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HDMI Wiring Question - Please Help

post #1 of 3
5/24/09 at 4:06pm
Thread Starter 
Hi:

I am revisiting my home theater connections and I have a few questions.

If I am using HDMI cables to connect both a Blue Ray DVD and a cable set-top box to my receiver, must I also make audio connections from these units to my receiver - or will the audio information be present through the HDMI cable?

Is it better to make all digital video connections directly to the receiver and then make one HDMI connection out of the receiver to the television? Or, is it better to make all digital video connections directly to the television and bypass the receiver circuitry all together? Is there an advantage or disadvantage one way or another?

My goal is to minimize wires; however I do not wish to do so at the expense of video & audio quality.

Thank you very much for your help as I am at a complete loss.

Sincerely,
Tom

What I am using (if it’s necessary to know): The main connections involve a Rotel RSX-1057 AV Receiver and a Sony 1080p HD television that is equipped with 4 HDMI inputs. My digital video and digital audio cables are Monster M1 series, and my analog audio cables are a mix of Monster M1 and Transparent Audio.
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post #2 of 3
5/24/09 at 6:31pm

Re: HDMI Wiring Question - Please Help

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom_Taylor
If I am using HDMI cables to connect both a Blue Ray DVD and a cable set-top box to my receiver, must I also make audio connections from these units to my receiver - or will the audio information be present through the HDMI cable?

Depends on the receiver. Unfortunately your receiver is one of those "pass-through" only models, where you do have to make an additional coax/Toslink digital audio connection. All it provides is HDMI video switching & won't process the audio off of it. Which is pretty lame IMO considering the price you pay for a Rotel.

Quote:
Is it better to make all digital video connections directly to the receiver and then make one HDMI connection out of the receiver to the television? Or, is it better to make all digital video connections directly to the television and bypass the receiver circuitry all together? Is there an advantage or disadvantage one way or another?

For convenience it's better to go through the receiver, then you don't have to switch both the receiver & TV. Though there's not much advantage there if you have a good universal remote that will do both for you. Going directly to the TV saves one HDMI cable, and allows you to calibrate differently for each video source if they have slight differences in black level output etc. Not a big deal either way IMO for most equipment.

Quote:
My goal is to minimize wires; however I do not wish to do so at the expense of video & audio quality.

Try monoprice.com and stop feeding Monster and their massively overpriced cables that make no difference.
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post #3 of 3
5/24/09 at 8:25pm
Thread Starter 

Re: HDMI Wiring Question - Please Help

Stephen:

Thank you for replying to my questions.

I have noticed that with my Rotel receiver, I do not receive audio information through the HDMI cable. I had to make separate audio connections. Thank you for clearing that up for me, as I thought I was doing something wrong.

First I tried routing the video signals from each piece of equipment directly to the television via HDMI inputs, thus completely bypassing the receiver. Then I tried routing the video signals from each piece into the receiver - coming out of the receiver with one HDMI connection to the television. I did not notice a difference in picture or audio quality favoring one method over the other. Based on your comments, this outcome was to be expected.

I have programmed my Logitech Harmony One to handle the switching. It seems to do the functions flawlessly.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that HDMI & optical cables are so fragile. My equipment is in a rather tight spot so I must slide-out and turn the pieces in order to access the wiring in the back. With so many wires in such close quarters, the sliding of equipment in-and-out has already caused me to damage several cables. It's interesting that during the same sliding about, no damage ever befalls the tried-and-true RCA twist-lock connectors.

Thanks again for your reply. You have cleared things up for me!

Sincerely,
Tom
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