Zatharus

Oh, OK. Have you connected the 360's optical out to the receiver? Or, even just the analog stereo pair?

g4m3rof1337

No, should I connect the optical from the HD AV cable to the receiver?

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Zatharus

Yes, unless you have an open HDMI port on your receiver and an HDMI out on your XBox (the old ones don't have them). Use the optical out for surround audio alone if you don't want to use HDMI. Video can still go direct to the TV if you want, or better yet, have your reciver do the switching if it can.

HDMI is a bit nicer since it will carry audio and video. Use that as your first choice. Optical second.

g4m3rof1337

My only optical port on my receiver is being used to connect my TV to me receiver. I have an open HDMI port on my receiver, but my 360 doesn't have an HDMI port. The guy at BestBuy said I should connect my 360 to my TV, then connect the TV to the receiver via optical, but I'm not sure what else I need to do.




Thanks.

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Zatharus

OK. Technically that should work if your television will allow digital PCM or encoded bitstream pass-through for other digital inputs. Most do. The rarer capability is for the television to convert the analog audio inputs to digital for output over the optical cable. If all you care about is stereo audio, that can simplify things. Let me know which devices you want surround audio from.

You have two main options with your setup:

1) Plug your AV devices into the TV and the TV's audio out into the receiver. Then you just leave the receiver on one input and switch devices with the TV.

2) Plug you AV devices into the receiver and then connect just the video out(s) from your receiver to your television. Then, in an ideal case, you leave your television set to one input and use your receiver to switch between devices.

Option #2 is the more common method, but after reviewing your equipment, I think that option #1 may be simpler for you in operation depending on a couple of factors. Keep in mind that you only have two digital audio inputs on that TV; both of them are via HDMI.

You have the following devices to connect (please correct me if I missed anything):

- Cable Tuner - Component Video, Audio? (Need model info, or more details on its output capabilities. Does this have HDMI output?)
- XBox 360 - Component Video (no HDMI on your model), Optical Digital Audio (for stereo/surround), Analog Audio (RCA coax L/R - stereo only).
- Wii - Component Video, Analog Audio only
- AppleTV - HDMI/Component video, Optical Digital Audio/HDMI (for stereo/surround), or Analog Audio (RCA coax L/R - stereo only).

I should have a list of connection options and instructions posted for you later this evening. I would like to give it to you in one lump rather than piece by piece. In the mean time, please verify that list above along with providing some more info on your cable tuner. I'll make sure to update my instructions to match.

g4m3rof1337

Here's a picture of the back of the Comcast box that I found:

If it helps, the Comcast box model is DCT3416.

I can't find my camera cable, if I do, I'll upload a better picture.

You're spot on with the connections of the devices, and if possible, I'd like surround sound on all of the devices, and if that isn't possible, then the TV or Apple TV, and the 360.



Thanks.

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Zatharus

Perfect! That does help. I see HDMI, too. Good to know. Are you getting HD channels now with Comcast?

OK. I'll see if I can make an un-convoluted way to set this up for you with surround for all those devices. It is possible.

g4m3rof1337

Awesome, and yes, I am receiving HD channels.



Thanks.

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Zatharus

Hmm...well...I've had a chance to look into your receiver more closely and my concerns were confirmed. Option 1 that I posted above is not possible with your receiver. This is just a smaller home-theater-in-a-box system, but I was hoping that it would have more than just two inputs...

Also, I have only found very limited information on your television and whether or not it will do a proper audio pass-through to the optical out. I cannot verify whether or not it will do an A/D conversion on the analog inputs. I doubt it though. Also, I am certain your TV will only pass a down-mixed stereo audio stream from the HDMI inputs (if they carried AC3 in the first place). This causes some problems.

Here is what I can suggest with the limited options you have available to you with this setup:

Video

- Connect the Component output of your XBox 360 to the Component input #1 on your TV.

- Connect the Component output of your Wii to the Component input #3 on your TV.

- Connect the HDMI output from the Cable Tuner to the HDMI input #4 on your TV.

- Connect the HDMI output from your Apple TV to the HDMI input #5 on your TV.


Audio - This is where things get inconvenient.

- Connect the analog L/R RCA cables from the Wii to the AV IN AUDIO (L/R) jacks on the Receiver. You can set your Receiver to Dolby Prologic II decoding for this input to hear surround audio from the Wii.

That's the simple part. Now for the problem...

- For surround audio on the XBox 360, Apple TV, Cable tuner and TV tuner, you will have to share the single optical in on your receiver. Yes, this means swapping it out for the device you want to hear at a give time. You can use the optical outs on all those devices, but only one can be connected to the receiver at a time. You can use just one optical cable attached to your receiver all the time and then connect it to the component you want to use.

IF - and it's a big one here - IF your television will pass bitstream digital audio (AC3/DTS) from the HDMI inputs to the optical out, then you are fine for surround on the Apple TV and Cable tuner. You will still need to swap the optical cable between your XBox 360 and the TV.

- For stereo audio, connect the XBox 360's analog L/R outputs to the L/R inputs #1 on the TV. The Apple TV and Cable tuner are set with their HDMI outputs. This is all hoping that the TV will pass a stereo signal from the HDMI and analog inputs to the optical out.


That is what I can offer you. As inconvenient at it is, I would recommend going with the optical swapping for surround sound from your devices. Give the audio pass-through a shot on your TV though. If that works, then it will eliminate the need for two of the cable swaps.

If you are looking at getting a new receiver in the near future, I can give you some great recommendations that will allow you to have ONE HDMI output from the Receiver to the TV and do all your switching from the Receiver with all components connected for surround.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

g4m3rof1337

Awesome, thanks for the detailed post! I'll have to try this out tomorrow, since I have to log off soon, but I was wondering if this optical splitter would work..

http://www.amazon.com/Shoptronics-SW.../dp/B0002MQGR2



Thanks.

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