Worth upgrading AVR for HDMI?

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apwillard1986

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My question is less a “which is better for audio?” and more a “is it worth the upgrade?”

My FIL bought a new TV and Bluray player to replace his aged CRT setup after the TV went out for a second time. I spent Saturday hooking it all up for him; after we went to Comcast to get an HD DVR so he could retire his VCR.

Anyways, he has an older Onkyo 5.1 system and the AVR has no HDMI ports. So I connected his new stuff to the TV and ran an optical cable from the TV to the Onkyo. Kinda like how those Cinemates and soundbar type systems are designed to connect. This seems to work fairly well

Our AVR at home has HDMI inputs so I have our stuff plugged into it and then out to the TV. It works great and we have ARC for items like the wii or the built in apps. such as Netflix. Our AVR also switches automatically and that works perfectly 95% of the time unless you are doing something it just didn’t anticipate.

So, after that long preface, is having HDMI thru capability worth upgrading the receiver?
 
Nope. They way you did it is how I do it.
Optical and HDMI are both digital, there should essentially be no difference whatsoever. Plus, there are less cables this way, and the amp always stays on the same setting. I actually prefer this setup and would not change it even if I could.

I'd say you did fine!
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Nope. They way you did it is how I do it.
Optical and HDMI are both digital, there should essentially be no difference whatsoever. Plus, there are less cables this way, and the amp always stays on the same setting. I actually prefer this setup and would not change it even if I could.

I'd say you did fine!


It is funny you mention this because as a follow-up question I was wondering if anyone with an HDMI AVR hooks it up optically anyways. Hooking his up has got me thinking that I might look into hooking ours up at home this way. For the very reasons you mentioned.
 
Originally Posted By: apwillard1986
So I connected his new stuff to the TV and ran an optical cable from the TV to the Onkyo.

There is one major problem with this. The optical output on most TVs downconverts everything* to 2-channel stereo due to some silly copyright protection issue. You should be able to check the status of your receiver to see if the incoming audio is 2-channel or 5.1 DD.

To avoid this issue, you should send audio directly from each device (HD box, BR player) to the receiver using optical or digital coax cables.


*The only source it passes on untouched is the one incoming on an antenna/coax cable. So if you have an OTA HD TV antenna hooked up to your TV's antenna input, audio feed from it will get passed on to the receiver correctly.
 
TOSlink (optical) cables can't carry the newer audio formats on Blu-ray, such as DTS-HD Master Audio. As such, the track is downsampled to regular DTS.

HDMI can carry those newer audio formats.



Frankly I would tell you to go for an AVR that has HDMI in/out. It's a lot nicer to just have a single cable and let the AVR do all the switching between inputs.

Plus, many HDMI-equipped AVRs do things like video upscaling.
 
And if you want something more entry level, Newegg has a Yamaha V471 for $200. It doesn't do HDMI upscaling though, only switching. But if your HDMI sources are already in HD format, then you don't really need upscaling.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
And if you want something more entry level, Newegg has a Yamaha V471 for $200. It doesn't do HDMI upscaling though, only switching. But if your HDMI sources are already in HD format, then you don't really need upscaling.



My Marantz does upscaling -- only reason I like that is because my TV doesn't have to keep switching resolutions (between 720p/1080i).
 
All of the sources are HD. I'll probably go with another Onkyo. I like Onkyo or Yamaha equipment. It is just what I am used to. That Harman-Kardon looks awesome but it would be a bit like using a Dually to pull an aluminum boat. His speakers are Onkyo and sound pretty darn good. The system he has was high end in 2000 when he bought it.
 
Originally Posted By: apwillard1986
His speakers are Onkyo and sound pretty darn good. The system he has was high end in 2000 when he bought it.

Hope you don't get offended, but there is nothing particularly high end about Onkyo speakers. The receiver might be, though.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: apwillard1986
His speakers are Onkyo and sound pretty darn good. The system he has was high end in 2000 when he bought it.

Hope you don't get offended, but there is nothing particularly high end about Onkyo speakers. The receiver might be, though.



No offence taken at all; I meant the receiver. I know they aren’t high end but he likes the sound and that they match the receiver. Again, this is for my in-laws. In fifteen years of messing with electronics I have learned that sometimes when helping someone with a necessary upgrade that it is best to ease them into it, especially if they didn’t really want to upgrade. Wherever possible I think it will be best to stick with what they are comfortable with.

I’m thinking the upgrade to a new HDMI capable receiver will simplify his setup. Since his birthday is a few months out it will give him time to learn his new TV, BD Player, and cable box. The current audio setup will do in the interim. It sounds infinitely better than the built in speakers.
 
Sounds like a plan. Speaker sound is very subjective and you don't necessarily need to spend a lot of money there to find what you like.

Does he have a universal remote to help him control it all?
 
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