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My AV receiver doesn't have any HDMI inputs or outputs, so I have all my other AV equipment connecting to the TV via HDMI, and am relying on the optical output to send the sound signal to the receiver. The receiver has one optical and one coaxial input, which can be utilised to receive Dolby Digital or DTS signals.
I have a PS3 that serves as my Blu Ray player, so I really want to preserve the full surround sound signal it outputs. It can output 5.1 signals via HDMI or optical out. I also have an Apple TV that has the same limitations, and a MySky HDI box which I haven't fully explored the outputs of, as 5.1 from that has not been a priority. With these last two devices I don't care if I'm stuck with the Pro Logic II fake surround sound that the AV receiver dishes up, but as the PS3 is our Blu Ray player I really want to preserve the full 5.1 surround sound as much as possible.
Obviously upgrading the AV receiver would fix all this, but that won't be happening any time soon. So I've been looking at other options to allow me at the very least to get the 5.1 signal from the PS3 as well as preserve the output from the TV (which frustratingly can only be done via optical). As noted earlier, if the TV had offered RCA output this would be a non-issue, as I'd connect the PS3 via optical and use RCA for the telly.
From what I can tell, my options are either a Toslink switch like this one, or a Toslink to coaxial converter like this. I think the first option should work, but it would be a bit of a PITA having to manually switch every time we want full 5.1 audio. I have concerns about the second option, as it doesn't explicitly state that it would preserve the 5.1 signal, and other converters I've seen state they output 2.0 PCM, which would totally defeat the purpose.
Does anyone have any input (excuse the pun) or advice to offer here? I'm really looking to spend as little as possible to get this working, but I do want a solution that will work & not break in a few months time.
