Clarification on AVR and HDMI

[ratskie]

I'm looking to update some equipment. The first thing will be my AVR because of new decoders, Bluetooth, etc. I don't
need anything fancy, just 5.1 channel like the Denon AVRS540BT or Pioneer VSX-534. But my Sony TV still works well and
I may wait awhile before buying new. It is HDMI but not ARC. All the online manuals I've read so far say I will need a
separate optical or coax cable for surround sound from my Roku and Blu Ray player even thought the HDMI signal is going
through the AVR. On other forums I've read that new AVR's (e.g. Denon's) have "repeaters" (??) built-in that will extract the
audio as the signal goes through the unit so you don't need the separate cables.

Can anyone explain this in simple terms, please?

[sum_guy]

Simple, you won't need an optical or coax to get surround, I have the Roku Ultra, the Amazon FireCube, all through HDMI to my AVR's and it works perfectly. My AVR's are Yamaha RX-V379's. Not all sources have the same Dolby and I'm not familiar with the Denon or the Pioneer but, they should do just what you need.

[ratskie]

@ sum_guy. Thanks for that. My Roku is a Premier+ running through HDMI so I'll give it a shot.

[Cornucopia]

Plus, you WANT to get one that has HDMI passthrough, it makes cabling and routing much easier (though if you do 3D, you need to get an AVR that is hdmi 1.4b or greater compliant).

Also, you can get the full multichannel spectrum with hdmi, but can only get MC in lossy AC3 or DTS if going optical/coax.

Scott

[ratskie]

Scott, yes I believe in the fewer gizmos and cables the better. I am specifically looking for passthrough, especially
the Standby passthrough. I don't need to watch the news in surround sound!

[flashandpan007]

My personal advice is to take a look at Yamaha. For now you get the best for your money with the RX-V485 or RX-D485. It depends where you live (D is for DAB Tuner). The RX-V385 doesn't have iOS/Android remote control. Yamaha has put lots of work in creating the AV Controller App, which works just GREAT. Just try it out.
I checked the manual of these 485 models for you which have HDMI passthrough:
See page 99 "Setting the use of HDMI Standby Through":
https://de.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/2/1161642/web_AV17-0111_RX-V485_D485...EFPH_En_D0.pdf

[ratskie]

@flashandpan007. Thanks. The RX-V385 was one of the units I was looking at, at BestBuy. Most of the units in a certain
price range seem to have very similar features now so it may just come down to brand reliability.

[flashandpan007]

I can only recommend Yamaha, friends of me had only trouble with both Pioneer and Onkyo (both Sound United which "bought" D+M (Denon and Marantz) in 2017 if I remember correctly.

But I really advice you to do the jump from 385 to 485. You won't regret the higher price.
You will never want to miss the AV Controller App anymore

[pandy]

I like Yamaha - IMHO one of the few (only) brands trying to deliver high quality product at a sane price.
But i would check also Sony, it can create complete set with your TV (CEC works usually within same brand only - by CEC i mean Bravia.Link).
It is not entirely clear to me how your current set-up looks now (i mean how your devices are connected) - usually AV amplifier works in between Source and Display and amplifier need to be operable to pass trough HDMI signal - for audio only connectivity you can use additional TOS Link or S/PDIF - this will made whole setup more flexible.
Even if you think about 5.1 as sufficient then anyway 7.1 devices usually support wider spectrum of audio codecs.