ShowMan

Hi all, first post. Hope I don't mess this up too much.

Just upgraded to an HDTV and after reading some reviews purchased the Denon 2807 to control everything. I'm not a serious audiophile or anything, just like high quality merchandise and have always had good results with Denon products.

Anyway, on Friday the Directv guy showed up and delivered my HD DVR and installed the right dish and antennae and I was then left to my own devices. Here's where it went screwy:

I hooked up the Directv box to the 2807 using HDMI and HDMI from the 2807 to the TV. I can get sound through the TV speakers if I set the Denon settings that way, but I can't get any sound through the surround sound speakers set up this way (I had the audio in set to HDMI and the out to the AMP).

When I connected an optical cable from the Directv box to the 2807 and set that input on the 2807 I get sound and picture.

Questions:

(1) Shouldn't I be able to use the HDMI for sound for the surround sound?

(2) If so, what setting am I screwing up?

(3) Does it really matter? Is the optical as good as the HDMI connection? (Other than the need to use one more cable which HDMI was supposed to eliminate....)

(4) If this is a problem (for all I know this is how it is supposed to work but that seems wrong) is the problem likely with the 2807 or the directv box? My hunch is that it is with the 2807 because when I go straight from the directv box to the tv I get sound (and when I set the 2807 to send sound to the Tv I get sound from the TV speakers).

Thanks for any help you can provide!