Should a DVD w/HDMI be used with a receiver (1 Viewer)

[Jay Tee]

My receiver's manual strongly advises against sending an audio signal from one outlet into two speakers. I can see the sense in that but now I have a newly acquired plasma screen with an HDMI input. HDMI appears to be the future and I am leaning toward a DVD with HDMI but I can't help but wonder if undue stress will be placed on the audio components of such a DVD player if I connect it to the plasma using HDMI and still must utilize its optical output to send an audio signal into my receiver. Won't that be forcing the DVD to create and send audio out in two directions? Would that stress the internal audio workings so as to shorten DVD life expectancy or at least compromise audio quality? Might I be better off to get a DVD with DVI instead so that only video is going into the plasma and only audio is going into the receiver? Anybody have any thoughts on that issue?

 

[Brian Osborne]

your talking about a preamp signal, should hurt anything if the DVD player is capable of it. Most shut off all other outputs when you plug in the HDMI.
Does your Receiver switch HDMI? if so, I'd run it all through the receiver. You might have a hard time finding a new DVD with DVI out. As long as you get a quality DVD player, I don't think you will compromise quality regardless of what type of digital audio output you use.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Don't worry at all about this. They are electrons, not boulders. The DVD should handle the HDMI and digital audio out together with ease.