Octava's 4 port HDMI switch with Toslink

There are plenty of HDMI switches out (or coming out) right now, but not so many we've seen with four port digital coax and Toslink switching thrown in for good measure. Quite the convenience, saving yourself the extra step of changing sources on that audio receiver, but convenience comes at a price: is $274 worth it to you not to have to toggle audio inputs to match your HDMI source? (We have a feeling for many the answer is yes.)

[Via HD Beat]

[Ed @ Jun 10th 2006 2:36PM]

Just get a better remote control. The harmony remotes do a very good job of switching all inputs depending on what you're doing.

Switch receiver to video1, tv to hdmi, and turn on the dvd player with one button press.

And a hell of a lot cheaper than that thing.

[johnnylocust @ Jun 10th 2006 3:01PM]

No serial port? What fun is that?

[Dan @ Jun 10th 2006 3:37PM]

I thought HDMI was carrying sound, so why have 4 optical and coax inputs? A single optical and coax output would have been good though. Then the HDMI out could have gone straight to the TV while the audio out would have fed the AV receiver...

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Jun 10th 2006 4:29PM]

HDMI is carrying audio, but there are some cases of HDMI not being configured for audio by the manufacturer, and then there are slightly older deviced with no HDMI out, but they do have DVI and Toslink. Also, it could very well be that an upconverting DVD player, for example, needs to be configured to output the audio via one source or another. So, if this switch is (I assume) just a pass-through, then it isn't going to convert the signal from HDMI over to Toslink - it's just going to continue to push the audio over HDMI.

HDMI is very nice - if everything plays nicely together. And very few receivers have HDMI built-in at this point (or they're damn expensive).

[freakon @ Jun 10th 2006 4:29PM]

274$. You could hire someone to replug your devices on command AND get you a beer for less then that..

[Yuval Tal @ Jun 10th 2006 4:40PM]

Why no two HDMI out? This would really be the killer feature -- ability to connect it both to your TV and Projector.

[Matt @ Jun 10th 2006 4:41PM]

yes, HDMI can carry audio, but doesn't HAVE to - for example, my OPPO DVD player uses HDMI (or DVI) to carry video, but not audio, this can also use DVI-D signals, and DVI can't carry audio.

as far as my opinion goes - it's a total waste. anyone with a TV setup nice enough to afford this little addon would already have multiple hdmi and dvi ports on their tv and the top-of-the-line Harmony remote is only $250 and works wonders (trust me, I use mine with my 40in bravia, moto HD-DVR, OPPO DVD, NAD T743, and Klipsch Reference Series speakers - and all is PERFECT

[John Iburg @ Jun 10th 2006 4:43PM]

Does anybody realize that this could be used this can be used to circumvent the 5.1 issue on DVD-Audio? This thing has a optical out that can be used from the HDMI inputs!

[Topmounter @ Jun 10th 2006 7:29PM]

Wow, $299 for that is a bargain,

* My LCD only has a single HDMI input and this is a lot less expensive than a new LCD HDTV with 2+ HDMI inputs.

* Heck my DVD player cost more than this switch

* I wonder if you can feed an external DAC with the "Digital Audio Out". Can you output DVD-A or SACD audio that is greater than 48Khz from an HDMI connector?

[JeremyR @ Jun 10th 2006 7:53PM]

For $299, this unit is not a bargain. For $299, I would expect a reference-quality switcher. This dinky little POS uses standard red and white RCA plugs for the D-Coax connectors which is an obvious sign of cost-cutting on their part (a pair of red and white rca audio connecters on a single terminal block you can solder onto the board as a unit is obviously cheaper and less labor intensive than using individual, "true" d-coax connectors). That being said, the $299 is uber extravagant.

I bet the people who like this switcher are also running Monster Cable brand cables at home.

I have some ocean front property in Arizona for ya...

[James @ Jun 10th 2006 10:05PM]

Pardon my ignorance, what is wrong with Monster Cable products? I use a DVI-to-HDMI cable and the X360 component cable set from Monster. Their performance seemed impressive.

[Nick James @ Jun 11th 2006 12:23AM]

I need to get some sort of video switch eventually... trouble is finding the right one. My HDTV only has one DVI input and two component inputs, and my receiver only has one digital coax input and one toslink input. I have my cable box on coax, and my Xbox 360/PS2 share the toslink... they also share the component cables, as I'm too lazy to unplug my DVD player from the other component slot. Blargh.

[nemi @ Jun 11th 2006 10:30AM]

This device is NOT a bargain.

MonoPrice.com has a 5 poirt HDMI switch with remote control for about $130.

[binary visions @ Jun 11th 2006 10:40AM]

James- Monster Cable products are generally terrifically overpriced. The fact is, they make some pretty nice hardware when you don't factor cost into the equation, but the price of their cables is much higher than the quality warrants.

That said, for the minimal cost of something like an Xbox cable, don't worry about what anyone tells you. You got a good cable, you just paid extra for the brand name. I got a set of Monster clamp-on banana plugs for my stereo because they were convenient and well made. Yes, I paid too much for them. Yes, I'm okay with that.

Monster does have a good deal that's run occasionally - their home theater package with 5.1 speaker cables (roughly 120ft of pre-terminated speaker wire, including a subwoofer cable and a bonus component video cable) sometimes goes on sale for $34.

[JeremyR @ Jun 11th 2006 12:10PM]

Also something to keep in mind in terms of cables. In a digital world, cable quality generally means next to nothing for cable runs under 30 feet. A six-foot $150 Monster HDMI cable will perform no better than the same length $30 monoprice.com cable (and monoprice makes "good" cables). Anyone who is trying to sell you a high-priced cable for a digital application is generally snowing you.

[Jim @ Jun 11th 2006 5:24PM]

Actually, this is one of the first device I've seen that does what I want. Since my (older) AVR has limited digital audio inputs, doesn't switch DVI/HDMI, and all my video sources have to connect to my single-DVI HDTV, I need a switch. And this one does without my having to manually switch the inputs, or reprogram and significantly slow down my Harmony. Since it would give me some more time until I have to invest in a new reeiver, it actually is pretty reasonable for the price.

[d3 @ Jun 11th 2006 7:09PM]

Since it doesn't convert the audio between type, if your devices have different audio outputs, you'll STILL be switching inputs on your reciever.

For example, you have 1 device with full HDMI w/audio, 1 device with DVI-D & coax digital audio, and 1 device with DVI-D & optical audio. If you want all the audio to go through your reciever, then you will need 3 inputs on it. WTF is this for, then?

[Mike @ Jun 12th 2006 7:04PM]

Can anyone PLEASE point me to a website that carries a Toslink switcher w/remote (preferably one with 4 In/ 2 Out)?

[Dan @ Jun 13th 2006 4:16PM]

same here, i want to find a toslink switcher with remote. it's easy to find a hdmi switcher but i only have one optical input on my receiver. if the toslink switcher + hdmi switcher combo (harmony remote would take care of this easily!) is more expensive than this then i would get this

[Dylan Neild @ Jul 19th 2006 3:59PM]

Since this is an old thread I doubt anyone will read this - but speaking as someone who actually OWNS an Octava HDMI switch, the people who are 'poo-pooing' this unit are pretty much clueless.

This switch is not designed for people who are worried about the price tag, much like Denon DVD players. You pay more, but what you get is a hassle free, high end unit that is substantially better than their cheaper counterparts for those capable of telling the difference.

It's a high end, rock solid HDMI switch that does both automatic source detection (ie, you can use the remote OR just turn on the device you want to use and the switch flips the correct input automagically) AND has an integrated HDMI repeater. Those two features alone make it worth the money.

On top of that, it also switches Toslink to provide a decent interim solution for anyone moving between a Toslink based receiver and a newer HDMI based receiver - but if you -just- want an 4/5 port HDMI switch you can get one from Octava that STILL includes the auto-switching and the signal enhancers for about $100 less.

[Jochen @ Apr 4th 2007 2:22PM]

Dylan Neild:

Owning one, can you confirm that you can output the digital audio from the hdmi through the audio outputs or do the a/v have to be fed separately? Am thinking of getting a AVCHD camcorder which will output its 5.1 audio only through HDMI and I do not have HDMI on my receiver. With this switch I could just plug the camcorder in, get the picture on the screen and the digital audio through my sourround system.

Thanx

[Tony Carter @ Jan 12th 2007 6:04PM]

Old thread, I know, but I came across it searching for just such a device, so perhaps others will find this useful. The one thing stopping me from getting it is that the auto-sensing is keyed to the HDMI inputs. IF one has attached a digital audio input to the same channel (e.g., STB HDMI to "HDMI-1" and STB's digital audio out to Input-1 of coax or optical), changing to the HDMI-1 source will auto-switch the audio to Input-1. There is no way to control A & V independently.

I confirmed this with Octava. Whoever replied said they would see about adding independent control on a new model. We shall see. I'm not an engineer, but it seems like isolating the circuits is not impossible, even while maintaining the option to use the sync'd auto-sensing/-switching feature (e.g., a "switch" to select between "Independent" and "Sync'd" modes).

Cheers.

[metd @ Jan 5th 2008 11:56AM]

I also own one of these units and I like it.

Pros:

- no additional remote - my wife can't stand the little tiny buttons on the harmony, she doesn't want to walk through "activities", she just wants to press power/play/DVR guide/etc

- My "old" Sharp only has 2 HDMI inputs, but that's no reason to replace it. I need a switch.

- My actually old Onkyo does 7.1 but doesn't do HDMI. I like it, and back to #1, I never got the built in composite video switch to work right with the harmony. I like the Onkyo and it works well, I don't want to replace it either.

- All my video sources have toslink, so no problem. I was worried for a while since the mac mini only seems to have a headphone jack, and some of the forums claimed that it did not support digital audio. This was not true, you just need a mini toslink adapter and it is grand. The mini toslink adapter plugs into the headphone jack, with the optical link passing throught it. pretty cool.

Cons:

- As stated above, the audio switch function does not cross-convert. So you can't use it to convert HDMI audio to toslink, for instance. I ran into this, as it took me some time to figure out how to hook up my mac mini via toslink, so I had to mess with the receiver remote to switch audio input sources. All better now, see mac mini audio discussion above.

- OK, I'm having a little problem. The autoscan feature works, but my Aquos TV and set top box end up negotiating 480p resolution sometimes, depending on order of power up. Octava support via email has been great, they actually asked me good questions, and they have promised a new firmware build in a few weeks. If they come through, I'll be impressed, I've rarely have a technical exchange with tech support where I don't end up fixing the problem myself.

[SW @ Jun 25th 2008 2:37AM]

Hi. Did you consider getting the Psyclone PSC47 4-port HDMI and Toslink Switch instead? If so, what swayed you to the Octava?

[Joe Pacific @ Jan 25th 2009 11:10PM]

IF you are looking for an HDMI switcher that converts HDMI audio to Toslink, Octava has a '5x2 Distribution Amp' that I am extremely pleased with. It has 5 HDMI inputs, 2 HDMI outputs and a Toslink output that is generated from the selected HDMI input. This switcher also works well with TVs and projectors that only have DVI inputs. I have one of the unit's HDMI outputs going to my DVI plasma TV via a converter cable; the other HDMI output goes to the HDMI input on my new Sony receiver.
You might ask: why didn't I simply run the HDMI inputs through the Sony receiver and then run a converter cable from the Sony receiver HDMI output into the TV's DVI input? Well, the answer is: Sony HDMI products don't play nice with DVI products. They explicitly state it in their equipment manuals and (from my frustrating experience) through their technical support. When the video goes out to a DVI connector, the audio cuts out in the Sony receiver; unplug the HDMI-DVI connector, and the audio comes back on. I researched the problem on line and found others who have reported similar experiences, while some others have reported losing 5.1 output but retaining two channel output. In any event, the Octava 5x2 (with latest firmware) works perfectly for me. I'm getting 5.1 output into the receiver from both the Octava's HDMI output and its Toslink output (good for those who have receivers that lack an HDMI input).
For those who want to retain the option of getting two channel audio output from the TV, one can connect the Octava's Toslink optical output to a converter (such at the LTB-AC3-340 AC3 to Stereo Audio Converter from LTB.com). It also works very well. If you need Toslink optical to go to both the TV and the receiver, consider the additional purchase of a Toslink splitter, such as the Inday TLDA1 Toslink Distribution Amplifier.
Finally, one might ask: why not simply buy a new 40+ inch LCD TV for $1200 or so and avoid all this hassle? Well, I like and am using all 5 HDMI inputs; none of the TVs I've seen have that many. More importantly, I've looked at all of the new TVs and have found that, unless the source signal is 1080p, my $8K (at the time) older Sony plasma has a much nicer looking picture. There are still a lot of good, fully functioning DVI-input TVs and projectors out there....