HDMI Woes

As a Christmas present to myself, I purchased an Onkyo TX-SR705 A/V receiver. I've been very happy with it, especially since I can utilize the three HD audio options on Blu-ray Discs: uncompressed PCM, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD Master.

Fast forward to now....

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered an HDX-401E 4x1 HDMI switch from Monoprice, as I intended to get an HDMI Xbox 360 to replace the non-HDMI one in my entertainment center (four HDMI devices and only three ports on the receiver). I connected the [first] switch to my receiver, and connected my DVD player to the switch (with the intention of plugging in the Xbox 360 later). The DVD player only worked with ports 2–4, so I assumed the switch was bad and requested an RMA. Monoprice immediately shipped me a replacement and also e-mailed me a UPS label to send the "defective" one back (free of charge).

I received the replacement switch on Friday, and noted similar problems; this time the DVD player only worked with ports 2 and 3. I immediately assumed this one was defective as well, so I got another RMA. After a few minutes, however, I decided to contact their tech support for a possible solution or some words of wisdom. The first tech suggested that it was a compatibility issue; guess what? He was right! He suggested I try another device, and lo and behold, my PS3 worked regardless of which port I plugged it into. He transferred me to another tech (I guess he had to leave), and the second tech said the same thing. He suggested that I get a refund this time because of the compatibility issue, but I said that I would keep this one and make it work with my setup (I left the DVD player connected to port 2).

I got my HDMI Xbox 360 today... it wouldn't stay sync'd with any of the ports I tried. As a matter of fact, my A/V receiver shut itself down and started blinking ("protect" mode). I finally moved my DirecTV HR21 receiver to the HDMI switch (port 1, which wouldn't work with the DVD player or the 360) and connected the 360 directly to my receiver. Everything works fine now—I'm using my 360 as an extender for Vista Media Center (which is far superior to Media Center 2005). The change to my setup was an easy transition, as the HDMI switch uses IR, and my Harmony 670 remote already had it in its database.

As a side note, in addition to the HDMI switch, I have five of these HDMI cables (and I'll probably order one more for my new 360). The one "bad" thing about these cables is that they are very thick and stiff and don't bend easily. I've heard of people actually damaging HDMI ports with heavy cables, but that's a fault of the HDMI spec, not the cable. 

 

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