Digital optical audio or HDMI?

Raleigh Lufkin: If you send your audio out of the optical audio from your tv, it will not send the audio in true surround mode. Weird to hear that being that it is optical, but its true. Check in your manual. As long as your receiver isnt a pass through for your HDMI, then you can run them all into there and get DTS-HD and ProLogic HD through the HDMI, as they are the only cables that can send sound in HD (providing that your receiver has this play mode) If your receiver is a pass through, then you will need to send your video through HDMI for each source, and optical/coax for your audio, as some lower end (under $500) receivers cant accept audio through HDMI....Show more

Rheba Cockman: Well, unless you want to route everything--including picture as well as sound--through your surround system, your best bet is to hook all your HDMIs to your tv and then use the optical out cables FROM your tv TO your receiver. Cheaper, too because you're not paying for extra HDMIs yo! u don't need.

Romana Stiman: You cant get carry of Dolby digital genuine HD or DTS HD grasp audio and different encoding formats by way of an optical cable. This does no longer mater in case you had an older receiver that would not help those formats. yet while your equipment dose help those formats opt for HDMI. With an older receiver you have your Blue-Ray participant decode the audio and deliver it as liner pcm if so it wont mater in case you utilize HDMI or Optical

Christiane Cattano: You'll want to connect everything directly to the receiver and then run one HDMI out to the TV. Or, if they are able to, you could connect your HD components via HDMI directly to the TV for the video and send the audio separately to the receiver. Anything with HD audio (TrueHD, DTS-HD) would need to be sent with an HDMI cable. Optical can handle standard definition 5.1 surround.