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DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
#174014 08/09/07 12:59 PM
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cgolf Offline OP
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I need some clarification about what I'm wanting to do with my audio cables between my DVD player, TV and processor. I'll try to make it short and crisp but here is what I want to do and what my thinking is:
1. I want to run a HDMI cable from my HD DVD player directly to my TV. I want this for the video, not necessarily the audio.
2. The audio out from the TV to the processor will be a Toslink cable.
3. I also have an audio Toslink cable run directly from the DVD player to the processor.

I want the HDMI from the DVD player to the TV for video. I want the Toslink from the DVD to the processor for audio. To me, running the audio through the HDMI to the TV, having the TV process the audio and then running the audio through the toslink from the TV to the processor will diminish the clarity. I think direct runs are the best way but that's just my personal opinion.
1. Will this even work this way?
2. Will the audio through the HDMI to the TV and back to the processor through the toslink override the audio directly through the toslink between the DVD player and processor.

If I had DVI connections, that would solve my problem. I guess my main concern is that I'll get better audio directly between the DVD player and processor than by going between the DVD, TV and back to the processor. I can drop the toslink cable between the DVD and processor but it seems that having the TV in the loop will diminish the clarity and quality of the audio. Does any of this make sense?

Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
cgolf #174015 08/09/07 01:44 PM
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Yes it makes sense. You DO NOT need to run a toslink from the DVD to the TV to the processor. Just run the toslink from the DVD straight to the processor and make sure that you choose the correct digital/sound input on your processor when watching a DVD.

I am still in the DVI world and I run all my cables directly to the source where they're needed. Using a universal remote such as the Harmony 550 it will turn on the TV, the DVD player, and the receiver and set them all to the correct inputs with the push of one button. Then you can adjust each unit using the Harmony or the remotes that came with each unit. Personally I only use the Harmony to turn everything on and off, then I use each independant remote. It saves on the battery life of the Harmony. I only purchased the Harmony to make it easy for the wife and any Kitty-sitters >(';')< to watch TV or a movie.


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
cgolf #174016 08/09/07 02:07 PM
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I have one question, but I think you are already correct.

There is no need, to send your DVD audio to the TV then to the processor. You should be able to configure the DVD player to send the audio directly to your processor via the Toslink.

Alternatively, if your AVR allows, you could send both video and audio to the AVR via the HDMI and run a second HDMI to the TV for the video. However, this doesn't gain you anything except having to buy a second cable, unless you have a need for the AVR to switch multiple video sources or it does some upscaling that your DVD player doesn't do. Otherwise, many say direct connections are often better.

My question is, how is regular TV hooked up or is this just a DVD only system? Most people get their channels from a separate cable or satellite box. I ask because I can't see any reason why you would run a Toslink from the TV to your AVR unless you are getting channels directly from the built in tuner in the TV. Even if you were, unless you were actually getting multi-channel audio (5.1) through your TV tuner, there would be no need to use anything but your analogue audio outs. This would avoid any confusion with the two Toslinks going to your AVR.

I hope I have made sense. I'm not 100% sure I understood your whole setup and needs correctlyu.


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
Murph #174017 08/09/07 02:20 PM
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Heh heh, I love it when I type so much that someone else posts the same thing ahead of me. I'll leave mine anyway as another way of saying the same thing.

Question for Joey. If you took the dollars and time to buy a Harmony Remote, I'm curious as to why in the world would you not take the extra time to tweak it so that it does all the work of all the other remotes. That is what it was designed to do. (I keep my old ones handy just in case there is some tweaky feature I need that I forgot to add to my universal, but I bet I only opened the coffee table for them once in the last 9 months.)

Also, and again I mean this respectfully out of only curiosity, but it seems to me that if you are still using the other remotes, you are going through 3 or 4 sets of batteries over time instead of just 1 set more often. Unless the Harmony is a real power drainer, it would all equal out over the long run.

In any case, why not invest in a 20 dollar rechargeable battery system and make life as simple as possible for your TV watching family and friends.

I'm just curious really. I'm sure you know what is best for you.


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
Murph #174018 08/09/07 02:57 PM
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Let me try to clarify some things. Right now, I have a HD TV that is on cable with a cable card. I have the internal speakers on the TV muted and run the audio out to the receiver through a toslink. I have another toslink from my DVD player to the receiver so both the TV and DVD have direct audio to the receiver. I link the video from the DVD directly to the TV through component cables. Now, what I want to do is change out the component cable from the DVD to the TV and replace it with an HDMI cable, but I only care about the video. I still want the audio from the DVD to go directly to the receiver through the current toslink. My concern is this--Is it not true that the HDMI will carry the audio to the TV also. The TV will process the audio and then send it back to the receiver through the toslink. This is fine for the audio from the cable TV but I want the audio from my DVD to go direct to the reciever. My confusion is wondering if the audio in the DVD / TV/ receiver loop (HDMI-toslink) will override the audio directly from the DVD to the receiver. And, will the audio direct from the DVD to the receiver be crisper than running the audio from the DVD to the TV back to the receiver? Maybe I'm worrying about something that doesn't matter or doesn't make sense.

Last edited by cgolf; 08/09/07 03:21 PM.
Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
cgolf #174019 08/09/07 03:25 PM
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Let me see if I understand this:

Current:
DVD -> {component} -> TV
DVD -> {optical} -> AVR
Cable -> {Cable Card} -> TV -> {optical} -> AVR

Proposed:
DVD -> {HDMI} -> TV
DVD -> {optical} -> AVR
Cable -> {Cable Card} -> TV -> {optical} -> AVR

If this is true, then you of course have separate inputs on your AVR for the two opticals. I have my DVD set up like this with HDMI directly to the TV and optical to my AVR. Just use your already assigned AVR optical input for DVD when you're viewing that source and, regardless of any other issue, HDMI audio passthrough won't really matter. Tell me if I'm missing something...


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
cgolf #174020 08/09/07 03:27 PM
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AhHH. A cable card. I wondered but wasn't sure.

I'm not familiar at all with cable cards to know if it will take audio from the HDMI input and relay it out to the Toslink output. I'm doubtful but totally uneducated there. I'm sure someone here can respond to that definitively. Perhaps if you knew the make/model of the tuner card, it would be possible to research it's feature set and see if it's likely to do so.

Even then, I think it will be a non issue. Even if your cable card does process it and loop it through. Your receiver will very likely only accept digital input from one single input, for a given task, at a time. Therefore if you set up your receiver so that in DVD mode it only accepts input from the DVD Tos and that in TV mode it only accepts signal from the TV Tos, then it shouldn't matter if your cable card is trying to loop it through. If your AVR auto-senses and can't be nailed down, I suppose it's still an issue. Also, when you say "processor" do you mean a dedicated audio processor or an AV receiver. I have been speaking from a receiver point of view but either way, if you can program the inputs, your laughing. Again, a make and model would help.

Of course, the easiest thing to do is simply hook it up and experiment. Play a DVD and leave out the optical connection that goes from the player to the receiver. Set the Receiver to take input from your TV Optic in and see if you hear anything. Question answered.

Sorry this is long. Someone who knows for sure may be able to wrap this up in sentence or two.


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
Murph #174021 08/09/07 03:40 PM
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Great feedback. Wow, both of you in the last 2 posts understand my issue. That in itself makes me feel better!!! Thanks. Your answers make perfect sense. I currently have an AVR but just bought the Emotiva LMC / LPA combo. I have to set the audio and video for each input source as coax, toslink, HDMI, etc. so that should solve my issue. Thanks again.

Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
Murph #174022 08/09/07 03:44 PM
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What Haylo said is correct, you will have no problems running the cables like you planned. There should be a setup option in your Hd DVD player to specify how you are connecting your audio. A cable card is just like having a cable box in your TV so the same setup rules would apply.
I take it you do not have an HDMI receiver to take adavantage of the sound formats that HD DVD's have to offer.


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Re: DVD & TV Audio Cables Question
HomeDad #174023 08/09/07 04:02 PM
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The LMC does have an external HDMI hookup. I think there are 2 in and 1 out but I do not want to send the video through the processor. The hookup, etc. has always made sense to me, just didn't know if it could work that way or if it would cancel each out. And I wasn't sure if I would lose audio running it through the TV and back to the processor vs. running direct to the processor. My DVD does have an audio setup so I'll need to revisit once I set up the new LMC.

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