Newbie Audio/TV/Gaming question

[Sarim Rune]

Hello,

I'm about to enter into the previous decade and get an HDTV & home theatre.

I'm lost as to what I need to get my audio all working:

I have:
Xbox 360 (using HD component cables)
PS3 (using HDMI and optical audio cables)
Sony cheapie DVD player

I will soon have:
Samsung 46 HDTV
Wii

I will probably soon have:
Samsung Home Theatre HT-TZ322

My confusion is hopefully easy to fix: Basically I want to run all three gaming consoles on through my TV. Easy enough for video, but the audio part baffles me. How do I get the gaming systems to work with the home theatre?

Does each device need a separate port on the receiver?
Does each device get plugged into the TV which then goes into the receiver (seems doubtful)?

I guess part of my confusion lies in part because of the HDMI business. I'm pretty sure an HDMI cable has video and audio. So if your TV has multiple HDMI inputs, does the TV connect to the receiver and the receiver figure out the sound output to the speakers? Or are you supposed to find a way to plug each external device (in my case 3 gaming consoles) into the receiver?

Anyway, the basic question is: TV, receiver, 3 gaming consoles - please tell me how to make it work.

Thanks!

 

[j_garcia]

You are overthinking it. Yes, all HDMI to the TV and audio only to the receiver. Does the Wii have HDMI? I didn't think they did, but the digital audio would still to to the receiver. For the PS3, when you set audio to optical, it disables it over HDMI I believe.

 

[Sarim Rune]

You are overthinking it. Yes, all HDMI to the TV and audio only to the receiver. Does the Wii have HDMI? I didn't think they did, but the digital audio would still to to the receiver. For the PS3, when you set audio to optical, it disables it over HDMI I believe.

No idea what the Wii has, but I was probably getting one so I wanted to be sure.

And yeah, the PS3 allows you to choose where you want the audio to output to. You can can disable the HDMI audio output in favor for the optical.

But to clarify (cuz again, really dumb here): You're suggesting that I could use the HDMI for several machines (pretend that they all are HDMI) and plug into the TV, then plug an audio cable from the TV into the receiver and I'm done?

 

[j_garcia]

No idea what the Wii has, but I was probably getting one so I wanted to be sure.

And yeah, the PS3 allows you to choose where you want the audio to output to. You can can disable the HDMI audio output in favor for the optical.

But to clarify (cuz again, really dumb here): You're suggesting that I could use the HDMI for several machines (pretend that they all are HDMI) and plug into the TV, then plug an audio cable from the TV into the receiver and I'm done?

If your receiver isn't HDMI, then the above would be the way to go. If the receiver does have HDMI, then it would work fine to send all HDMI to the receiver and then just run a single cable from receiver to TV.

 

[s162216]

FYI the Wii does not have a digital out - the sound comes over RCA jacks and has Dolby Pro Logic II for surround.

 

[AVRat]

Where do you live? That Samsung HT system is extremely limited in its capabilities and I would not recommend it. It's really just a DVD watching, CD/IPOD listening setup. It has zero video inputs, only audio (optical/RCA). I would not rely on the TV acting as an audio processor. This is what a true receiver is for. Trying to put a system together like this is a waste of money. How much can you spend on the HT setup. If it's not much, you may want to start with a decent receiver and two speakers, then build the rest up over time.

Manual download: http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/tv-video/home-theatre/home-theatre-systems/HT-TZ322T/XAC/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=support

 

[GlocksRock]

I would highly reccomend getting a real AV receiver and add the rest of the stuff as you go if you can't afford everything all at once. You can get killer prices on refurbished Denon receivers from ecost.com, right now you could get a Denon AVR-1910 for about $300 shipped, which is normally a $550 receiver. It has 4 HDMI inputs, 2 component inputs, 2 optical digital, and 2 digital coax inputs, upscaling to 1080p for both analog and HDMI sources, analog to HDMI upconverting, and even has the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz... fantastic value for what all you get, I actually just ordered one yesterday.

http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Electronics/Denon/AVR1910-B/53705602.aspx?navid=155441530