HD Extender HDMI Audio questions

[inseattle]

I finally have a 5.1 audio system with HDMI inputs now!! I have questions as to how audio over HDMI should work. There were a lot of threads related to HDMI audio but I just couldn't find the answer to my questions. So here they are.

Even though the extender is physically sending audio over the HDMI connection, on the extender audio config screen, we can either select SPDIF or HDMI for audio.

1) Which one do we select in order to get AC3 over HDMI ? From what others have reported and from what I have seen, in order to get AC3 over HDMI, we need to select SPDIF in the config instead of HDMI. Is that correct ?

2) If I select HDMI, are we getting stereo over HDMI ?

3) Is it possible to use the extender's volumne control with an HDMI connection ? I have noticed that it works in some setups but not in others. What are they ? I really like the volume control OSD and dont want to loose it.


Thanks.

I have the latest HDE firmware and Sage version.

[cncb]

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) I don't think so but if you are using digital audio output you really should be using your receiver/amp volume control.

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by cncb

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) I don't think so but if you are using digital audio output you really should be using your receiver/amp volume control.

In the same line/thread of questions..

4) If I use HDMI for audio in the setup, is the SPDIF output still active? I'd like to output Stereo to the TV, but 5.1 to the receiver..

[Enormous]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

In the same line/thread of questions..

4) If I use HDMI for audio in the setup, is the SPDIF output still active? I'd like to output Stereo to the TV, but 5.1 to the receiver..

From my experience with the HD extender, the SPDIF output is always active (at least with either SPDIF or HDMI audio selected).

[gblinckmann]

I just hooked up an extender using HDMI for the video and SPDIF going to my receiver. I'm only getting stereo from my receiver, and not the 5.1 sound. I've got two other devices hooked up to my receiver using SPDIF and they both give 5.1 sound, so I think that I have everything set correctly on the receiver. I've updated to the latest firmware, of course. I've also made sure that SPDIF is selected for the audio.

HDMI, if I remember correctly, negotiates audio capabilities. Is it possible that using HDMI to my stereo TV is causing the sound through the SPDIF to "dumb down" to stereo, too?

[Mitch G]

I have the same setup - HDMI for video and SPDIF for audio.
I get full 5.1 discreet when the source has it. Otherwise, my receiver goes into Pro Logic mode.
All I did was select SPDIF for audio as well.

So, I wonder if there's an audio setting in your server that is causing stereo to be delivered to the extender.


Mitch

[gblinckmann]

Originally Posted by Mitch G

I have the same setup - HDMI for video and SPDIF for audio.
I get full 5.1 discreet when the source has it. Otherwise, my receiver goes into Pro Logic mode.
All I did was select SPDIF for audio as well.

So, I wonder if there's an audio setting in your server that is causing stereo to be delivered to the extender.


Mitch

Does your TV have audio, or is the HDMI just doing video? I just don't see much I could have screwed up to kill off 5.1. I'm still looking, though (as I certainly can't rule out "operator error").

[Mitch G]

Are you asking whether audio is being sent to my TV over the HDMI? If so, yes.
BUT, I don't use that audio at all. It's turned all the way down.
Instead I listen to all audio through my receiver - via SPDIF in the case of the HD100.


Mitch

[gblinckmann]

Originally Posted by Mitch G

Are you asking whether audio is being sent to my TV over the HDMI? If so, yes.
BUT, I don't use that audio at all. It's turned all the way down.
Instead I listen to all audio through my receiver - via SPDIF in the case of the HD100.


Mitch

Ah. Okay. Me, too. I don't really us the HDMI audio to the TV, either. You mentioned that there might be a server setting that forces stereo?

[inseattle]

I have tried this setup too with an optical cable and it worked fine. You might want to make sure that the content you are playing is 5.1.

[Mitch G]

Originally Posted by gblinckmann

Ah. Okay. Me, too. I don't really us the HDMI audio to the TV, either. You mentioned that there might be a server setting that forces stereo?

I don't actually know if there's such a setting. I was just wondering out loud as something to go look for in the millions of menus and submenus.

[gblinckmann]

That's probably it, something in the menus. I am sure that the source material is in 5.1. I also checked my receiver's settings and hardware by swapping toslink ports with another device.

I'm assuming that any material with AC3 5.1 surround sound should work with my receiver doing the decoding. The server's decoders shouldn't really come into play with the HD extender.

[gblinckmann]

I ran some more diagnostics tonight. I didn't get the results that I expected. I thought that the HDMI audio might be forcing stereo output via the toslink connector. So I tried setting up the HD100 using S-Video. I then got nothing via the toslink. Changing the video back to HDMI, I got the audio via the toslink connector again. The audio from the receiver can't be coming from the TV's HDMI connector since they aren't connected.

I checked the files that I'm playing with MediaInfo. They show up with 5.1 surround sound.

I thought that the diagnostics would clear things up. Now I'm really confused!