It supports all sounds upto 5.1 - It might even do the hi def 7.1 formats, but I'm not wasting 25Gb of space to check. You do have to connect with HDMi though. All of my rips, in order to get the file size down, I removed all audio except the 5.1 option or DTS whichever was available. My amp recognises the correct input and the sounds come out of the correct speakers. Don't know why the website says it downgrades AAC and DD to 2 channel.
It's great having my DVD collection available at the touch of a couple of buttons, rather than having to go into the spare room and look over a couple of bookcases of movies.
Just saw a 2Tb hard drive for $200...