Thanks for your help. So what I think I understand from your replys is I should scrap the optical cable and run the 8 (6) channel analog from player to AVR and set player to output pcm? When doing this, since the signal is output as analog, is there any audio quality difference between the DAC in the samsung BR vs the one in the Oppo DVD. I am trying to convince myself that it is time to retire the Oppo and let the BR take over, but I dont seem to want to let it go.