eventually have come back to the USA with an ATSC model once Canada moved to DTV and expanded the demand.


Throw it out? You'd get $300-400 easy for it on eBay from some American who's been Jonesing for a 660 since 2008 (the 660 was the rarest and most coveted model). If you want a new HTPC, selling your Pio 660 will net you a nice downpayment.

I have a new Pioneer VSX-1127-K and it looks like this is still an issue.

It turns out a simple call to the manufacture answered this.
You setup through the on screen interface inputs you want.
So you need to have set the correct digital audio input (coax 1, coax 2, opt 1 or opt 2) for that hdmi input.
Now exit the on-screen menu... and start using the device. (You will not have any audio yet).
Then when you select device you press the "4" button on the numeric keypad on my VSX-1127-K remote (source sel). You should see the screen on the amp scroll through auto, analog, digital and HDMI each time you press the button. It is selecting the audio sources that you picked in the on-screen menu for that input. (If your device is not scrolling through modes on the amp little screen press the press the receiver button under the option button on the remote. Then go back to source sel button and now it should be working.)

When you select digital input you should get the audio to start working.

JoeDawson, you rock man! This one had me stumped until I discovered your post. Thanks much