Onkyo tx606 ps3 hdmi video but no sound

[bellinghop]

For whatever reason the sound went out when I tried to use the ps3 and onkyo tx606 together. I know there has been problems with the hdmi boards on these receivers in the past. Anyways, there is sound when I use netflix but I can't get any sound in either the "multichannel" or get it to light up with "true-hd" when playing blu-ray. It seems like the hdmi handshake for the sound is catching for some reason. Also, hulu has no sound and sometimes the xmb menu has no sound. PS3 works fine when plugged into my samsung tv. xbox works fine plugged into the receiver. The picture is there but there is no sound. Was on the phone with onkyo for an hour but they were out of ideas. Any help would be appreciated.

[bellinghop]

And I can get sound during the movie but not in True hd or with multi-channel. It only seems to go through pliix

[MrBoylan]

And I can get sound during the movie but not in True hd or with multi-channel. It only seems to go through pliix

Doesn't sound familiar. Sorry. My guess would be that you're getting 2-ch PCM but not bitstream so take a look at the PS3 audio output settings in the XMB menu and also the various set-up menus on the Onkyo receiver to make sure you have your PS3 and receiver's HDMI settings set correctly.

You don't mention whether this is an original PS3, or PS3 slim. If it's the original (fatter, noisier) PS3, then you will never get the Dolby TrueHD light on your receiver because it could not pass Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams. It can internally convert these to multi-channel PCM so there is no loss but you just won't see the DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD indicators on the receiver. If it were working properly, you would see "multi-ch" (or something similar) on the Onkyo display as it would be receiving a 5.1-ch or 7.1-ch PCM signal over HDMI. The newer PS3 slim can pass DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks over HDMI bitstream.

Just to confirm though - you are connecting the PS3 with an HDMI cable to the receiver, and connecting the receiver to the TV also using HDMI, yes? There is no need to have any separate cables (optical or analog) if you are using HDMI. It might be worth swapping out the HDMI cable to make sure you don't have a defective cable.

Good luck.

-CB

[bellinghop]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It's a PS3 slim. HDMI connecting everything. And I've tried switching the cables, too.

What's weird is that the only way I can get sound at all is to manually set the ps3 settings. I have to uncheck all of the later 5.1, 7.1 boxes and have the sound set on PCM. But the "multi-ch" won't light up on the onkyo with the ps3 set this way. It will light up if I check all of the boxes but that's when there's no sound.

Even more strange is that that I used to set it with the default ps3 settings and then switch it all to bitstream with no problems at all (receiver would light up tru hd).

It might just be that this onkyo is a piece of garbage and I should get something new. Suggestions?

[MrBoylan]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It's a PS3 slim. HDMI connecting everything. And I've tried switching the cables, too.

What's weird is that the only way I can get sound at all is to manually set the ps3 settings. I have to uncheck all of the later 5.1, 7.1 boxes and have the sound set on PCM. But the "multi-ch" won't light up on the onkyo with the ps3 set this way. It will light up if I check all of the boxes but that's when there's no sound.

Even more strange is that that I used to set it with the default ps3 settings and then switch it all to bitstream with no problems at all (receiver would light up tru hd).

It might just be that this onkyo is a piece of garbage and I should get something new. Suggestions?

Ah, well if it's something that actually used to work fine and suddenly stopped working without any changes to the receiver or player, then yeah, that points to this being an actual problem with the receiver. Search online to see if there is a hard reset for the TX-SR606 that will restore everything back to factory defaults. Usually there is a set of button pushes that can accomplish this but it generally changes with every model. If doing a hard reset on the receiver doesn't get this to start working again, then you may need to send it in for service (assuming it's under warranty). As far as a replacement, I do still like Onkyo, but there are some great models out there from Denon, Pioneer and Yamaha too. And if doing the hard reset helps at all, please post the details so someone else can benefit from your pain.

Thanks,

-CB

[bellinghop]

Sorry to say that I had already tried the hard reset, too (fyi it's holding down vcr/dvr button and power on the tx 606).

I've tried what seems like every possible setting. It's weird that when I check all of the Linear PCM that all of the sound stops entirely (including on the XMB model) no matter whether it's set to bitstream or PCM. This wasn't the case a few days ago.

Anyways, I wish someone else had my problem...and a solution! Thanks for the help. Any more suggestions are welcome.

[bellinghop]

And I guess I could have noted the sign that the receiver was dying... before the sound went out completely, it would only produce the background sounds but none of the dialog. Now, nothing at all.

[MrBoylan]

And I guess I could have noted the sign that the receiver was dying... before the sound went out completely, it would only produce the background sounds but none of the dialog. Now, nothing at all.

Yeah, that is helpful information.

Chuck it! It's toast!

We haven't reviewed too many receivers this year, but the new Pioneers with Airplay (VSX-1021, VSX-1121) are pretty nice. A little awkward in the user interface but solid audio and video performance. Also, there are some nice Denons like the AVR-3312 (one of my guys has had this for a little while but hasn't gotten around to finishing the review yet).

-CB

[bellinghop]

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I'll give one of those receivers a shot!