I have a Dish sat box and I have a audio receiver with 3 HDMI plugins and also 2 toslink inputs.

I want to connect my desktop computer which has a toslink out coming out of the motherboard in the back to my receiver. Thats one connection..

I also want to connect my playstation 2 and my laptop.

My ps2 only has toslink. My laptop has toslink and HDMI.

If my device has HDMI should I use the HDMI or the toslink which one is better or do I need both?

Also I think my TV may have HDMI and Toslink so the above question applys to that also :)

Ps. Should I buy this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042301&p_id=966&seq=1&format=2

Or this:

http://www.trianglecables.com/os-3pt.html

(found it cheaper on amazon for $8)

To do what I want to do... ? (one of my cables is going to be about 12 - 25 feet long)

I think I need the 2nd one so when im on my computer playing a video game I just get up and switch the source to the pc so I can have surround sound.

If my device has HDMI should I use the HDMI or the toslink which one is better or do I need both?

If your AVR processes audio over HDMI (as opposed to just video switching), then use HDMI. Toslink and HDMI are both digital. HDMI carries audio and video in a single cable among other advantages.

A BB HT consultant wrote up a proposal for me that specifies both HDMI cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver" and optical audio cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver." (And, note, no cables for receiver to TV?!)

I thought HDMI cables carry both audio & video, & that the whole point of HDMI is to reduce cable clutter. Why would I need two components to be connected by both HDMI and audio cables? Very confused . . .

A BB HT consultant wrote up a proposal for me that specifies both HDMI cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver" and optical audio cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver." (And, note, no cables for receiver to TV?!)

I thought HDMI cables carry both audio & video, & that the whole point of HDMI is to reduce cable clutter. Why would I need two components to be connected by both HDMI and audio cables? Very confused . . .


Just because a HDMI cable can carry both, does not in this day and age mean that it actually does that. I have a number of HDMI cables in play that are paired with digital audio cables because the equipment does not fully exploit HDMI.

Hopefully none of those optical audio cables are very expensive, because there is no need for them to be costly.

A BB HT consultant wrote up a proposal for me that specifies both HDMI cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver" and optical audio cables "for FIOS box and DVD player to receiver." (And, note, no cables for receiver to TV?!)

I thought HDMI cables carry both audio & video, & that the whole point of HDMI is to reduce cable clutter. Why would I need two components to be connected by both HDMI and audio cables? Very confused . . .
It depends on your receiver. If it is just an HDMI video switcher, then audio needs a separate cable.

Yes, you will need an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV.

Buy your cables from a place like monoprice, a forum sponsor with a link at the top of the page. They make excellent cables at cheaper prices than you'll get from stores. Much cheaper.

Yeah, it all depends on which receiver you have.

For instance, the Onkyo TX-SR506 does not do HDMI audio, even though it has HDMI inputs. There, HDMI is purely a convenience for video switching. Adding audio to the HDMI would put it at a higher pricepoint.

The TX-SR606 does HDMI audio. It also costs a little more than the 506.

It depends on your receiver. If it is just an HDMI video switcher, then audio needs a separate cable.

Ahhhh. Things start to come clear, now. Thanks, folks.

The receiver I'm planning to get is the Yamaha RX-V463:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=567576&CTID=5000300&ATRID=1020&DETYP=ATTRIBUTE

I don't see any mention that it has HDMI *audio* capability, so I suspect that's why I also need an audio cable for each connected component.

I don't see any mention that it has HDMI *audio* capability, so I suspect that's why I also need an audio cable for each connected component.
You may want to check the manual. This line from the product description suggests that it does do HDMI audio:

"HD Audio LPCM 5.1-channel reception (up to 96kHz)"

LPCM 5.1 is only possible over HDMI.