# optical vs hdmi



## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

I just bought a 58" panasonic vt25 plasma 3d, possible connection issues.

I have currently connected my:
BlueRay Player to my TV via HDMI
STB to my tv via composite cable and RCA

Then ran an optical cable from tv to my ONKYO reciever.

I read somewhere on this forum that the optical cable is not capable of passing HD audio. Do I need to run HDMI from tv to receiver, will this be good enough for the STB as well.

Also, I used to have stb and dvd running through the receiver then to the tv. Now that I am running to the tv first, then receiver, I have to have the volume turned a lot higher on the receiver. Do I have something wrong or is this common.

thanks for taking the time to read

mark


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Commonly you should connect all of your components to your AVR then from there to your TV.:T 
Probly a silly question on my part but what does STB stand for? This is a new term for me that if i thought about could come up with an answer for.:scratch: Satellite Tuner Box?


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

I work for a cable company and refer to our receivers as STB's (set top boxes).

However, in my case, it is actually a Bell receiver.

sorry for the confussion

mark


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

As bambino said, in order to get HD audio you would need to run HDMI to your AVR and then your TV to get the HD audio.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

darrm1 said:


> I work for a cable company and refer to our receivers as STB's (set top boxes).
> 
> However, in my case, it is actually a Bell receiver.
> 
> ...


I was close:whistling:. Thanks for the new term.:T


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

Thats as clear cut as it comes, appreciated.

Will fix that up tomorrow. Great picture on the new 3D, beats my old rear projection. If I now can get better sound by changing the cabling, I will be blown away.

thanks
mark


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I'm sure you'll be much happier with the way it sounds after the change around.:T


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

one other thing, my receiver doesn't have an input for BlueRay. I am using the VCR/DVR input, as long as I choose the correct input format, this shouldn't affect performance should it?


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

It does have HDMI, right?


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

I believe it has 3 in, 1 out.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Connect your Blu-Ray up to the AVR with HDMI and you should be good to go.:T


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## vann_d (Apr 7, 2009)

I'm skeptical about the difference in sound between HD and the previous 5.1...

96kHz vs 196kHz or whatever?!? Get better speakers.

What about room acoustics?'

All the electronic mumbo jumbo is questionable....


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Its a matter of Lossless vs Lossy codecs, you can be skeptical all you want but when you are using a lossy codec (regular DD or DTS) you are losing information from the original mix. The newer HD codecs are lossless and should be no different than the original mix from the sound engineer. I have been able to A/B newer versus older with various connections on the same system via switching inputs and the difference is definitely there, especially when it comes to noise floor and dynamic range.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Run an HDMI cable from the Blu-Ray Player to one of the receivers HDMI inputs. This will pass all the audio (high def) as well as the video (HDMI out on receiver to TV's HDMI in). In addition if your STB has an HDMI out, connect it to one of the other HDMI inputs on the Onkyo & let the receiver do the switching. Hope this helps.


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## kBiz (Jan 17, 2010)

nholmes1 said:


> As bambino said, in order to get HD audio you would need to run HDMI to your AVR and then your TV to get the HD audio.


With this setup, you'll always have to turn on 3 pieces of gear to watch (and hear) TV. I run everything to my TV directly and use the optical out of the TV to go to my AVR. This way I can turn on the TV and hear it in one step - always good for those of us who have less technically-inclined spouses.

It sounds like you're saying that I'm losing some digital audio information by using the HDMI in on the TV and then running optical out to the AVR. Shouldn't this just be a straight pass thru?

Thanks,
k


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Should it be yes, however theory and reality aren't always the same. First Optical can not pass any of the newer lossless HD codecs such as DTS-MA or DD TruHD so there is a loss there, and in many cases I have seen the output down sampled to Stereo or LPCM and TV's generally don't have high quality audio decoders.


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

I have an ONKYO HT S5100 receiver. The manual says that if I use the HDMI inputs and want to use the AVR speakers, I require an analog or digital audio connection. That sucks, I guess I will have to run everything through the tv first and then to the receiver.

thoughts?
mark


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Older unit that doesn't support Audio over HDMI I am assuming, this wasn't all that uncommon a few years ago. I would probably run to the TV and then out from there then but still not my preferred way of connecting a setup.


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## kBiz (Jan 17, 2010)

Wow - that's too bad about the unit. 

Do you know how to find out if the TV is [gasp] downconverting the digital audio?


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Test and see, if your receiver shows DD or DTS than it is not down converting, if it shows stereo or pcm than it is down converting.


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## darrm1 (Nov 12, 2010)

all i can see is PCM on my reciever display. that sucks i thought when i bought my reciever i was buying a HI Def:hissyfit:


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Well then your tv is down converting, so run an optical or digi-coax directly to the receiver and you will at least get DD or DTS. This is why people should do more research before buying or deal with more knowledgeable salesmen.


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## kBiz (Jan 17, 2010)

In my case, my all-in-one receiver is a bit older - no hdmi, just coax digital in. So my bluray, macbook pro, and WD-Live go into the tv hdmi. The optical out of the tv gets converted to coax and goes into the receiver. I get 5.1 surround from over-the-air HD and bluray, no down-conversion. My receiver is too old for dolby trueHD and the new dts anyway. I'm happy with the setup since the you only choose the source once (on the tv) and leave the receiver on digital (or don't turn it on at all.) If you have one of the new hdmi receivers, then I guess you only use one hdmi to the tv and the receiver handles all the switching?


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## ojojunkie (Jun 23, 2010)

nholmes1 said:


> Well then your tv is down converting, so run an optical or digi-coax directly to the receiver and you will at least get DD or DTS. This is why people should do more research before buying or deal with more knowledgeable salesmen.


but I think some salesmen won't tell you unless you ask... :gulp:


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