I purchased one of these optical splitters to use to hook up my Macbook pro & Xbox 360 to an Onkyo sr606 (I realize I can't have them both on at the same time). I've read some conflicting stories of what works and what doesn't, for example one person saying it doesn't work because the Mac mini-toslink out doesn't emit a beam through the splitter, etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has used this or something similar w/ success, or if I'll have to find a way to hook the Macbook directly to my receiver with no splitters or switches. Thanks

I'm just curious, Hagfish, why wouldn't you just connect directly to your AVR, most modern AVRs have 4-6 digital audio inputs...are all of yours taken?

one person saying it doesn't work because the Mac mini-toslink out doesn't emit a beam through the splitter

Optical audio out of the Mac using a mini-jack adapter tip works just like the optical out on any other CE device--the "beam" isn't any different. If it's not going through the splitter, it's likely not to be the fault of the Mac; if you have a long, twisted, cable run to get to the splitter, you may have to test different cables, but very inexpensive optical cables work just fine for most of us. ( I suspect if you're trying to use a splitter the reverse way, i.e. two sources outputting as one into a single AVR input, the problem might be that the two sources stay active, negating each other.)

Were you thinking of a particular product? Did you forget a link?

I don't have experience with optical splitters or switchers, my two HK AVRs have 6 inputs each.

Well, I do have a modern AVR, a darn good one actually (Onkyo sr606). It has 2 optical audio inputs, 1 digi-coax, and several hdmi. The prob is, unless I introduce converters (i.e. toslink to digi-coax), all of my devices utilize optical audio ports. This includes U-verse box, XB360, and MB Pro. Since the two latter get used the least, I figure I'll hook the splitter up there and leave the U-verse connected directly. Trust me, I'm open for suggestions I just don't really see another way

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I don't do U-verse and xbox360 through hdmi for audio -- U-verse will ONLY do 5.1 DD over optical (lame). And my 360 is the old school version, no hdmi.

yeah, I just googled that Onkyo after I posted, seems like a VERY nice bang for the buck, but if it only has two optical audio inputs, though, that's not enough. That might be how they try to upsell you to an even better model. I guess you are in a position where you have to try a splitter/switcher...good luck and let us know.

Thanks, I hope it does, cause it will be a pretty cheap fix (7 bucks from fry's) Gonna try it tonight

So much for that I couldn't even get the 360 to come up when it was the ONLY thing in the splitter. The light was hardly even coming out of it.. Maybe my cables were to long to use this thing (only 6 ft though).. So when the 360 didn't work, I didn't even bother trying the mac.

On a side note though, I did plug the macbook optical directly into the onkyo and I must say.. Boxee on the 65" in 1080p + Dolby dig = absolute greatness.. Makes me wanna get a mini instead of movin around this laptop all the time

Splitters never worked for me, but optical to coaxial converters are relatively inexpensive and work well. Just more clutter in your pile of cables...

Yeah, I think that's where I'm gonna turn next - especially since they're only 10 bucks on monoprice.

I have both a monoprice toslink splitter and toslink-to-coax convertor (along with a mini-toslink to toslink adapter) running into my Onkyo HT-R510.

My use for the splitter is so I can record audio from songs and concerts I've recorded on my Dish 211K satellite receiver to my Power Mac G5. My toslink splitter splits the audio from my Dish 211K receiver with one optical cable running to my G5 and the other running to the DVD input of my Onkyo.

While that works pretty well, I have run into an issue that might point to a solution to your problem despite our different uses for the technology. The G5's audio out (tape) does not affect audio from the satellite receiver (DVD) when the Onkyo is switched to DVD.

However, audio from the G5 is silent when the Dish satellite receiver is on a channel with Dolby Digital (one of the 45 HD channels) even though the tape input is selected on the Onkyo. I presume the audio circuits on the G5 pass through the digital audio from the satellite receiver even when the inputs are changed, which is what causes the problem.

To resolve the issue and play back audio from the G5, I have to switch to a non-Dolby Digital channel on the satellite receiver and it works just fine. When I'm recording songs, I usually switch the satellite receiver to output PCM only, instead of Dolby Digital/PCM. I have this problem even when the satellite is turned off because it can record programming and thus output a phantom Dolby Digital audio signal that messes with the G5's audio output.

My point is that perhaps the problem arises from having two Dolby Digital sources running into the Onkyo. And perhaps your XBox 360 puts out audio even when it's technically powered down.

Because I also have the toslink-to-coax convertor, I'd just note that I have no problems with that. It runs from my Macbook Pro (via the mini-toslink adapter) into the CD input of the Onkyo. Like your receiver, mine has two optical inputs and one coaxial input so one optical input is used for the satellite receiver, one is used for the G5 and the coax is used for the Macbook Pro. However, it has no HDMI input and instead has HD component switching.

I use the G5 for playing back DVDs, HD video from my EyeTV and web video; I use the Macbook Pro for playing back my iTunes music collection and audio/video conferencing. The only thing I don't like about the convertor is that it has a power supply and thus has to be plugged in.

Dennis

Thanks for the reply Dennis. I'd say your on to something except for this. The splitter doesn't work even when it only has the 360 plugged into it. I hadn't even plugged in the MB pro yet! The light coming through after the splitter was practically non-existent so I don't think the Onkyo even detects a signal. I guess it's possible that I got a bad one, but it's already returned at this point. So, I think I'll go with the toslink -> digi-coax and just forget the idea of the splitter.

Looking at the reviews for the splitter on monoprice it seems to be extremely hit or miss. It's either "greatest product ever! I have my 360 and ps3 hooked up to one toslink port!!!" or "Don't buy this, I didn't get sound with any device hooked up to it" Unfortunately, my experience falls under the latter.