I would prefer to not buy a new receiver with my 4k television upgrade. I really only use two components in my setup. I have a turntable and an Xbox One. I use the Xbox One for everything including gaming, streaming movies, streaming audio (from the cloud and local network), and Blu Ray movies.

Here are my questions. When I upgrade my Xbox to the 4k compatible Project Scorpio, I plan to run its HDMI directly into my Samsung KU6300 television because my old receiver does not support 4k video. The TV has an HDMI (ARC) port and an optical digital out. I need to get the audio back to my Yamaha RX-V863 receiver which appears to have optical digital inputs and HDMI inputs. What exactly is the HDMI ARC port, and can it be used to send the audio signal back to my receiver while the TV is set to a different HDMI input? Are these optical digital ports compatible? Are there any disadvantages to using the optical digital cables?

I think I found the answer to my own question. The Xbox One has a S/PDIF optical output which supports PCM, Dolby Digital, and Dolby DTS, and my Receiver has the optical in which supports the same formats. I think I'll go this route. If anybody can tell me that this isn't the best idea, please chime in, but I think I'll be okay.

I kind of have the same question. Just bought a LG 4K OLED and I know it has the HDMI/ARC connection. My A/V receiver is about a 7-year-old Yamaha and I know it can't pass 4K, so I see a new receiver in my future. Are 4K receivers all ARC-compatible? I'm trying to see what is out there and if that is something I need to be aware of.

Thanks!

Mike

Someone with a higher level of wisdom may correct me but this is my understanding of ARC. ARC is a two-way portal so the same HDMI cable can send information back and forth between two components as long as they are both connected through the ARC input. The optical ports on TV's usually only pass two channel audio (which seems to be a ploy to get everybody to use HDMI because it is DRMed). Check your tv manual to verify this for your setup.

The HDMI arc-channel should be able to pass the audio signal to the receiver but that may depend on the TV manufacturer. I usually set the receiver to direct or pure direct so I know what signal is actually being passed through. some components may have an audio only HDMI port so you can send the video to the TV and audio to the receiver. not sure if the new Xbox works that way or not.

Not all receivers are ARC compatible. Usually the entry level 5.1 receivers are not. I bought a 7.1 receiver even though I only use 5 channels because of this.

1. Other way around. Many TVs can only pass stereo 2.0 over HDMI(ARC) while they can usually always pass DD 5.1 over the optical audio output.
2. Most AVRs (5CH or 7CH) mfr'd over the past 5 years are ARC capable.
3. Using DIRECT/PURE DIRECT will disable any speaker/sub EQ program used by the AVR (eg. Audyssey, YPAO, MCAAC, AccuEQ, etc.) and therefore is generally not recommended unless of course the auto EQ program is not being used.
4. Although the new 4k Blu Ray players have dual HDMI outputs (passing video to the TV and audio only to the AVR), not aware of any game box that has more than 1 HDMI output which is why the OP said he would use the optical audio output on the xBox One.

I found this webpage which shows many models of televisions (including mine) and their audio passthrough capabilities. My TV will passthrough dolby digital 5.1 and dolby dts 5.1, so I can now essentially use my TV as my pre-amp (except when using my turntable).

http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/input...io-passthrough

The 863 (I had a 663, still in my closet) is a pretty old AVR, you should consider updating to a 2015 (RX-v*79) or later model. This way you can take advantage of the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD audio formats, which SPDIF and HDMI-ARC will not support. (A *75 model like I have would be okay, but probably hard to find except second-hand.)

Granted, if you only want Dolby Digital and DTS, then SPDIF optical/coax (which some say is more reliable than using HDMI-ARC) is sufficient.

You might find it hard to find a refurb RX-v*79, so a newer RX-v*81 (or TSR-*810, the equivalent models through other retailers) will be fine. Costco has/had the TSR-5810 and TSR-7810 on and off, fairly good prices (they don't charge more than 14% above wholesale cost). Accessories4less surely has some deals to be found. And BTW, the newer models have expanded network capability, supporting a superb Yamaha AV Controller app for Android and iOS that makes the IR remote practically unnecessary. I'm controlling my RX-v775 from an iPad Mini while I stream music to it, from the dining room table.

My "old" RX-V863 supports: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio 7-channel 735W powerful surround sound (105W x 7). This brings up another question. The new RX-V683 is only (105W x 1) or (90W x 2). This is much less power. What gives?

I doubt that the RX-V863 is really 105Wx7. Their website may say so but test reports from Sound and Vision and others say different. With five channels driven its "only" 42.6 watts. There's a full test report below. Full disclosure has kicked in since you purchased your RX-V863. The new RX-V683 will deliver enough power for most speakers.

https://www.soundandvision.com/conte...-labs-measures

So should I expect this receiver to actually produce 90W x 2, or will it be much lower after it actually gets tested? It looks to me like power is now measured as "Rated Power" instead of "RMS." Is this where the difference lies?

Yes it will produce 90Wx2. However when other channels are added it will drop like the V863. Please realize that the drop in watts with ALL or even 5 channels driven is still plenty of power since the surrounds don't need that much power. The front 3 L/C/R is where most of the sound is produced. That's why its important to match the front 3 speakers if possible. IMO the most important is the center(especially for movies). That's where the dialog is mostly coming from.