I have an AVR but wonder if I should really run the video through the receiver. My two video sources are a Sony Blue Ray and a Directv HD receiver. My tv has 3 HDMI inputs. But if I run the HDMI signals straight to the HDMI inputs on the TV will this kill the Audio outputs(Digital coax or optical) from the Blue Ray and HD receiver(which I would like to run directly to my AVR)?
Part two: Should I use the optical or analog outputs on my cd player?
Ricky, since you didn't provide a brand/model number of your AVR, the only answer is "it depends." The question is whether you can configure the AVR to recognize one of its digital audio inputs while switched to one of its HDMI inputs. But if you want to do that the question is why do you want to run HDMI through the AVR in the first place?
The answer to your second question is "it depends." The question is which device, the AVR or the CD player, does the best digital to analog conversion. I would hook them up both ways, switch back and forth and see if there's any difference in audio quality. Audiophiles will tell you to use the CD player's analog output because TOSLink (optical) transmission can cause a read error phenomenon known as "jitter."
John, Thanks for the response. I have a Yamaha RX-V661 receiver which has the HDMI switching. I'm just not sure that I want to switch it through the receiver. I was thinking I may want to run video and audio(HDMI) straight from my sources to the TV. And then send just an audio to the receiver. Or should I just go ahead and route the HDMI through the receiver which would mean the receiver would have to stay on all the time. The idea of separating was that if I just want to watch the news I wouldn't have to have the receiver on.
The Yamaha receiver is HDMI v1.2a, and is therefore perfectly capable of passing any video signal to the TV. More importantly, it is capable of processing any Dolby/DTS 5.1 signals coming in on its HDMI inputs. So there you have it: one wire to the receiver, and one wire to the TV.
But you're right; you'd have to switch on the receiver everytime you turn on the TV. So running HDMI to the TV directly would change that inconvenience. Since you've got the luxury of 3 HDMI inputs (must be a new TV!), this is the way to go. HDMI is an evolving technology, and there's no way to predict how each device in the chain will react. Going direct will eliminate any possible problems caused by a receiver in the middle of the HDMI chain. As David says, direct hookup is best.
Using optical/coax for the audio into the receiver represents no compromise as far as DD/DTS 5.1 is concerned, since that signal is the same whether the receiver gets it via coax/optical or HDMI. However, you would not be able to take advantage of the uncompressed PCM audio signals available on most Blu-ray discs. These PCM signals are far far better than good old Dolby/DTS 5.1, and this difference is obvious even on modest audio systems. The only way your receiver can get these audio tracks is via HDMI, since they require more bandwidth than is available with coax/optical transmission.
Thanks John, I think I will go with the Blue Ray and Directv HDMI outputs to the receiver based on the audio advantages you mentioned. Then I will do a component output on the Directv to another input on the TV if I want to bypass the receiver.
Yea the TV is a new Sony. The Blue Ray came with it as a package deal. Lot's has changed since I last bought audio/video equipment. The receiver is new because the 25 year old Pioneer finally died. I see a snowball effect starting, new cd player, new speakers....
While you're running component from the satbox to the TV, don't forget you'll need to run R/L analogue audio as well.
Hopefully you will not have any problems with HDMI into the receiver. If you do, I'll bet it's the DirecTV box that causes it. If so, then you could run HDMI directly into the TV since there's no good reason to go through the receiver with that signal.
Good luck and enjoy the snowball effect. Sounds like you've had your old stuff long enough that none of it owes you anything.
Please forgive me but this is what I have. My cable goes into my DVD player. DVD player is connected to my 32" Sanyo via RGA cables. Optical and S-video from the DVD player is connected to my Denon 1908. Would I connect a HDMI cable from the TV to the receiver for audio and video from the TV? Once configured how do I run everything from the remote?