What audio format do you use on your A2?

I don't know much about your receiver. With my RX-V1700 I use auto for HDMI.

I have the Onkyo 803 and I have HDMI set to "auto" (which means multichannel PCM will go to recv'r when TrueHD/DD+ is playing, and bitstream will go to recv'r when DD/DTS is playing).

I think I have the SPDIF set to "bitstream", but it really shouldn't matter since we're using HDMI to carry the audio to the recv'r. I know if you use the optical, the manual recommends playing with the HDMI setting as well since the HDMI setting can affect the optical out. But that is moot for what you're doing.

This is an honest comment and not meant as a criticism, but I've noticed many people posting questions about which settings to use and how to hook up the audio and which soundtracks on the HD-DVD to choose from. I honestly don't see what the confusion is. The manual makes perfect sense to me and I always choose TrueHD if it's available.

Just my $0.02.

Chris

Do you have a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up?

Ditto. Same receiver but with XA2.

You're not providing enough information. What kind of disc are you playing? What soundtrack on that disc are you selecting?

With HD-DVDs, all you WILL get is multichannel, since TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus are decoded by the player and sent, as 5.1 only, to the recv'r as multichannel PCM. I don't have 7.1 speakers, but there're other people on the forum who mention how to make the extra 2 "rear" speakers play sound...I think you have to do something on the recv'r for that.

When you're playing an old style Standard Def DVD (with Dolby Digital or DTS), you *should* get Dolby Digital or DTS on the recv'r, assuming that you've set HDMI to Auto on the A2. That's how it works for me.

Chris

The Onkyo only handles 5.1 through HDMI. It says in the manual, and I have the same one as well. We have to wait for this years model to get 7.1 through HDMI (not confirmed yet).

I have an optical cable hooked up in addition to the HDMI, so when I play a S-DVD with DD+ or DTS-ES, I get the 6th channel.

You won't be able to get 6.1 or 7.1 DolbyTrue with this match. The DVD doesn't have analog out, and the reciever only does 5.1 HDMI in. So, enjoy the 5.1 TrueHD until you get a new rec or new HD-DVD.

I'm in the same boat.

To me, personally, I would take 5.1 True HD over 6.1 or 7.1 of the regular DD or DTS. To me, its much crisper sound. Batman Begins and V for Vendetta are two that I have in TrueHD and they sound fantastic.

DTS and DD still sound good, don't get me wrong, but I'll take lossless sound given the opportunity.

It really doesn't matter for me, because I only play HD DVDs on my HD-A2 and every HD DVD soundtrack is sent as PCM anyway. But still, I set HDMI to "PCM" on the A2 and set my HD DVD player's receiver input to only accept PCM signals. I own the Denon AVR-4306 and because it handles PCM signals so well with its AL24 processing, I have my players decode legacy codecs when possible.

It's crazy to give up the LFE channel, full discrete channel separation, and audio as intended just because your receiver won't matrix audio to the rear surrounds for 5.1 multichannel PCM signals.

If you don't know, that is precisely what you are doing by selecting the "down-mix" option. It mixes the full 5.1 soundtrack into two channels. It should only be used if you have the audio sent to your display, or maybe if your receiver doesn't handle PCM at more than two channels (many would rather use SPDIF and have the tracks re-encoded into DTS in this case).

Are any TrueHD tracks 7.1? Im still using 5.1.

Wait, wait, wait. The spec sheet for the A2 and XA2 says Dolby TrueHD(5.1ch). You guys are talking about matrixed THD?

The Toshibas do indeed decode TrueHD at 5.1, and they are indeed capable of outputting it as 5.1 PCM.

What the OP's doing is down-mixing the 5.1 TrueHD tracks into two channels, where he then matrixes the two channels through his receiver by applying PLIIx. He is much better served by sticking with full 5.1 and just forgetting the fact that his receiver cannot matrix two rear channels out of 5.1 PCM signals.

I was wondering why this post sounded so odd to me. Thanks.

what setting should i use if i simply play it thru the tv's two speakers?

thanx


mike

I hooked up red/white RCAs to and from, and just turned down the rec, turned up the TV. Worked fine.

thanx, but what audio setting do u have on the a2-hd for 2channel listening?....AUTO,PCM, BITSTREAM,ETC?

Well my TV doesn't have HDMI, I had to run an HDMI>DVI cable, hence why I hooked up the RCA's

My audio settings are HDMI>Auto, SPDIF>Bitstream.

I don't use the TV sound when watching DVDs though. I usually don't even use the reciever when watching TV unless its a major sporting event.

ok thanx!