Question about surround sound/receivers/HDMI/optical...

[Mime]

Up until now I've been using an RCA DVD player with 5.1 surround sound built in (6 speaker inputs at the back). When watching TV or playing video games, I'd plug the red/white audio cables into the auxiliary audio inputs on the back of the RCA DVD player, thinking it gave me full 5.1 audio. But the guy at Future Shop the other day told me otherwise.

I just got a Blu-ray player, and this was just before I realized the DVD input was insufficient. So now, I'm looking to buy a new audio receiver. But I don't know what cables I should be using to connect the Blu-ray player and the HD cable box.

Is a digital optical cable enough? Or is HDMI the only way to get the proper audio experience?

I'm sort of confused by the whole thing. And I didn't sleep last night, so I'm sorry if the post is confusing you too.

[JimShaw]

Originally Posted by Mime

Up until now I've been using an RCA DVD player with 5.1 surround sound built in (6 speaker inputs at the back). When watching TV or playing video games, I'd plug the red/white audio cables into the auxiliary audio inputs on the back of the RCA DVD player, thinking it gave me full 5.1 audio. But the guy at Future Shop the other day told me otherwise.

I just got a Blu-ray player, and this was just before I realized the DVD input was insufficient. So now, I'm looking to buy a new audio receiver. But I don't know what cables I should be using to connect the Blu-ray player and the HD cable box.

Is a digital optical cable enough? Or is HDMI the only way to get the proper audio experience?

I'm sort of confused by the whole thing. And I didn't sleep last night, so I'm sorry if the post is confusing you too.

If your TV has an HDMI input, then run HDMI from the player to the receiver to the TV. This is the simplest way but a lot depends on what your equipment is able to do and what you want to accomplish. If the cable box has an HDMI connection, run HDMI from the box to the receiver.

If you decide to do somethink like the above, buy your HDMI cables from www.monoprice.com they are much, much cheaper then at BB, Fry's, etc.

[Mime]

The TV has 2 HDMI inputs. The cable box however, only has a DVI-D output. There are HDMI-DVI cables though, correct?

So I would need a third HDMI cable going from the receiver to the TV?

[Rob J in WNY]

Welcome to the site, Mime!

Also, welcome to the insane hobby of Blu-ray home theater!

Indeed, your Future Shop guy is correct. You cannot get discrete 5.1-channel audio from the "analog" 2-channel stereo wire connection from your game console or cable/satellite box. But with a purchase of a surround receiver, you an enjoy an audio experience which will make you forget all about your old DVD HTIB (Home theater in a box).

To answer your query in the greatest of simplicity, it would be nice if you can use HDMI cables to connect everything, but...

First off, it would be nice to know a few things. What brand of Blu-ray player did you purchase, and what brand of TV do you have? What specific cable or satellite box do you have (if you have one)?

Also, do you have a working budget for a new receiver and new speakers? (I wouldn't recommend using HTIB speakers with a new, dedicated receiver - suffice it to say, for now, that there might be incompatibility issues doing so.) I ask this because, depending on what your current Blu-ray player is, your choice of receiver can affect your ability to enjoy what is called "HD Audio" available on Blu-ray movies, and being able to hear this type of audio is an option worth reaching for.

That will get us started. You've come to the right place to find out what you need to know. There may be a lot of other responses to your thread, too! I would recommend perusing and doing a little searching through the various equipment forums here. Yes, there can be some very intimidating information here for the home theater newbie, and system components which are very expensive, but there's also a ton of great basic information to help you, and you can also realistically spend a modest amount of money to get reasonably good quality multichannel sound.

Again, welcome to the site!

[JimShaw]

Originally Posted by Mime

The TV has 2 HDMI inputs. The cable box however, only has a DVI-D output. There are HDMI-DVI cables though, correct?

So I would need a third HDMI cable going from the receiver to the TV?

There are a number of possibilities. it all depends on what you have and what you want to do.

As an example I connect the cable box by way of HDMI to the receiver. Then the receiver to the TV. I had changed out my cable box for an HD box which has an HDMI out put

My player is connected to the TV direct by an HDMI and for the player sound I run a 7.1 analog multi channel system to the receiver then to the speakers.

[Mime]

Thanks!

The Blu-ray player is a Samsung BD-P1590. The TV is a 32" RCA LCD, that I just realized is also subpar (Only 1366x768 resolution).

The HD cable box is made by Motorola, with no HDMI outputs, but it has a DVI-D output.

As for budget, I'd just like to know what price to expect for a decent quality set up.

[BIslander]

Your Samsung player can bitstream and decode all the new audio codecs. That means you can pretty much get any new receiver that processes audio over HDMI.

But, before getting to that, does you current DVD/receiver system have an optical input that can process DD 5.1 and DTS from an external device such as your BD player? If so, you can get discrete 5.1 without buying a new AVR. The audio won't be lossless. But, it will still sound great, quite a bit better than the audio you get from regular DVDs.

As for your TV, 1366x768 resolution is plenty fine for a 32" display.

[Mime]

No, the home theatre in a box thing doesn't have the optical input.