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Resolved Question

HDMI or Optical AV Receiver?

Jan 10, 2012 7:02PM PST

Hi all,
This is probably a simple question and one that has been answered before.
I have been looking at getting a surround set-up and wondered if there is any real benefit in getting a receiver with HDMI over optical inputs?
I have PS3 for BluRay/games and SkyHD for TV/Movies/sport.
I wondered if there would be any real benefit in getting a newer (lower spec) HDMI receiver or an older (higher spec) receiver with optical input.
Sorry for my ignorance!
Thanks

Discussion is locked

BromleyWolf has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Always get HDMI now
Jan 10, 2012 11:55PM PST

Since digital optical cannot pass along audio content higher than DD5.1, that's what you need to get the real deal if you require the full blue ray expanded audio codecs.

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Thanks Pepe
Jan 11, 2012 12:53AM PST

My budget is quite small but I have found and Onkyo HT-S3405, which includes the surround speakers as well.
I believe the HDMI is 1.4 so would that transfer sound as well as visual, as I've seen on some forums that there can be issues with this?
Thanks for your help (I can't believe I'm so out of touch)...

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All HDMI cables run audio & video
Jan 11, 2012 5:37AM PST

The 1.4 spec adds some additional features though.

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One moe advantage of HDMI: Sync
Jan 11, 2012 7:23AM PST

In addition to the good advice from Pepe7, there is one more advantage of HDMI: It avoids sync problems that occur often when using Optical. Since the HDMI sends both audio and video, the are tied together. The Optical sends the audio on a separate path and I find that the audio is often out of sync with the video using this cable.

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When I had ATT Uverse, sync was as bad as
Jan 11, 2012 7:28AM PST

Your old Kung Fu or Godzilla movies on some channels. It seems sync is still a problem even when I have HDMI all the way.
Bob

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Thanks for all your help guys
Jan 11, 2012 8:13AM PST

Well I have to say thanks for all your help guys, my mind is somewhat clearer now and I'm going to collect the Onkyo on Saturday.
I'm sure that I'll be back in touch if I have any issues with set up?
Thanks again

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Answer
Additional question
Jan 10, 2012 7:07PM PST

I also wondered that as the PS3 has DTS HD & Dolby HD decoders built in, would that then output through an amp without these decoders or would I lose this benefit? Would there be sound compatibility issues??
Thanks

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These must be passed along via HDMI
Jan 10, 2012 11:56PM PST

The higher bandwidth requirement of these audio tracks means you need a proper receiver w/ HDMI from a PS3.

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DTS HD & Dolby HD
Jan 14, 2012 5:21PM PST

Your sound quality will only be as good as the weakest point of your system. If your amp cant decode it then you will lose out on all the benefits

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Your second statement isn't necessarily true
Jan 15, 2012 6:59AM PST

If a blu ray component had decoding and multi-channel analog output and was connected via multi-channel analog cables to an older receiver w/o built-in TrueHD decoding, it could still accept the surround signal and pass along to the speakers.

Now if you specifically mentioned the PS3 of the OP, sure.

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Just another question and thanks again
Jan 17, 2012 9:54PM PST

Thanks again guys,
It is a PS3 I'm using at the moment.

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Anything more specific on those items?
Jan 17, 2012 10:59PM PST

I say plug them all in and see what you think Wink