I just purchased a Pioneer Elite SC-37 with HDMI 1.4a switching (haven't set it up yet though). I am upgrading from an old Arcam receiver that does not have HDMI switching. Therefore, I am used to running HDMI cables directly from my sources (such as my Blu-ray player) to the HDTV for video and then separate optical cables to the Arcam for the sound. Now that I have the HDMI switching on the SC-37, do I need the optical cables anymore?
I know that technically HDMI cables do carry digital sound on them but I am curious if there is anything to gain in connecting dedicated optical cables to the SC-37 to handle the sound for my sources. Is this overkill / not needed? Or is there an advantage to keeping the optical cables?
Note that I have already purchased and upgraded my HDMI cables to 1.4 high speed, category 2 + ethernet, audio return channel cables.
Thanks in advance for the help and guidance!
I know that technically HDMI cables do carry digital sound on them but I am curious if there is anything to gain in connecting dedicated optical cables to the SC-37 to handle the sound for my sources. Is this overkill / not needed? Or is there an advantage to keeping the optical cables?
Note that I have already purchased and upgraded my HDMI cables to 1.4 high speed, category 2 + ethernet, audio return channel cables.
Thanks in advance for the help and guidance!
