Customer Reviews

Sony STR-DG910 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Easy to set up, the digital cinema auto calibration worked well although it told me my right front speaker was out of phase even though it's not.

The description lists two HDMI in but there are actually three. I used one port for my PVR and the standard definition channels look better now. My old receiver didn't have a port for digital audio in so watching broadcasts in 5.1 surround is a big plus.

The remote is huge. I just tossed it back in the box and set up my Harmony 550 to take care of the most used functions.

For $499.99, this a great deal on a 7.1 surround receiver with 3 HDMI in's and 700+ watts of power.

This is a great receiver for the price. I have it connected to 3 HDMI sources (PlayStation 3 (60GB), DirecTV HD DVR and a DVD player) and two optical sources (Xbox 360 Console Includes 20GB Hard Drive and a TiVo).

All sources sound great and there were no problems with sound lag when viewing on the output Panasonic plasma TV. The receiver runs relatively cool for a device like this (it is a lot cooler than my older Sony receiver). It also works perfectly well with my Logitech Harmony remote.

Minor niggles: the menu system (especially the OSD) is fairly tedious to navigate through and the indicator light for "digital surround" is a little to small and hard to see from an above angle.

If you own any Hi-Def players such as the blu-ray or HD DVD, you must have one of these. It is priced lower than the Onkyo 605 and it can play multichannel PCM. I've connected this receiver to both my PS3 and my toshiba HD DVD XA2. It plays everthing perfectly. It also upconverts anything to 1080p through HDMI output. I am very satisfied with this player.

UPDATED 12/7

OK.

First, I bought this receiver from CCity, not Amazon, because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for it to be shipped. Besides, I knew they'd use FedEx and leave it sitting out in a plain box ready for theft.

Anyway...I needed a receiver to replace my old receiver. The first reason was because I have a ton of electronic components that needed to be hooked up, of various connection qualities and needed to consolidate. For the record I have:

- HD-DVR (supports HDMI but was using Component and optical)
- 360 (supports Component, but was using VGA and optical)
- PS3 (using HDMI)
- Wii (using Component)

You can imagine how many cords were all over the place.

I did a lot of research and stumbled across this nice little expensive unit. The one thing that caught my eye about it was the fact that it not only transcoded HDMI, it also upconverted source signals to the highest resolution possible regardless of what that source cable was. That meant that I could have 5 devices plugged into the receiver and just one HDMI cable out to my TV and be fine in the knowledge that it's the maximum resolution it can be. AWESOME.

So now my setup looks like this:

- HD-DVR (using HDMI)
- PS3 (using HDMI)
- 360 (using Component/optical and upconverted through HDMI)
- Wii (using Component and upconverted through HDMI)
- Receiver outputs through HDMI and I use it to switch input signals, the TV only uses on and off.

Should I decide to invest in an Elite 360, I'll then have HDMI there, which is even less cabling. Then the only cable nightmare is the Wii, which I suppose I can't do anything about.

It's really nice because I really only use two remotes instead of 5 (no, I'm not kidding, I had 5 remotes going on).

However, it does have some flaws.

- The HDMI inputs are named the same as some of the Component/Composite inputs. Meaning I can't have the PS3 on HDMI Video 2 and the 360 on Component Video 2. I'm sure I could alternate the two, but I would much rather the HDMI inputs have their own dedicated selections.

- The receiver's remote is unwieldy and confusing. Way too many buttons, I mean you have to click three different buttons just to set subwoofer level.

- The HDMI upconversion doesn't always play nice with DirecTV's HR20 HD-DVR. If the HR20 is turned on before the receiver, the receiver won't output all colors to the TV, so it'll show up pink/green. The receiver has to be powered on first, then the HR20. the HR20 might just be picky, but I think it shouldn't matter in either case.

- I had some issues getting the 360 to play nice with the receiver. I actually had to turn the little switch on the component cables to the non-HD setting to get it to work. Which is weird, because it IS in HD.

- I would have liked some sort of attenuation setting, so I could drop the volume to bare minimum with a single button press (in the case of phone calls, visitors, etc).

All in all, yes I do recommend this receiver as a great value, but then again, a receiver is only as good as your setup/speakers/etc.

UPDATE: I finally experienced my first HDMI-related issue. The receiver keeps defaulting itself to PCM, not recognizing DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 or any digital audio sound. I have to power it off and back on to get it to process the sound input properly. Even if I leave the receiver on, it still does the same thing. Also, when I power it off and back on, instead of remembering what input it was on last, it goes back to "TV", which nothing is connected to. It's quite annoying, to be sure.

UPDATE 2: I figured out the PCM issue. For whatever reason, it requires Bitstream in order to acknowledge any digital signal. The 360 works fine. It's the PS3 and the DirecTV receiver that have the issue. Also, the automatic TV setting seems to have been a symptom of my TV (Samsung DLP...I wrote a review about it) and automatically doing something with the HDMI. As to the first problem, the deal with Bitstream is that Blu-ray apparently is optimal with Linear PCM...so I'd have to change it if I were watching a DVD vs. a Blu-ray. I don't know how to deal with that.

UPDATE 3: Figured out the problem with the HDMI when I was shifting stuff around on my power supply unit. Apparently, the receiver has an option to either (A) output sound to the TV and speakers, or (B) send to the speakers only. The receiver was set to option A. My new Samsung 61' LED DLP apparently doesn't like receiving digital audio, so the receiver was converting it to PCM. Changing that option to B (which is what it should have been all along) resolved it, and digital surround works perfectly now.

This receiver has awesome functionality with any brand of TV, satellite/cable, DVD, BD, etc. It can be programmed to turn on and shut off with the TV, and its THREE HDMI inputs turn it into an awesome TV input selector switch, allowing you to have hi-def sat/cable, DVD w/upconversion or BD, and a game system (or BD). This thing has it all. And the 7.1Ch sound makes for an immersive viewing experience! Buy this receiver - it is well worth the money!

I had been looking for months for a receiver that had three or more HDMI outputs and that did not cost a fortune. I had pretty much given up looking, when by pure chance; I came across a review of the Sony STR-DG910 online. If you can get away without having analog components like I can, and don't need every bell and whistle (like being able to output a second source to a different room), this is a great receiver. Setup was simple and it works just as advertised. The only gripe I have, and it echoes other reviews I've read, is that the receiver's speaker hookups are a pain. Not enough of a gripe to reduce my rating, but a gripe none the less.

In addition to my HD (not Blu-ray) DVD player, I am enjoying a cable TV component and optical audio input that is *automatically* converted to HDMI (with third HDMI port available). The audio output quality is fantastic but save your time and get some `banana' connectors so you can just plug in from your speakers. The on-screen setup requires navigating the unit's digital display first but this is a minor inconvenience considering the relative low price.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the light-weight, ease of setup/use and quality of this receiver.

I had bought this to be used with my new entertainment system comprising of Samsung HLT6187S 61" Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV, Sony STR-DG910 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver, Bose® Acoustimass® 10 Series IV home entertainment speaker system, Pioneer DV-400V HDMI Multi Region DVD Player, Rocketfish Universal Wireless Rear Speaker Kit and a custom HTPC.

I'll start with the bad about this A/V Receiver.
Connecting the speakers to this A/V Receiver was a major PAIN. Wow, I cannot believe how annoying it was getting those wires in and then screwing it tight.
This is single handedly the most annoying part about this A/V Receiver.

Now for the good, this A/V Receiver can upconvert ANY signal coming in, to 1080p. It can handle multiple HDMI, component, and analog inputs. HDMI however takes precedence, meaning if you have an HDMI input in "SAT" and a component in "SAT" as well, if both peripherals that take up "SAT" are on, the one inputting to HDMI will take priority.

Everything is assignable/customizable and there are plenty of sound settings for your home sound system.

I hooked up a HTPC to this A/V Receiver and the computer had no problems picking up the A/V receiver as a monitor. I used a DVI->HDMI cable.

So far, I've been extremely happy with this. The sound quality is excellent and really nothing to complain about.

I have completed my setup and started playing my components. Sound is better a lot better than the 605 I returned. It outputs 7.1 from my 5.1 HDDVD discs, no dowsncaling, and upconversion gives better pictures. Some missing input connectors though, do not have S-Videos, and multi-channel anologs. I dont need them anyway. In return the 910 gives me 3 HDMI, 3 optical, 2 digical coax. The OSD is awkward, but I will not be using them very often. I still have it at 5 stars.

I searched far & wide for a 3 HDMI output receiver for my home theater. This is by far the best receiver for the price. The other lesser Sony models only have 2 HDMI outputs and the higher models have gimmicks (Faroudja sound, etc.) that don't really make a difference in a HOME theater. If you're looking for professional grade at high volumes, consider the ES series. Onkyo and other companies have some similar models, but they're more expensive.

Overall, this is an excellent AV receiver. I have it hooked up to 3 HDMI sources - HD-DVR, HD-DVD player, and PS3 (has a Blu-Ray player). The sound is awesome, even at low volumes. Even connecting an additional HD video camera via component cables looks impeccable (indistinguishable from an HDMI connection). With a Polaroid 1080i LCD monitor (inexpensive but gives a very crisp picture when calibrated properly) and a Harmony 890 remote, this is a great system. You can rename Video 3, etc. to PS3, for example. There's some flexibility with mixing and matching component inputs with optical or analog audio, if necessary. Upconversion to 1080p is a nice feature, but I can't say I've really appreciated it.

The only negative: Pesky menu structure. It's not on-screen and the front display isn't very elegant. Once you're used to it, though, it's fine. Remember - you only have to set it up once, unless you change the arrangement of your components. Then forget about it and enjoy the great picture and sound. I've heard some complaints about Sony's service, but when I asked nicely for a calibration mic that I lost, they promptly sent me one free of charge.

Amazon's price is right, especially with free shipping!