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The hdmi input does NOT get processed but is a straight pass through, which is fine by me.Decodes TrueHD and DTS master audio and has a very good GUI to set up everything.The only con I have about this receiver is that it only shows the audio format in very tiny letters on the display, not big letters like Pioneer receivers do.a very little con.Overall, an excellent receiver. I have my dvd player hooked up via HDMI and have my PS2 and Wii hooked up with component. My cable box is hooked up with rca sound and even that sounds great with the DTS processing. Upscaling is great for my video game systems. The sound for CDs is excellent. Really fills up your room while listening. I have everything output to my tv via HDMI.
And fully enjoy the movies and games on my Sony 46" TV.It doesn't have as much power as its bigger brother 5300. I connect my PS3, xbox360 on this beauty. So if you have a room that's smaller than mine, get this one and save 500 dollars over the 5300ES or Denon's 3808CI. Now, this receiver has so many functionalities packed in. It's a beast with certain degree of beauty.It produces clear and beautiful sound, and does the best movie pull-down I've ever seen. But let's be honest, how many poeple actually have a theatre sized TV room.The receiver has no problem filling my TV room (20*15*12, which is bigger than most poeple's TV room already) with beautiful sound.
The only thing they would do after trying to troubleshoot is was give me an RMA number to send it to a service depot for repair or replacement with a refurbished unit.I was shocked that they wouldn't send me a new one considering it is 1) their 2nd most expensive ES receiver and 2) I had just opened the box.I returned it to Butterfly Photo. They are extremely disorganized and quite frankly, don't have a clue what customer service is all about. That 14 days included shipment both ways.I called them and said, don't send me another one when you get this receiver - I want to get another brand. When I tried to use it, the HDMI ports would not decode audio. Then travel from Colorado back to New Jersey so I could order the Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH.In trying to get it to work I had plenty of time to review the manual and the setup menus and this product, like the Sony Blu-ray players, is not ready for public consumption.
It arrived in good physical condition. I called Sony. They required me to ship it to them FedEx 2day, at my expense, $100.69 because if it arrived after the 14 day return period, it was mine. The Pioneer 94txh is a much better product and I would say buy the Pioneer 94 or 92TXH and forget the Sony.Whichever one you chose, however, don't buy it from Butterfly. I wanted a TrueHD compatible receiver and had owned 2 Sony ES products before, so I ordered this receiver from Butterfly Photo through Amazon in April 2008.
After trying multiple input devices and 2 diplays I knew something was wrong. They, of course, did send another Sony and I needed to wait until the second one came from New Jersey to Colorado so I could refuse it.
If you're looking to jump to an HDMI receiver, I would choose an ES model. I had a Sony receiver with the same watts prior to this ES model, but this one definitely has a better sound. I was always interested in ES from Sony. With DA4300ES being a good match for my existing speakers, having HDMI inputs, and video upscaling, I am very happy with this purchase. The auto calibration function did a job I could not do myself which makes my listening experience even better.
The on-screen GUI is neat and the auto-calibration for the speaker channels is a hoot compared to what I've seen on Yamahas. So I only have one HDMI input used (Blu-ray). Very happy with the receiver, but learned a few things not published clearly. Switching to the DVR's component output allowed the receiver to upconvert all channels to 1080p (works great, TV is happy), meaning that the HDMI connection from the satellite receiver is worthless. Next the "DVD-BD" input selection allows you to use an HDMI input as a video source, but not as the audio source. So Blu-ray, the one possible source of 7.1 audio, can't be patched to what is clearly intended to be the Blu-ray input. DirecTV DVR HDMI output is at native resolution, meaning that channels are kept at their normal res. Drives my Mitsu 65833 HDTV nuts, taking as much as 5 sec to change resolutions when I change channels.
Want to buy an extra cable.Other quirks and shortcomings are: Zone 2 is programmable only to the rear surround speakers, not to "B" speakers. Solution - use an HDMI input button and pretend that Sony mislabeled the DVD-BD button.AS I said - I am very happy with the receiver overall. I upgraded from a Sony TA-9000ES pre-amp so I could use the HDMI & component video switching and add Blu-ray. (HDMI signals are not up-converted in the Sony). So if you have a 7.1 home theater system, you can't also use Zone 2.
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