Sony STR-DA3500ES connection advice

[admin_exported]

Yesterday I bought the 3500ES. I really wanted a 5500, but I am on a budget. I also paid for a BDP-S760 blue-ray player and a subwoofer, and am upgrading my Sky (New Zealand) subscription to get their HDi decoder, but won't take delivery of those until later in the week. I plan running a 5.1 setup, bi-amping the front speakers. The brands/models I'm replacing aren't relevant - suffice to say it's ten year old 5.1 technology, running at 4.0 (no sub and the right rear channel doesn't work!)

Enough waffle - here's my problem and question:
I've connected my old DVD player to HDMI IN 2 on the receiver (as suggested in the Operating Instructions), then connected the receiver's HDMI OUT to the TV. I'm very happy with the picture and sound, so long as the receiver is set to HDMI 2, which makes sense - that's where it's plugged in! But the receiver has a selectable input called DVD. When this is selected, there's no picture or sound. Call me old fashioned, but I'd like to be able to select DVD on the receiver when I want to watch a DVD, not HDMI 2. Similarly (when the new kit arrives) I want to be able to select BD to watch blue-ray or SAT to watch Sky, not HDMI 3 or 4, respectively.

How do I get an HDMI quality signal into the receiver from my DVD player, which is matched up with the DVD input selection on the receiver? I'm probably missing something really basic and obvious here, but it's starting to frustrate me...

 

[Big Chris]

Enter the set-up menu on the amp and you should be able to assign the HDMI inputs to a function.

You may even be able to custom name the input so it reads 'Blu-Ray' or 'Sky' or whatever on the amp's display when you select it. Handy if your remote just has a list of AUX1, AUX2, AUX3 etc, etc.

 

[The_Lhc]

Big Chris:You may even be able to custom name the input so it reads 'Blu-Ray' or 'Sky' or whatever on the amp's display when you select it.

Ten year old Sony AV amps have this ability, so I'd certainly hope the current ones do!

 

[Big Chris]

I didn't want to assume without knowing 100%.

 

[Anonymous]

Managed to get that sorted last night - thanks for the advice. The info. was way further back in the Operating Instructions novel than I had managed to read yet! I have a "follow up" question about it though...

When I go to the GUI, and chose the options to change what's assigned to the DVD input, it has two "panels" on the screen - one to select the video source and one to select the audio source. So I select HDMI2 for the video, but the audio options only have Video1, Video2, MD/Tape (all optical choices), DVD (Coax) and Analog. Wouldn't the audio come through the same HDMI input?

 

[Anonymous]

I know there are a couple of people working in Sony Centres who hang out in these forums, so I'm adding to this thread (and hopefully bringing it back to people's attention) in the hope someone can answer this question now that the BDP-S760 and subwoofer have arrived...

I get exactly the same problem with the BD player as I had with the DVD. I can connect it to the HDMI 3 input and get great sound/picture quality when HDMI3 is selected as source on the receiver. Or I can reassign the input for the BD source on the receiver so that video comes from an HDMI inputs - but there is no HDMI option under "Select Audio", so I get picture but no sound. It seems bizarre to me that I can't press the BD button on my remote and receive picture and sound via HDMI. Shouldn't HDMI be the preferred connection type for a blu-ray player, and therefore be a standard option for the BD source? Or, based on these similar sounding threads - 1200, 2400 - is this a limitation of Sony receivers?

OK, I haven't read the operating instructions for either the receiver or blue-ray player from cover to cover yet -this may be covered and I just haven't got that far. But I did ask two different sales people at my Sony Centre - one had no idea and the other said that if HDMI was assigned as the video signal for the BD source it would automatically take the audio signal from HDMI as well, so not to worry that there was no HDMI option in the audio menu. But surely if this was so, I'd get sound?

 

[Anonymous]

Did anyone ever manage to resolve this?

I have the Sondy 3500es and have the same problem. Simply, if you have the HDMI source (e.g. Blu-Ray) connected to HDMI3 then if the input selector is HDMI 3 then you get sound via the HDMI. If you assign HDMI 3 to the "BD" profile you get the picture but not the sound, the sound is only selectable from coax/optical inputs or analogue. The manual says that it will choose HDMI if available but it doesn't seem to! I even tried putting in a digital link as well and sure enough it uses that rather than the HDMI when on the BD profile. There seems to be no way of getting sound via HDMI when using any input other than the relevent direct HDMI input.

Very anonying simply because when you press BD on the remote (which can control the BD player) you don't get the full HD sound! Grrr.... anyone get any joy finding a way around this?

Many thanks

Simon

 

[psurquhart]

Ditto

Got the Sony STR-DA5400ES - Excellent amp, well chuffed but exactly the same problem.

Pleeeeeesssssseeee - anyone ? Help us Sony newbie amp purchasers out.

Does seem like a bit of a mistake ( unless corrected by someone on this forum ) to make by a so called AV giant ?

Perhaps Richard or someone from WHF Team can enlighten us all ???

 

[psurquhart]

Apologies for the above post !

When I mentioned Richard - I was actually meaning Andrew ? An easy mistake to make if indeed you are as crazy as me ? I have no idea why Richard came out of my brain ? Mr Everard I apologise !

Anyway, can you help ?