Ok,
I've finally at the point in my life where i was able to start putting together a system of my own.
Components involved:
Samsung HL-S587W (1080p tv)
Scientific Atlantic HD1500 (HD cable box Time warner)
Samsung HT-X50 all in one theater system
Also involved:
PS2, Wii, Xbox 360 and an old vhs/dvd combo
No right now I have the cable box and the theater system plugged into the hdmi ports.
The cable box in HDMI 1 and the theater system in the HDMI2/DVI.
The xbox 360 through one of the component.
The Ps2, Wii, and combo are on the various composites.
Now initially I had Digital audio out (optical) from the tv going into the reciever but i'd get a horrendous crackling that would just show up out of apparent no where.
So the audio was going from cable to tv via hdmi and tv to reciever through the digital.
I've yet to get this audio problem when playing a cd or dvd in the reciever.
I moved the digital audio out to connect straight from the cable box to the reciever and still recieved the static until i changed the setting off of HDMI and to dolby digital (in the cable box).
That seams to have fix the problem.
However while this means that i have sound through the reciever when playing dvds or watching the cable box.
It won't be playing when i use the xbox 360 which is somewhat important since i have the HDDVD drive for it.
The only cause I can think of is that in the initial set up the HDMI cable from the cable box to the tv might not be the highest quality. Of course the problem may also lie in the audio out of the tv.
Now I have the option of setting the system up the Xbox 360 with its own digital audio out.
So my question really is really two parts,
One - Is it likely at all that i'm right and a higher quality cable could fix the problem and let me play through the tv.
Two - Is there a decent quality switch type device that would allow me to connect the two different Digital audio outs (optical) (One from the cable box and one from the xbox) and plug them into the single input on the reciever?
Sorry for the long windedness and thanks for any help.
Godai