For the 604, I believe that whatever input you have it set to (dvd or video 1) for your player to boot up all the way, it has to be on that setting. I have this problem with my 604 and A1 as well. So I have to turn on my reciever, switch it to dvd player (input that my A1 is on) and then turn on my A1. If not then the player doesnt boot up all the way, I get an HDMI Error.

I don't have to hit the buttons on the remote 2 times however to switch through my inputs. The only thing I can think of is either your batteries are dying (which Im sure you have checked that already) or with the audio settings on the 604, make sure you have your settings set to HDMI. There are a few digital input sound options (HDMI1, HDMI2, optical, coaxial) that it may be set to that could be causing your delays with audios. The button for this is on the reciever not on the remote however. If you look at the front page of this thread, you will see in the picture Josh posted of the 604 a little button at the bottom of the reciever marked digital input. Check the settings there, as that could be causing the issue.

Hope these help a little.

I finally got the Panasonic-DMP30 and it great. I hooked up via HDMI to my Onkyo 605 and the sound and picture are great. Thank you everyone in the forum for your help. I now have blu-ray and hd-dvd.

Now my question is that since my Onkyo 605 can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD. should I just set the Panasonic to bitstream out and NOT pcm?

Is this the besy way to maximize the best sound from my system.

I got my long awaited (1 month) Panasonic DMP-BD30K Blu-Ray player in yesterday. Had an expert come over and hook it up to my brand spankin' new Panasonic TH-42PZ77U Plasma TV. Finally after connecting the Yamaha HTR-5590 and my Boston sound system to it I sat back and was ready to be entertained with my brand new never before opened or viewed Blu-ray copy of Cars.

I was not exactly entertained when the Blu-ray player said it wouldn't/couldn't read the disk. WTF?! So we tried a couple more...some of mine and some of his that he'd played in his....ahem.....gameboxthingee and they work purrrfectly.

It plays regular DVDs beautifully. It even played a home made DVD of home movies that my idiot brother made me. But no likee Blu-ray disks.

Quick call to Panasonic this a.m. and my assurance that we did indeed d/l the software upgrade and successfully install it and still no go and he said and I quote: there's nothing I can do to help then you'll have to send it in/back/ack.

The good part is I bought it from B&H and they are sending me a postage free return deal and sending out a new one (that I ordered today) also postage free and for the same price I paid on 11/11 which happens to be $20 less than they are selling for now.

The bad part was THAT took about 1 and 1/2 hours to accomplish plus the irritation of having to send it back to begin with. My buddy asked what they were going to do (free DVD? gift card? cold cash? flowers? candy? hugs?) to make nice. I didn't think to whine about that so I'm just getting what I already bought and paid for just going to take another 5-7 days of waiting. Sigh. This is turning into the Christmas of Backorders thanks to all of you that had to tell people to come on down and shop online! (Kidding. Sort of.)

I bought the BD30K solely because I thought it would work hand-in-glove with the TV and I'm sure it will sooner or later. But it's never easy. I don't care what it is, it's NEVER easy.

Thanks, HD, for your help. I'll be giving you a call when the new one gets here! I promise to have something cold for you to drink too!

Happy holidays, all. I hope your backorders are filled soon and all your gear works right out the box the way God intended!

I didnt see this posted, so please forgive me if I am repeating it. I was checking out the Onkyo site and saw a link on the homepage for a firmware upgrade for the 605. It states the upgrade is for early units and you can check the serial number on the site to see if you qualify.

Since the BD30 doesn't decode the TrueHD or DTS-HD MA internally and the Onkyo does decode them, yes you should set it for bitstream.

My first player would read everything except Blu-Ray disks.
The replacement player played a friend's PathFinder and the
sequel to Zorro just fine. Next day it wouldn't read either
of my Blu-Ray disks (Cars and a John Wayne western). I
upgraded the firmware and watched most of the trailers for
Cars. Had to go do holiday related things and later tried to
show off how beautiful the pictures were and how awesome the
sounds and it won't play anything again. I paid 5 bills for
this thing and it's not worth anything to me as a giant
paper weight or something to play regular DVDs on. The best
thing I can say about any of this is that B&H couldn't be
better on their return policies and willingness to make me
happy.


Too much work just trying to get it to play a Blu-Ray disk.
When it does work it's great, when it doesn't it's an
expensive hunk of electronic junk. I wanted this player because I thought it would be ideal with my new Panasonic Plasma TV. The TV is great. Does anyone know if this is just an isolated luck of the draw with TWO of these players or is there a problem known to Panasonic and the rest of the HD/BR world that I don't know about?

Just got off the phone with my pal and he suggests it might be getting too hot in my entertainment hutch. I'll put a fan on that puppy if only it'll work like it did last night. It was just great while it lasted.

Ok, I'm a bit confused. I'm looking to possibly upgrading my current receiver (Sony STR-DA1000ES). I'm looking for an HDMI receiver. What is pass through vs switching? Basically, this is what I will have hooked up to my receiver.

- PS3 via HDMI
- 360 via HDMI
- Wii via Component
- Cable Box via Component or HDMI (if I find one with 3 inputs).

I currently run my cables directly into my TV and the sound via optical for my components. What should I look for? Onkyo 605 is the top of my list....but I would have to sell my current receiver first. I basically want all the next-gen audio formats since I have both Blu-Ray and the 360 HD-DVD addon

Also, if someone clears up this pass-through stuff up, it would help

The Onkyo 605 is cost friendly and works great. It should set you up fot the future of HD picture and sound.

Totally sucks. I have not heard great things about a lot of the stand alone blu-ray players. After several FW upgrades, I'm very happy with my PS3. But when I looked at stand alone players, I went HD. I have my 2nd A3 on the way. The 1st one I got, worked so well in the media room, when we bought a new TV for the living room and needed a new DVD player, I went with the Toshiba again. Very good at upconverting SD and of course a solid HD player.

This discussion is mostly related to the video signal in the receiver, or the audio signal in the HD disc player. Passthrough basically means no decoding, just send the signal through the machine untouched. If you upgrade to an HDMI receiver, you likely will run video through the receiver, which has always been a question to people (will this audio device damage the video) since the 80s when they started putting video connections in receivers.

So, video:
Many receivers now have video upconversion built in. You can take an older progressive scan DVDp and have the receiver convert the 480 lines to 720 or 1080 to match your HDTV. But, passthrough is an issue for HD signals that you may NOT want converted before getting to the TV. Some are worried that the receiver won't pass an HDMI video signal without changing it to a certain resolution. I doubt very much that any receiver would not have a passthrough ability for HDMI signals, it just doesn't make sense.

And audio:
On the player side, the new audio codecs are an issue in many ways. Players don't support them, or only partly support them. And the same for receivers. The receivers look to be supporting all the formats faster than the players, so people want simple passthrough of the audio over HDMI so the receiver can do the decoding. This does require a brand new receiver.

Thanks Spiky....I think I understand it now. Basically, I have a PS3 and 360, so would the Onkyo 605 be a wise choice if I want Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD? HDMI carries all these formats, correct?

How do I set up the A3 and Onkyo 605 to take advantage of Dolby True HD?

HDMI is able to carry any audio or video formats we currently use. However, it still depends on the particular machines to actually send/receive all these formats. So you still have to shop. So I think the 605 covers you on receiving all the formats, but you do have to make sure your source can send it.

Any new info at CES on these? I was still looking at the 605 (I believe the PS3 sends Dolby HD...correct?)

I can get the Onkyo 605 for around $359 here locally, but I wanted to know what is in the pipeline. I would have to sell my semi-older receiver first also (as my wife frown on me upgrading things every so often). I have a Sony STR-DA1000ES receiver if anyone is interested

PROBLEM:

My brother just got this receiver, and he is having issues passing video to his TV.

The setup.

Comcast DVR box with HDMI connected to 605 HDMI IN2
HDMI OUT to his Sony LCD TV
Sat/Cable set to IN2 and HDMI Monitor YES

He is only getting SOUND, no VIDEO....are there issues with the Receiver? I am troubleshooting over the phone, but I want to know if I missed anything.

So, anyone help me? I'm going over there later today to help. These issues may shy myself away from getting one. Unless it really is user error. Sounds like it is a VIDEO OUT issue with the receiver (and after reading reviews, some are DOA)

All I know is my friend got the 605 the other day and I hooked it up for him. Two HDMI ins and one out to his TV. Worked perfectly. Make sure you have the TV set on the correct input. Other wise sounds like a problem with the 605.

Ok, I have a question for you guys about the Onkyo 604b. It seems like I can find this one for a pretty good price and I wanted to get your collective opinions on whether or not this receiver would be a good fit for me.

This is what I am working with:

-Very limited knowledge of these type of things, but an appreciation for good sounding movies and tv shows (rarely listen to music in this room).
-I only have a 5.1 setup and as long as I am in the house I am in, it will probably stay that way (however, there is a possibility of moving in a few years to a bigger place).
-I have a Mits 55'' HD RPTV with a DVI input, no HDMI.

-What I will be hooking up to it:

Comcast HD cable
Xbox 360 (will be purchasing very soon)
Wii
Standard DVD player

Sometime this year I hope to het a Blu Ray DVD player, this will replace the standard one obviously.

So essentially the Xbox 360 and Comcast will use the HDMI and optical inputs (since my tv only has DVI), the Wii will use component, and in the future if I get a Blu-Ray player I will need another HDMI and optical or digital coax connection.

So, the question is, do you guys think the Onkyo 604b is a good fit for what I have and what I need? I am leaning towards yes, but as I said, my knowledge is pretty limited on this and I may be missing something.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give!

EDIT to ADD: I just found this receiver for 269.00, it was a display model, but never hooked up or used, just sat there...in case that makes a difference...

I'd also check the menu of the DVR. Try connecting the DVR sraight to the TV and see if you get sound and audio. Also, try connecting through the other hdmi port IN on the receiver.

Interesting we are not talking about any new receivers. Looks like the 605 is still the receiver of choice (in that price range). I figured there would be a slew of new receivers coming out.

I'm sure there will be, but it depends on when the companies release their new models. Most probably don't come out until well after Christmas. Sony's new models are released between August and October.

I too was wondering if there was any news on new receivers from CES though.

Anyone know if Harman Kardon announced any new receivers at CES?

Ok, guys, I've never invested in a sound system before. I have some questions:

1.) If I have an HDTV with two HDMI slots -- both in use (one connected to my PS3 and one connected to my digital cable box), where does a soundsystem fit into the equation? It looks to me as if purchasing a receiver with HDMI in- and out-puts is the way to go. Will I need to buy some sort of a splitter to use this?

2.) What's the least I would have to spend for a receiver and speakers that would be able to playback True HD audio?

1) PS3 >> HDMI cable >> Receiver >> HDMI cable >> HDTV

If you also want to use the sound system with your cable box you should be able to use an additional HDMI input on the Receiver and use it as a switcher. In that case, you would only be using one HDMI input on your HDTV, the one from the receiver. Or you could leave your cable box hooked up to the HDTV as it is now and continue to use the HDTV speakers for cable TV programs.

2) The Onkyo 605, much discussed here, is usually available for about $400 and can sometimes be found for a bit less. It has two HDMI inputs. The more expensive Onkyo 705 has three HDMI inputs. Both can decode Dolby TrueHD bitstream audio from the PS3 (and DTS-HD-MA when the PS3 gets that from a firmware update).

As for speakers, you could spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars for "Home-Theater-in-a-Box" type speakers to many thousands of dollars. I'll leave it to others to suggest speakers that represent the best value for the money because I haven't a clue these days. For a basic 5.1 surround sound system you need six speakers: Right Front, Center (where the main dialog is handled), Left Front, Right Rear, Left Rear, and a subwoofer for LFE (Low Frequency Effects).

^ Very helpful, thank you!