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Cisco 8742HDC and Dolby 5.1

post #1 of 9
1/31/12 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
Does anyone know if it's capable of 5.1 via HDMI into a Samsung TV or if I'm stuck with running SPIDF? I only have two SPIDF ports on my AVR and have a computer running Plex and the Samsung (Smarthub as well as Blue Ray player and Apple TV plugged in via HDMI). If I have to run the cable box via optical as well I now am stuck using a manual 3/1 switch and don't have the luxury of a fully remote controlled system...unless anyone knows of a remote controlable SPIDF switch.
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post #2 of 9
1/31/12 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovrdrvn View Post

Does anyone know if it's capable of 5.1 via HDMI into a Samsung TV or if I'm stuck with running SPIDF? I only have two SPIDF ports on my AVR and have a computer running Plex and the Samsung (Smarthub as well as Blue Ray player and Apple TV plugged in via HDMI). If I have to run the cable box via optical as well I now am stuck using a manual 3/1 switch and don't have the luxury of a fully remote controlled system...unless anyone knows of a remote controlable SPIDF switch.


What model AVR do you have? Does it have HDMI inputs? The Cisco should output 5.1 via HDMI.
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post #3 of 9
1/31/12 at 6:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovrdrvn View Post

Does anyone know if it's capable of 5.1 via HDMI into a Samsung TV or if I'm stuck with running SPIDF? I only have two SPIDF ports on my AVR and have a computer running Plex and the Samsung (Smarthub as well as Blue Ray player and Apple TV plugged in via HDMI). If I have to run the cable box via optical as well I now am stuck using a manual 3/1 switch and don't have the luxury of a fully remote controlled system...unless anyone knows of a remote controlable SPIDF switch.

Depends on the available settings by your cable company, you can set it up with 2-channel on HDMI with 5.1 on SPDIF or change the settings on the box to pass 5.1 thru HDMI. Who is your provide can help us help you..
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post #4 of 9
1/31/12 at 7:50pm
Thread Starter 
TWC NYC and having tried HdMI from the Cisco to the TV (optical back to the Denon AVR) as well as Cisco to AVR and AVR to TV (same optical) I was never able to get true 5.1. Optical out from the Cisco to the AVR was the only one I could get to work (had same issue with my prior Samsung 3090 box). Does that make sense?
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post #5 of 9
1/31/12 at 10:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovrdrvn View Post

TWC NYC and having tried HdMI from the Cisco to the TV (optical back to the Denon AVR) as well as Cisco to AVR and AVR to TV (same optical) I was never able to get true 5.1. Optical out from the Cisco to the AVR was the only one I could get to work (had same issue with my prior Samsung 3090 box). Does that make sense?

Even if there is DD5.1 on the TV's HDMI input, there will only be 2-channel PCM on the TV's digital output (coax or optical.) If you want DD5.1 going to your AVR, don't go to the TV first.
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post #6 of 9
2/1/12 at 3:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by domino92024 View Post

Even if there is DD5.1 on the TV's HDMI input, there will only be 2-channel PCM on the TV's digital output (coax or optical.) If you want DD5.1 going to your AVR, don't go to the TV first.

Yes I agree. You only get 5.1 from the TV for over the air broadcasts if using an antenna. Anything else ( cable, Blu-Ray, etc) will be output 2.0.
If you have an antenna or rabbit ears handy, you can test it.

There are very few TV's out there that will output 5.1 from the back of the TV for anything other than OTA broadcasts. My Zenith (LG) is one of them.
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post #7 of 9
2/4/12 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
Samsung tech support (level 2...no comment as to the skillset) claimed their LED 7000 series was capable of routing 5.1 back to the AVR. While their own 3090 cable box and the Cisco were faisl in this capacity, I did get an Apple TV (set to Dolby rather than Auto) to send 5.1 successfully. Will try a Blue Ray player in the next fee days and report back.

Anyone see an advantage of either routing the cable box HDMI through the TV or through the AVR (optical from the cable box in the AVR in both cases)?
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post #8 of 9
2/5/12 at 5:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovrdrvn View Post

Samsung tech support (level 2...no comment as to the skillset) claimed their LED 7000 series was capable of routing 5.1 back to the AVR. While their own 3090 cable box and the Cisco were faisl in this capacity, I did get an Apple TV (set to Dolby rather than Auto) to send 5.1 successfully. Will try a Blue Ray player in the next fee days and report back.

Anyone see an advantage of either routing the cable box HDMI through the TV or through the AVR (optical from the cable box in the AVR in both cases)?

If you connect a Blu-Ray player to your TV and pop in a Blu Ray disc which most likely will have "DolbyTruHD" or " DTS-HD Master Audio" soundtrack, the TV will only output at best 5.1, so you are better off connecting the Blu-Ray player, as well as the Cable box , directly to the Denon (assuming your Denon supports DolbyTruHD and DTS Master audio).

Another advantage (at least for me) is that if your Samsung and Denon have HDMI control capability, they can both power on or off simultaneously with the TV remote, also you can control the receiver's volume with the TV remote. I think Samsung calls it "Anynet".
Also assuming your Blu-Ray player is "HDMI-link" capable, if you turn on your Blu-Ray player, the receiver will switch to the correct input automatically.
I have a Panasonic TV and Blu-Ray player with Viera-link, plus an Onkyo HT-S3400 recieiver and the components linked together works great.
Also another reason I go the the receiver first is so I can see the receiver's "on-screen display" when making adjustments, something you can't do if you go to the TV first.

In my opinion, the tv's "digital audio out" is only to be used for OTA broadcasts, or gaming consoles like the Wii, which is only 2 Ch stereo anyway.
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post #9 of 9
4/28/13 at 7:25pm
Just hitting this same issue with TW-NYC Cisco 8742HDC,
I'm NOT feeding that HDMI directly into a big-screen TV, I'm feeding it into an HDMI input on a Yamaha RV-V773WA. It has 6 HDMI in/2out and I bought it in large part to avoid this BS. It can't do anything with the Audio from the Cisco except treat it like an extremely old, extremely low res signal. It can't even use it's decoders on it as it would if it were an analogue stereo signal. The only thing that works is feeding the CISCO SPIDF to digital Audio input on the Yamaha, and they didn't think to link a bunch of those to their HDMI's--assuming that wouldn't be necessary.. EVERY other device I have with an HDMI---ROKU, Western Digital TV Live, Buffalo Media Streamer, hll even my old SONY 400 DVD changer with an HDMI---they all work just fine, (except if I'm streaming McEnroe/Borg's 1980 Wimbledon Final. That old video looks just like a 2013 Cisco HDMI audio signal.

HDMI protocol mandate certain standards which I think this Cisco fall well short of. The audio from that CISCO HDMI should be compatible with at LEAST:
ALPCM, Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, High Resolution Audio, DTS-HD Master Audio, MPCM, DSD, DST


If I do as T-W advised and set the output for both HDMI & Toshlink to "Dolby Digital" It actually sends , to both some kind of brain-dead limited channel signal, which the Yamaha sees as "Dolby Disabled" and it's completely immune from any kind of Dolby Pro-Logic decoding. The Yamaha can use that signal to "simulate" 20 year old Dolby Stereo, which uses 2 speaker of my 7. That's about the best it seems able to do with it. Setting the Digital Output to HDMI only, result in a useless HDMI audio signal but at least Toshlink is left alone and manages to send a decent signal that the Yamaha, and presumable other Home Theatre Systems can work with.

I can only guess this is some hare-brained DRM scheme at Time-Warner gone astray. Eventually I'll take a De-soldering coil to it and straighten out it's malfunction. T-W will just swap out my failed prototypes. It also needs a bigger hardisk than the 500Giger it comes with AND a commercial skip--I'm told it's in the hardware supports it** (as it always did on TIVO and Replays-- just disabled.at the request of Sony Entertainment et al.

** It's got an instant replay--too brief to be of much use but it's a start.
Edited by Paulb - 4/28/13 at 7:52pm
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