It appears your selection, and or counsel for making your buying decision with this receiver and what your expectations for its performance werent entirely communicated properly
. Or completely. Or your expectations for this units flexibility for its price were a mite ambitious.
As I read the specs and overview for the 550 I see it saying it does not have the capacity to pass along audio via the HDMI interface. Although this is an oddity for many such HDMI capable receivers for the $200 class, I suspect its about right. Sony has obviously built in an automatic step up feature into their line up for those seeking greater compatibility of the HDMI interface.
The overview does indeed say a separate audio cable is going to be required and limits the HDMI BANDWIDTH for video to 1080i. Again, for an MSRP of $200 I suppose this is good enough. More money will give you a more fully featured apparatus, and more commensurate with your intentions and needs. You get what you pay for does seem to come into play dramatically here as well as the note do your homework first, Im sorry to say.
If the window to return it has not closed do so. If so, spend $15 at Walmart or elsewhere online, and get some optical cables to connect up your DVD player and cable boxes to the receiver. Your multi ch audio woes should disappear.
NOTE *- DONT BUY A Blue ray player for use with this receiver . Or an HD display.
This unit is merely an bare minimum entry level piece, and its abilities are commensurate with its price tag.
As I read the specs and overview for the 550 I see it saying it does not have the capacity to pass along audio via the HDMI interface. Although this is an oddity for many such HDMI capable receivers for the $200 class, I suspect its about right. Sony has obviously built in an automatic step up feature into their line up for those seeking greater compatibility of the HDMI interface.
The overview does indeed say a separate audio cable is going to be required and limits the HDMI BANDWIDTH for video to 1080i. Again, for an MSRP of $200 I suppose this is good enough. More money will give you a more fully featured apparatus, and more commensurate with your intentions and needs. You get what you pay for does seem to come into play dramatically here as well as the note do your homework first, Im sorry to say.
If the window to return it has not closed do so. If so, spend $15 at Walmart or elsewhere online, and get some optical cables to connect up your DVD player and cable boxes to the receiver. Your multi ch audio woes should disappear.
NOTE *- DONT BUY A Blue ray player for use with this receiver . Or an HD display.
This unit is merely an bare minimum entry level piece, and its abilities are commensurate with its price tag.