Rotel RSX1057 - LCD TV Setup Issue!

[perla4u]

Hello to this great forum. I have been pondering quite a while reading and learning quite a bit of info here. As always, you get to a point where its very specific to your situation and here I am, requesting all for your help.

I just bought a Samsung LCD TV (55 LED TV, very slim design which offers only 1 component connection and no S-video connections). My current setup has a Rotel Receiver connected to the Sony CRT via a Svideo. All my audio and video switching is done via Rotel at this point.

Basically, my question is, if the new LCD TV Doesn't offer the S-video connection, can I just replace the S-video connection with a component AV cables between Rotel and LCD TV to get the component output from my component input devices (DVD/Cable/etc), and a new HDMI cable connection b/w Rotel and LCD TV for my Bluray for digital. Will I be able to run all the component connections to Rotel and run 1 component output to LCD tv to get my setup working so that I can watch which ever I want and just switch b/w Video sources on the Rotel. Does this setup works to watch both my analog and digital output? Do you see any issues?

CAN ROTEL CONVERT ALL COMPONENT INPUTS TO 1 COMPONENT OUTPUT SO THAT I CAN CONNECT THAT OUTPUT TO THE TV? CAN IT CONVERT ANALOG INPUT (COMPONENT) TO DIGITAL OUTPUT (HDMI)?

Below is the setup.

Green = Component AV Connection
Red = HDMI Connection
Pink = S-Video connection

OLD AV Setup:
SONY CRT TV <---- <ROTEL AVR
|<B&W 703
|<DVD 1 Player
|<DVD 2 Player
|<VCR Player
|<Cable Receiver


NEW AV Setup
LCD TV <--- <ROTEL AVR &&
LCD TV <--- <ROTEL AVR
|<B&W 703
|<DVD 1 Player
|<DVD 2 Player
|<BLURay Player
|<Cable Receiver


Please help me out here. Also, can I use Optical cables b/w Bluray and Rotel to get the best sound to the speakers?


Thanks & Regards,
Perla

[kmcheng]

Please help me out here. Also, can I use Optical cables b/w Bluray and Rotel to get the best sound to the speakers?

No. With the 1057 you will need your Bluray player to decode the lossless codecs and output them in 5.1 or 7.1 analog. You will then connect the bluray player with the 1057 using the 1057's direct-in.

I am not familiar with the video side of the 1057, but others in the forum should be able to help you out.

[perla4u]

Thanks KMCheng. So, on the audio side, I still use the component audio connections for Bluray and Rotel right?

SO, from a regular DVD player/cable box, is it recommended to run the optical cable for audio b/w Rotel and the dvd player for the best sound?

[kmcheng]

Thanks KMCheng. So, on the audio side, I still use the component audio connections for Bluray and Rotel right?

Yes, assuming your Bluray player can decode the lossless tracks and has at least 5.1 analog out. Not all Blu-ray players have that capability. Which Bluray player do you have? Hopefully others in the forum can tell you whether your player can do it.

SO, from a regular DVD player/cable box, is it recommended to run the optical cable for audio b/w Rotel and the dvd player for the best sound?

Yes, the optical connection would be better than the L/R composite analog connection (i.e., the connection with the red and white plugs).

[perla4u]

I just bought Samsung BDP3600 Bluray player. I think this is pretty new and I am sure this should be able to decode the lossless tracks.

I just placed an order for few HDMI cables, I can actually call and add 1 Optical Toslink cable to the same order. Do you really see a big difference in sound using an Optical cable?

[Kevin D]

Ok, here goes..

HDMI on the 1057 is switching only, no audio can be played from it and no other video signal is converted to it.

Video side:

One component output of the 1057 will handle everything hooked up component and below (composite and svideo).

To get the best picture possible, you would need to run an HDMI from the blu-ray to the 1057 and one from the 1057 to the LCD.

If the blu-ray is the only thing you are hooking up with HDMI, you can omit one of the HDMI's and just run an HDMI straight from the blu-ray to the TV.

Audio Side:

Worst to best hook up: stereo analog, optical/coaxial, multi-channel analog, HDMI (with a HDMI audio capable receiver).

Since decoding audio from HDMI is not an option with your 1057, the next best hook-up is multi-channel analog. This will require running 6-8 (depending if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 system) analog cables (RCA type) from the multi-channel outputs of your blu-ray to the multi-channel inputs of the 1057.

This hook up method lets the Blu-ray decode the new high-resolution audio and convert it to analog with no loss of quality.

The next best method would be the single optical cable. You will be limited to the same Dolby Digital and DTS formats coming from you're current DVD players. The Samsung does have a nice option with this type of hook-up of converting the new high-resolution sound formats to the highest bit-rate DTS signal possible. This will sound better then 99% of DTS DVD's out there, but you will still be losing a lot of the quality present on the blu-ray disc.

Kevin D.

[perla4u]

Hi Kevin,

I just can't thank you enough for such a detailed and elaborate explanation. Though this receiver is capable of playing a 7.1, all I have at this point is a stereo system (B&W 703 floor standers-front L and R only). Do you still suggest the multi in and multi out to the Bluray to the receiver (just to get more info to these speakers instead of plain 2ch analog).

I called up the Store guys who sold me the B&W system and spoke with them and they suggested running the Component audio setup for the best sound and optical might not be the way to go, and then I checked your post for such a nice info.

Can I still use Multi in Multi out setup for only 2 speakers I am running? Would this give me better results than just running 2 ch stereo analog?

Again, thanks for such a great post.

Regards,
Perla

[Kevin D]

Well the 1057 can't convert the multi-channel inputs to stereo, so you would have to tell the BDP you only have two speakers. So you would only be using two of the cables.

If you went with optical, the Rotel would have to then convert the 5.1 channel sound into 2 channels. The 1057 will compress the sound (like a night mode) in an attempt to not distort your speakers. You can only cram so many individual channels into two.

Best bet with your current setup would be regular old stereo analog cable (left/right) from the Blu-ray player.

Kevin D.

[perla4u]

OK. Great. But from your earlier post, you mentioned that this might [Worst to best hook up: stereo analog,......Best bet with your current setup would be regular old stereo analog cable (left/right) from the Blu-ray player.] the best way to go. But, I guess with what I have, this is the best possible way to get maximum from BDP and Rotel, right?

Regards
Perla

[Kevin D]

Correct, given a 5.1 surround system regular analog would be the worst. Only running two speakers, analog stereo would be the best.

Kevin D.