Complete Home Audio Solution assistance

[nealiegotcha]

Hi all and thank you for the oportunity to finally get the kinks out of my setup, with a milltion connections and options to, i am stuck with how this should be setup for absolute sound rather than out of the box basics.

Below are my specs relevant to the assistance i need, nothing flash but works well with no need to upgrade for my basic AV needs.

with each item in green is my question regarding the component. any further instructions or advice would be very welcome ! thank you in advance to all who can assist.

Rx373 Yamaha 5.1

[Connections]

Sound and Video
IN AVR - PS4 via HDMI
IN AVR - Xone via HDMI
IN AVR - PC via HDMI
IN AVR - Blu Ray via HDMI
OUT AVR - TV via HDMI Directional
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Optical Out/In AVR
AVR Opt 2 - TV via optical Cable (for free to air 5.1 and so on)
AVR Opt OUT 1 - Toslink - External PnP devices - Ipod
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PS4

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Astro Mixamp Pro

Connected Via USB to PC (only way i can get any sound) but would like to be using the best option available which i assume is the TOSlink to Sound Card ?

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Panasonic ET60.

Connected to switch Via ethernet cable
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Recon 3d Pci-e (Currently Not being used i dont think,)

- Would like to take advantage of this card if it proves better than the GPu sound which is currently being provided.
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is optical to AVR better than hdmi ?
1 x Platinum - AVR <-----> PS4
1 x Platinum - AVR <-----> GPU
1 x Black platinum TV <----> AVR via HDMI #2 ARC

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1 x Monster Dvi to Hdmi (was used to connect GPU to AVR but chose HDMI instead. now not used

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Jamo S420 5.1 Speakers [Connected to AVR]

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Centre speaker was replaced for Mordaunt short center.

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GPU GTX680 [HDMI <------> AVR] currently providing sound from PC to AVR as my sound settings in windows states "Panasonic TV 4"

Not having a DP input or DDVI on the TV HDMI is the highest i can use therefore rendering my single link DVI cable to HDMI cable useless compared to a normal Hdmi right ?

 

[pauls3743]

You're asking some serious audio questions there. Not really the sort of thing many computer buffs come across. Anyway, I'll try and impart some of my limited knowledge.

Astro Mixamp Pro - I don't have a clue but I would've though you could've used the TOSLink to hook up to an optical on the AVR, assuming you just want to listen and don't need to worry about recording to pc.

TV - you should only need the HDMI cable to connect to the Cinema system as both support ARC (audio return channel) which send digital audio back down the cable to your amp, no need for the optical cable. The Ethernet connection is fine as you will use it for internet TV as well as firmware updates.

Sound card - I feel this will remain redundant but if you think it will produce a better sound than the GPU then try it. I have my doubts it will be better though as it's merely passing a digital signal onto the AVR so it can process it.

Optical or HDMI? I'd go with HDMI, it's not any better or worse, it's actually the same signal in a different form. HDMI is an electrical signal, Optical is a beam of light fired along a piece of glass. The audio processing is still carried out by the AVR whichever one you pick. A thought - I've had the DTS HD Master Audio through HDMI, I don't think optical supports that but it's not something I have tested.

I don't know if your AVR does it or not but mine (Onkyo TX-NR828) has a hierarchy for the audio connections which goes roughly (top to bottom) HDMI -> Coaxial -> Optical -> Analogue. This is actually something that annoys me with my system as sometimes I want to listen to a CD at the same time as using my TV for browsing the internet. As the TV and CD are designated as the same input on my AVR the TV (HDMI) gets priority and the CD Player (optical) gets cut off, this leads to me having to occasionally unplug the HDMI cable from the TV so it doesn't override the CD Player.

Lastly, your DVI - HDMI cable should be more than enough. You really only need the higher end HDMI/Displayport for 4k. You're only running at 1080p with your TV.