I have this onkyo receiver and while we were watching tv, the audio just cut out and never came back. we've reset the receiver, checked the connections and no sound anywhere. when we power up our system, we get a message that says 'incompatible audio signal detected, please check output settings'. any idea what could be wrong?

what model onkyo?

bad soldering joints inside the receiver or faulty speaker relay.

If you are not hearing dialogue, then check your center speaker. Most voice tracks are routed to the center channel

Hi,
Please reset Onkyo receiver that will solve noisy sound problem, to reset the receiver, press and hold Video-1 button on unit and press Speaker-A button. Display will show *Clear* that means receiver has been restore on default settings, turn it On and check sound.
Hope this will help.
Thanks.

What is feeding the video/audio signals to your Onkyo receiver? Are you getting your input from a satellite receiver or cable set top box? Or are you just using you TV with a coax feed from a terrestrial aerial?

You need a receiver that will decode Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 if you want to use surround sound. If you are using your TV as the reveiver and it has that capability then the problem is probably the type of HDMI cable you are using. You need a cable that has 'audio return' - in other words it will feed the digital audio (from your TV receiver) to the Onkyo box. Some HDMI cables do not include 'audio return'.
Check what type of HDMI cable you have.

If you respond with answers to these questions I will be glad to provide more assistance.

Does it have a cooling fan? if it does, then check its actually working. Protecton circuit maybe cutting in.

easiest fix is to take all hdmi straight to tv. then come out of tv with optical cable to your receiver. that way what ever your watching will automatically be sent to the receiver thru optical. you even will get dolby dig. also you can have audio from your tv when you dont want to use your surround. keeps receiver on one input also.

Check sound on "Tuner" input. If still no audio, post a comment with your other equipment makes and models as well as cabeling and I can help some more.

Could be a couple things.
1. The system has a safety feature that cuts out when to much voltage runs through input/outputs
2. The audio ouputs have fried and will need all new capacitors installed.