Hi David,
Yes I found the same. Also I would like to see a mapping process included to interpolate 5.1 to 7.1 channel. At present with the most common 5.1 mix on B-Ray you find you lose either the side channels or the back depending on your speaker selection.
In a large theatre like mine this is a serious compromise.
Cheers Les

Yeh we really need Cyberlink to support this. Especially considering PowerDVD 8 Ultra decodes DTS-HD 7.1 tracks in full 7.1. I don't know why they downgraded PowerDVD 9's support for this.

For interpolating, do you mean using Dolby Pro Logic IIx or TrueTheater Surround? In PowerDVD9, when I enable those, I lose Protected Audio Path and audio is downsampled to 48khz/16-bit. Personally I don't want my 5.1 tracks to be upmixed though so I leave it off.

Ok after sending support tickets about it, Cyberlink have now said they have forwarded the problem to their R&D team, so here's hoping it's fixed in the next patch. We'll see....

Hi David,
Sorry for the delay in my reply.
I own a professional type theatre fitted with 7.1 equipment. (2-front /1 x Sub/ 1x center and Sub/ 2 x side/ 2 x rear and all full range speakers / 2.5 Kw)
This is all in a a dedicated sound room approximately 8m x 7m x 2.4m
With this size room if you were to turn off, say the side channels you would notice a collapse in the surround sound field. Likewise if you turned off the rear channels.
Remember Dolby Pro-Logic? When left and right channels equal each other this would then form the center channel.Added to this was steering logic that placed the phantom image in the right position with the onscreen image.(Mapping)
The modern versions of this are DTS-ES and Dolby EX
As you can gather 5.1 which is the most common sound track on Blu-Ray is a serious compromise in my system where as 7.1 is great.
THX surround EX will map Blu-Ray 5.1 to 7.1 in all cases down SPDIF. No compromise.
When using direct full range analogue out from the Auzentech X-FI HD card 5.1 or 7.1 is all you get.(no mapping on 5.1 to 7.1)
I would like to see Cyberlink incorporate the THX surround EX into P-DVD-9 so that if your system is 7.1 you have 7.1 channels in all cases.
Trust this helps and thanks for your time. Thanks for bringing the no 7.1 analogue out to Cyberlinks attention. I suffer the same irritation.
Cheers Les

I was about to send a note to Support about this. I noticed the change when I lost my rear surrounds on the Golden Compass after I first installed PDVD9U. So as of now: I get to use pdvd7u for HD-DVD's, pdvd8u for Blu-Ray, and pdvd9u for DVD's.

Yes please support this in the next patch... pretty please