Weird Problem with Onkyo Receiver and DSD Over HDMI

So, maybe someone here can tell me what I'm missing. This is the weirdest thing...

I got a new TV recently, and I also did a firmware update on my receiver. I'm not sure which one is responsible, but it's probably more likely to be the TV.

So, here's how things are connected. I have an Oppo DV-980H connected via HDMI to one of the inputs on my Onkyo TX-NR757 receiver. I then have my TV connected to the HDMI Out on the receiver. I have the Oppo player configured correctly to output DSD over HDMI when I'm playing an SACD. The thing is, since I replaced the TV and did the receiver firmware update...DSD over HDMI only works when the TV is disconnected. If the TV is connected and I play an SACD, the receiver picks up no audio at all from the Oppo player. But, the minute I disconnect the TV (at either the TV or the receiver end), it immediately picks up audio from the Oppo player and everything works normally.

Am I missing a setting somewhere either on the receiver or on the TV that y'all can think of? This is going to drive me nuts if I have to disconnect my TV every single time I want to play an SACD.

 

Did you try turning on the tv rather than disconnecting it?

 

Yeah, the state doesn't matter. The TV can be on or off, the result is the same. The DSD over HDMI only works if the TV is physically disconnected from the receiver.

 

Here's a wild stab in the dark - perhaps your receiver is trying to push audio to the TV instead of your speakers. Does the TV have speakers? If so, have you tried disabling them?

 

The TV does have speakers, and I have not tried disabling them because I've never heard audio out of them. Let me give that a shot.

 

It looks like the TV doesn't have an option to disable speakers entirely. All I can do is specify that I want the TV's audio to go to the internal speakers, out through optical, or both. That's not really disabling it. To try all possibilities, though, I set it to optical only and it didn't seem to help.

 

Only thing I can suggest is that perhaps your Oppo is treating the receiver's push to the TV as being an attempt to circumvent whatever restrictions are in place on the player for SACD, It may want SACD to go to the receiver and no where else. In which case, disconnecting the TV is the only way to solve the problem.

 

Wow, that would be really unfortunate if it were the case, but that seems like a plausible explanation. So weird. I'll keep messing around with it, but I appreciate the input. If anyone else has any ideas, I'm all ears.

EDIT: This seems even more plausible because the new TV is ARC-capable where the old TV wasn't. That may be the problem is that the Oppo sees the ARC as a forwarding of the DSD signal, but even so, disabling it doesn't seem to actually help.

 

What happens when you play something other than SACD?

 

Anything other than SACD works fine. I can play DVD-Audio in 24/96 over HDMI with no problem, CD audio works fine, Dolby Digital and DTS work fine...this is purely an issue with DSD over HDMI when the TV is connected.

 

I'll give that a try. Thanks!

 

Are you pushing the data correctly through the TV? Could be terminating the signal there. Try swapping the HDMI inputs and outputs.

 

There's not much I can do there, unfortunately.

Basically, there are two HDMI outs on my receiver. The "main" out which supports ARC (audio-return channel) and a "sub" out which does not support ARC. I've connected the TV to both of them and each time, the result is the same. The TV itself has three HDMI inputs and I've tried using all three of those and again, each time the result is the same.

 

I think on this one you might be best contacting Onkyo; it seems to be firmware related to your routing path and they might already be aware of it/have a patch?

Remember SACD>DSD out is a result of more recent HDMI advances, theoretically one of the major selling points of SACD as a format was to copy protect and make that signal out analog only, in which case you could use the analog signal but not the digital.

 

Try RCA from Oppo to receiver for audio dsd, see if that makes the difference.

 

Are running a cable box as well? If so make sure you have your TV and cable box running and pick whatever input setting you would for reg TV watching. Your output would be CD/bluray on your receiver.

Or visa versa, not at home so can't see how mine is set up.

 

Yeah, I may do that. That's why I mentioned in the original post that I wasn't sure if it was the new TV or if it was the firmware update to the receiver that I did at the same time. I'll try contacting Onkyo and see what they say.

 

Is Audio TV Out set to OFF?

 

The TV settings don't let me turn it off, sadly. I can only set it to Internal Speakers, Internal Speakers + Optical, or Optical Only.

 

This is a setting on your receiver.

See Page 18 of the Advanced Settings: http://filedepot.onkyousa.com/Files/own_manuals/TX-NR757_BAS_ADV_En_160314_web.pdf

 

Ah ok. So yes, that setting is off by virtue of the fact that I have HDMI-CEC turned off.