Onkyo TX-SR308 - TrueHD/dts-HD Problems

Hi All,

I've got the new Onkyo HT-S3300 system (includes the TX-SR308 receiver, strangely enough its labeled TX-SR380 on the front and manual...) hooked up to a Samsung UN55C7000 3D TV, Samsung BD-C6900 3D Blu-ray player, Shaw cable box and an Xbox 360. Everything but the 360 are connected using HDMI cables (v1.4 for the Blu-ray player and from the receiver to the TV).

Now when I setup the Blu-ray player to bitstream (audiophile) the audio to the receiver I get sound in the previews and menus but nothing at all in the main movie. The receiver doesn't show the Dolby TrueHD logo on the front when I am attempting to do this either (I don't have any dts-HD discs to test). If I set the Blu-ray player back to PCM sound works just fine.

Does anyone have any idea if something needs to be set on the receiver to enable Dobly TrueHD decoding? Perhaps something in the HDMI setup? Looking at the Onkyo website all I can find is a suggestion to turn audio from the TV speakers over HDMI to "off" which has been done with no luck.

I'm stumped but would like to get this resolved. I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to Blu-ray and these new audio formats so forgive me if this is something easy.

Thanks.

Not a bad idea in theory vmtls.

The problem is that I cannot set the listening mode on the unit to Dolby TrueHD at all. I've been educating myself with manuals and AVS forum posts on different Blu-ray audio in's and out's. What I've learned is there are basically two ways to get the audio from the Blu-ray disc to your speakers.

1. PCM - With PCM your player will do all of the decoding of the audio and send the decoded signal to your receiver. At this point the receiver doesn't do anything further with the audio other than send it to your speakers. Keep in mind this is still the lossless audio track (either Dolby TrueHD or dts-HD).
2. Bitstream (either TrueHD or dts-HD) - When you Bitstream you are taking the raw audio data off of the disc and sending it to your receiver to be decoded. The receiver runs the audio through whatever the hell is inside there and spits out the audio through the speakers.

So your 2 options are to have the Blu-ray player do the decoding (the BD-C6900 does both lossless formats) or to Bitstream it and have the receiver do the decoding. Reading over various other forum posts it seems that people more knowledgeable than myself seem to think either way is as good as the other. In fact I've seen some people call Bitstream decoding on the receiver a gimmick. I would like to be able to test it for myself but at this point I still cannot get sound when I Bitstream the audio.

As for your suggestion of the Digital Signal Input setting that won't work. Digital input on the TX-SR308 is for the optical/coax inputs, as my setup is all connected using HDMI v1.4 this does not apply to me. If you are reading through the manual for the receiver you should come across a little blurb in there that says any HDMI connections over ride whatever you set in the Digital Input section. I just turned the option off on the Blu-ray input on the receiver.

So don't despair too much. Don't get me wrong the audio is still fantastic with this setup, leagues beyond what I had before the upgrade and this is an entry level system! Sure the player might not decode the audio but you can still get the lossless tracks over PCM, you won't be missing out on anything.

I forgot to mention that I came across another guy in these forums who has the same receiver/BD player setup. He is also having issues getting the Bitstreaming to work over HDMI. At this point it seems to be an issue with the Bitstream between the Onkyo and the BD-C6900.

I've actually sent in help requests to both Onkyo and Samsung to see if they are aware of the issue and if they can do anything about it. Hopefully a fix is just a firmware update away, keep in mind both of these units are about a month old at this point, they probably don't have many people with this exact setup complaining just yet.

Three options on the Samsung BD player.

1. PCM
2. Bitstream (re-encode)
3. Bitstream (audiophile)

Manual says the audiophile setting turns off secondary and effect's audio. I believe this is the setting you are referring too jdsmoothie? This is actually the one and only setting that doesn't produce sound on my receiver. Sound cuts out as soon as the main movie begins to play.

Hey Guys,

So I've been in contact with both Onkyo and Samsung over this issue. I know that PCM is the same as the Bitstream as far as the sound is concerned but it is driving me a little insane to not be able to use the decoding on the receiver, I paid for it, I want to use it!

Anyway they both seem to think that these two players should work just fine with each other. The tech I am dealing with at Onkyo tells me he's actually hooked up the Onkyo 308 with the Samsung C6900 and his sound is working properly. Both companies have suggested doing a factory reset on their respective equipment and trying again. Here are the steps for you guys if you are interested:

Onkyo TX-SR308 Factory Reset -- To do the reset you need to turn the receiver on, then on the front panel of the receiver press and hold the "VCR/DVR" button while doing that press the "STANDBY/ON" button. You will see the word "Clear" in the display screen and the receiver will go into standby mode. Once the receiver goes into standby mode turn it back on and go through the setup menu for all custom settings.

Samsung BD-C6900 Factory Reset -- Power on your Blu-ray player and tune your TV to the input where the Blu-ray player is connected. For example, if the Blu-ray player is connected to HDMI 1 press the TV input/source/line button to tune your TV to HDMI 1. With no disc in the player press and hold the stop button on the front of your Blu-ray player for about 8 seconds or until the front display reads ‘SETUP’. 'Resetting all settings to default values...' is displayed on your TV screen as the Blu-ray player powers off and resets. The Blu-ray player is automatically powered on after the reset and the select Language screen is displayed.

If you guys choose to do the reset keep in mind you are going to lose ALL OF YOUR SAVED SETTINGS!! This is a factory reset, anything you set yourself is going to be lost and you'll have to do it all over again. Consider yourselves warned!

I'll give this a shot tonight when I get home from work and keep you guys posted on the results.

vmtls - No OTA or ARC use for me yet. I've been using a cable box for TV, the BD player and an Xbox 360. I cannot comment on the ARC functionality I am afraid. Sorry.

Max.23 - If you are using PCM with "Direct" mode you are bypassing all of your setting on the receiver. You are aware of this? By "settings" I am talking about any individual speaker dB settings you might have set, speaker distances and all of that. In direct mode the receiver just takes the sounds from the BDP and outputs them to the speakers.

You might be better off trying one of the Dolby settings. That said it is your ears listening to the sound. Try the different settings and use the one that sounds best to you. With Blu-ray I've found that you get a noticeable difference in sound when you measure the speaker distances and set those in the receiver. The sounds in a BD movie are engineered to reach your ears at specific times, with the speaker distances measured and set the sound seems richer somehow, you are hearing the movie as it was meant to be heard.

Just my $0.02.

I've talked to both Samsung and Onkyo about this issue. Neither thinks its their fault and neither has a solution. They told me to reset the devices to factory default and that should work, it didn't. I even went so far as to exchange my Samsung BD player, the second unit I tried doesn't work either.

They don't seem to know or care about this issue. Good luck!

Hi Guys, well I got another response from Onkyo about this issue as it hasn't been resolved yet. Here is what I got back from them:

"The TX-SR308 has no problem decoding Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio, I have ordered the Samsung player model that you have and will send you and updated email as soon as I get the player here in our office.

Thanks,
Jose"

So there you have it! There is NO problem, its all in our heads. I find that response to be funny because the first response I got from the same tech said the following:

"Before I emailed you I made the connections as we have both players here and it worked find and showed DTS Master on the display. I have heard from some customers that upgrading the firmware on the Samsung would correct the problem if that doesn't work then you can try the following reset..."

He then goes on to describe how to reset the receiver to factory default. Notice how in the first reply they say they've tested the same setup as I have yet in the second reply he has ordered the Samsung BD-6900? Interesting...

Anyway I'll keep everyone posted with the results of Onkyo's test whenever they manage to get back to me about it.

Hey Everyone,

Well Onkyo has tested all of the equipment we've been discussing and came up with the same problem. Swapping BD players corrects the problem so Onkyo has deducted that the issue is a Samsung one. Looks like I'll be dealing with Samsung to see if they are aware of the issue and can issue a firmware update to correct it.

Can anyone confirm the same problem with the Samsung BD-C6900 and a receiver other than the Onkyo? Confirm or disprove works just as well I suppose.

Thanks.