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[perpetual98]

Ok, so I recently set up my AVR again after we moved a couple of weeks ago.  It's an Onkyo TX-NR609 and I got a screamin' deal on it.  I'm only running it in 5.1 right now, but I may at some point run it in 7.1 with front-hi speakers, but I haven't done much research on that yet, probably not worth the energy.

My HTPC is a Zacate based Asus rig linkied here.  I'm connecting the PC to the AVR via HDMI and using the AMD Catalyst drivers for HDMI audio as well as video.  I get what appears to be the correct compressed audio properties when I look at the properties of the audio setup.

MC is a little different than WMC in that to get decent surround sound out of WMC I had to keep Windows thinking that it had 2 channels, and then let WMC decode.  It was still set up that way when I started using MC and it seemed like I had to set up Windows in 5.1 to get surround in MC.

I'm just wondering what the best way to go about setting everything up is.  I've got some DTS-MA and TrueHD BD rips and I just want to make sure that I'm getting the best sound that I can out of my equipment.  Right now I'm using the 'Direct' setting on my Onkyo, which I THINK is using the HTPC as the decoder.  I don't think I've ever even seen the TrueHD light-up on my AVR, but that might be because the PC is doing the work.

Just looking for some pointers.

[JimH]

You can test it from Windows in Control Panel/Sounds.  That's the first step.

[mbagge]

When your Onkyo receives the audio stream via the hdmi connection, it will autodetect and show it on the display. This way you can se what is going on. There's also a 'display' button on the Onkyo remote that reveals audio and video information as well.

The 'Direct' setting is more of an Hi-Fi setting, if you cannot stand the idea of having DSPs in the audio chain. Years back this feature was mandatory when listening to music on high end equipment. 

[perpetual98]

Hmm, I guess I understood that wrong.  I thought that 'Direct' wasn't applying any post-processing to the signal the AVR was getting.  I figured that was what I was after, letting the HTPC decode everything.  Granted, doing that probably wouldn't get my fancy lights on the AVR to turn on.  Which piece of equipment should be doing the brunt of the work?

[mbagge]

I would not hesitate to let your avr do the job. I have an TX-NR807 and it does this to my satisfaction.
If you were to have the PC decode, you would have to connect the Onkyo with analog connections - eight in all !

[fitbrit]

Also, if you're going to use the 7.1 but not surround backs Audessey DSX Wide is the way to go. It'll have more impact than high speakers, though they are cool too.