I do NOT have the No Audio issue. I did apply the latest firmware before using the 1070. I have a digital coaxial cable conencting the Explorer 4250HD to a digital coaxial input on the 1070.

Seems the 4250 is basicly a cablebox / cable modem.

I'm guessing my cable company (comcast) will supply an hd cable box with digital audio output, so it should work for me too.

Maybe this no audio thing is not as widespread as I feared.

The 4250 is an HD cable box - you should get something similar from your cable company.

I am an Audiophile !

The comments here about the use of the analog bypass with the 80Hz crossover reminds me of a recent enlightening experience. A short while ago I upgraded my DVD player because I needed 480i HDMI output (not an easy spec to find, by the way) and one of its side features was SACD capability. Since I had plenty of high-quality analog cables lying around I connected up the 7.1 inputs (actually just 5.1). I bought a few SACDs when they were on sale and got the showpiece ones like Dark Side of the Moon and Brothers in Arms but for the most part noticed that most of the releases I was coming across were just reissues of old RCA 2 and 3 track recordings from 40+ years ago so I really did not fall under the SACD spell. In the meantime, I was using the digital audio connection for listening to regular CDs as before. Usually DPLIIx-M, sometimes just stereo depending on how retro I wanted to feel. Then one day I forgot to toggle off the 7.1 setting after listening to an SACD. To my surprise the CD played through the left and right channels of the 7.1 analog inputs. Even if it hadn't had been a surprise that it would work that way I probably would have immediately switched back to the digital input thinking that that has to be the superior connection, right? And the more speakers the better, right? So, I was inadvertently playing the CD through the bypass input and I was playing a cut I listen to regularly: Coltrane's interpretation of My Favorite Things from Newport '63 but it could have been any tune of which one knows all the nuances. Some ways into it I realized it sounded like I was there in person. I also enjoyed listening to it louder than usual. I was hearing detail I hadn't noticed before. My speakers had long since passed their break-in period so that couldn't be it. I had made no other changes in components. It was then I noticed I had left the 7.1 setting toggled on. After some A/B testing revealed that was the source of my new sonic satisfaction I now play all my CDs as straight stereo through the 7.1 inputs. Whatever inhancements the DPLIIx-M processing provides are trumped by the utter transparency of the bypass input. Your mileage may vary and for many this may be a given but I thought I wold share my Plato's Allegory of the Cave moment.
:-)

jlib:

I came to the same conclusion...On a recommendation from the guy who sold me my reciever...I tried listening to my CD's through the analog connections of my DVD player...What a difference

I too listened to my previous CD's through the digital connection in 2.1 and 2.0. The sound was good...but nothing compared to direct analog. The detail, clarity of the voices, and overall sweet sounds blew away anything I was listening to previously.

Since CD's are digital, this would seem to imply that the DA converters in the CD player are better than those in the receiver? Or is it that the processor is adding unwanted 'color' to the mix?

In these cases, the reason that analog is working better is most likely the result of a source component offering higher quality DAC's and the 1070's analog bypass modes (either the 7.1 direct input or the analog bypass mode with the stereo analog inputs) offering a good, clean signal path all the way from inputs to amp outputs.

Hey All,

Writing here from a wireless connection. My buddy also uses a Denon DVD player. The Dacs in these players are very good so we all hook up the player to the multi channel dvd input and then hit the 7.1 button on the remote. Trust me, this sounds much better than the cd input.

Liz out