Switching to HDMI from Component Cables

rtribble

The surround amp for my old Sony home theater system cratered so I thought I would upgrade with a HDMI amp & DVD player, keeping the old 5.1 speakers.
My TV set is a somewhat dated Sony big screen with a DVI-D input along with the component cable inputs.
So I purchased a Sony DG810 amp & DVP-NS77H DVD player as both offer HDMI capabilities.
I used my cable companies HDMI capable set top box and routed the cable source to its' input. I then connected my amp using the set top boxs' HDMI output to the amps HDMIs" input.
I then used a HDMI to DVI-D cable from the amps HDMI output to my TVs' DVI-D input.
I then connected the DVD player to the amp with a HDMI cable from the DVDs' output to the amps input.
Problem;
While I get great video from both the cable set top box & DVD player, I get zero sound from the amp to my surround speakers( the amp sent a strong tone signal to each speaker durring set up with no error message).
While I realize the HDMI to DVI-D cable won't send audio to my TVs' speakers, shouldn't the amp send the audio to the speakers attached to it via the HDMI input to the amp from both the set top box & DVD player?

mathias

Have you set the amp to handle the audio correctly , most amps will have a setting whereby the audio is handled by the amp or passed through to the TV , assuming of course there was a HDMI going to the TV.

You will need to toggle this setting so that the amp always handles audio. Depending on the amp , you may well have to set this for every input.

rtribble

Yes the amp is desinged to be programed to use HDMI as the only source output and that is how I programed it to operate useing HDMI only for everything
I bought this amp over E-Bay as "new" but it did arrive with the operation manual missing(had to download one off the web) so although it appeared new who knows. The seller claimed to have checked the unit out before shipping which brings more questions. After going over it with the seller to ensure I have connected and set the amp up correctly, he has agreed to take it back for a refund.
I just wanted to know if I've missed something or if the HMDI to DVI-D to the TV was somehow not allowing the amp to power the speakers directly.

Victor_M

Sounds like the HDMI to DVI conversion is where your sound is getting dropped, do you have RCA stereo outputs on the amp to carry line level audio to another source? Does the TV have line level in? and run a seperate stereo l/r cable in parallel with the DVI cable.

Either that or take the audio feed from the source eg the stereo out on the back of the sky digi box or using the supplied cable that came with the PS3, you will only be able to do that for one source though. I presume the source switching on the amp is for purely HDMI though for picture and sound so you may have a problem.

Does your telly have component video inputs, you could use a component video and stereo outs from the amp if it has, might be lucky it the amp does component to HDMI switching.

bennyob

i found this review.......

"However, what Sony don't tell you (except burried in tons of tiny statements) is that IF you use the amplifier's HDMI output to feed signals to your TV, the amplifier will ONLY transmit video signals (from your cable/sat box and DVD) if they come in via the HDMI input. In other words, if your DVD does not have 'HDMI out', and you connect it with the component or yellow video cable, the Sony amplifier will NOT NOT transmit (the tech tern is "up convert") the signal to your TV. For such a connection to work, you will have to connect the amplifier to the TV via normal cable instead of or in addition to HDMI. "