Digital Audio and Soundbar

[Cloud121]

So I bought a sound bar for my new apartment, and it has one fiber optic input, and three analog inputs.

What I want to know what the best way to set everything up is? My Vizio TV has a digital optic out port, and I was told that I could keep my 360, PS3, and GameCube plugged in the TV via HDMI (Component for GameCube), and the sound would then pass through the TV and to the sound bar through the optic cable. Would I lose sound quality?

Or, would I want to purchase an switcher (like a system selector, but only for the optical cables), and plug my PS3, 360, and TV into that with separate cables, and plug my GameCube's analog audio directly into one of the sound bar's analog inputs?

Obviously I want the best sounding set up I can get. I don't really know much about home theater setups and the like, as I'm more of a video/picture quality guy.

[alec006]

Anything that's digital using HDMI PS3, 360 and your ATSC tuner will be sent to the digital optical out port on the TV. Anything that's analog such as your Gamecube will be sent via the analog audio out ports on the TV. Your digital stuff may also be sent out through the analog audio ports as well.

There's no loss in sound quality. Go to your audio settings on the menu of your TV and select either PCM (Uncompressed 1-8 channel audio) or Dolby Digital (Compressed 5-7 channel audio), see which one sounds the best on your sound bar.

For the absolute best sound out of your HDMI devices, use the optical out port on the back of the TV. Anything else can be sent through the stereo analog out connectors.

[Cloud121]

Excellent! That answered all my questions. Thank you very much.