[BIslander]

Originally Posted by BLU_Until_The_End

I had th eplayer set to LPCM at first, then I changed it to bitstream (both normal and audiophile), but I still only get sound from my left and right fronts ( i don't get any sound from any speakers when set to bitstream audiophile).

PCM over optical is limited to stereo. But, you should get multichannel when set to bitstream. Your AVR display will show you the format of the arriving audio. What does it say when you get stereo and/or no audio with the two bitstream settings?

It certainly looks like you have a setup problem with the digital input you are using on your receiver. A bitstream should be decoded and output as multichannel.

Originally Posted by BLU_Until_The_End

I am connecting my player to my receiver via optical cable and HDMI to my projector.

The projector should not affect the audio format. But, have you set HDMI Audio to Off in the player just to be sure?

I think someone told me that optical is only capable of stereo output; it can't handle multi channel audio out.

That's true of PCM. But, optical can handle encoded sources such as DD 5.1 and DTS just fine.

Someome suggested using the 7.1 analog out connections ont he player to connect it to my receiver, set the 3600 to PCM, and I should be able to get 7.1.....does that sound like a possibility?

Multichannel analog is a fine idea. It will give you lossless TrueHD and dts-MA, which cannot be sent over optical. However, analog connections are not simple plug-and-play and can be a pain to set-up. You have to do bass management and all other digital processing in the player instead of the receiver. And, you need to boost the subwoofer output to get the proper bass response.