Hi all. I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, so can a mod please move it if I've made the wrong choice. Basically, I want to know the best way to hook up my new fantasy loungeroom setup, . My speakers are YHT-285S 6.1, my TV is the Panasonic 42 inch 70A model, a basic dvd player with coaxial and optical digital ports, `and there will be an xbox 360 in the near future. So, what will be the most efficient way to hook everything up? I was thinking to the amp, as the Yamaha system comes with an inbuilt universal remote, and has video inputs. But, I'm not sure about surround. The TV, The Xbox, and the DVD all have optical digital ports, but the amp only has 2. So should I maybe buy a coaxial cable for the DVD player? Or, something else, if I plusg the DVD player into the TV using the HDMI input, can I then tell it to route the sound to the amp and play in 5.1? Basically yeah, I wanna know which cables I need, and what would be the most efficient way to have everything setup. Thanks for any help.
you don't need to hook up your dvd player via hdmi unless its an upconvert player. Why not just skip the dvd player when you get your 360? Then just hook up your 360 to your tv via component or a vga cable. As for the audio use an optical cable for the 360 and the dvd player or a coaxial for the dvd player will do the same. If you throw out the dvd player use the extra optical input on the amp for your tv.
... why would I want to get rid of the dvd player? Thought I will have to see if it's an upconvert. Would it have a HDMI port if it wasn't?
well if it has an hdmi output then its an upconvert, if not then you can just use your 360 as a dvd player. Have you bought a 360 yet? If not then consider getting an elite, it has an hdmi output on it with 1080p upscaling.
Nah, but also Elites aren't available in Australia yet. I've read there was little to no difference between the HDMI and the HD AV cables with the xbox 360. The main difference reviews said was that there were deeper blacks with HDMI, but yeah barely noticable. Don't wanna use the 360 as a dvd player. No remote, and also I purpously got a dvd player that played divx
ok...well if your dvd player isnt an upconvert and you have some sparte cash consider buying one, ive heard panasonic makes a nice 1080p one, not sure if it supports divx tho, I know the samsung 1080p7 does 1080p and divx. both are under $100. As far as hooking up your system goes I would use one of the optical inputs for the 360 if you like playing your games loud, and use the other one for your dvd player of choice. Im guessing your tv has optical out too...Digital sound from your tv would be nice if you like to watch movies and live sports on your tv. If you have to have digital sound input for your tv then use a coaxical cable for your dvd player. I have tried both optical and coaxial in my cheap apex dvd player to get dolby digital sound from dvds and I cannot tell the difference between the 2.
