ok, so i am confused as to whether or not i need a new receiver to utilize the lossless audio formats available on blu ray discs. i am currently sourcing all my audio bitstream over s/pdif (optical). my receiver has 192 kHz/24-Bit DAC for All Channels as well as 8 ch discrete analog inputs and a pure direct setting. after watching Dark Knight on blu-ray last night i felt as though the surround in the film was a little mushy and my receiver reads out "dolby digital" while it is processing. I'm pretty sure standard dolby digital does not utilize discrete surround and rear channels.

this is what i found about dolby true hd from their website regarding s/pdif connections (i do not use hdmi or analog inputs as of now):

"Eventually, A/V receivers will have direct access to Dolby

well i found my answer today, the only way to get lossless audio formats into a receiver without the hd audio decoders or hdmi input would be to process the audio into analog 7.1 @ the playback device end. you can bitstream the lossless audio via optical but without the capability to decode that bitstream it does me no good.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1075846