Hello,

I use a Mac Mini HTPC to play videos and music, and a PlayStation 3 for BluRay. Both are connected to the 990 with TOSLINK fiber optic digital audio cables. The 990 drives 5 2200 monoblocks to my speakers (I don't need / have a sub).

One thing I don't quite understand is the 990's Surround Mode setting. For example, consider the scenario where I'm playing a DVD on my Mac Mini. As I understand it, the DVD's audio track is encoded in Dolby 5.1, and the 5.1 audio data is streamed to my 990 over the fiber optic cable.

Given that, what is the difference in selecting 5 STEREO, BYPASS, or PLII MOVIE? It seems like 'bypass' would let the unadulterated 5.1 audio signal come through as the director intended, and the other settings would apply some kind of possibly-unwanted coloration.

Or another scenario is playing a video game on my PlayStation 3 -- the sound generated during gameplay takes advantage of 5.1 surround, so do I want to use 'BYPASS' on the 990's optical input to avoid mucking with this?

Obviously I don't fully understand what is going on, so I'm hoping someone can please help me grok this concept.

Thanks!
-Jeff