A/V Audio Hookup Question!

[sleepydsm]

I have a kinda cheap, but better sound than my TV, home theater in a box from Onkyo (It's a 7.1 setup). Reading the manual, it says even with HDMI sources connected to the reciever (it has 3 HDMI in, 1 out), no audio will play from the speakers unless there is a coaxial or Toslink (optical) connection.

I am hooking up my PS3 (Blu-ray player) and Xbox360 (games, nucca) and each has its's seperate optical digital out.

My Tv has an optical out as well.

First I had the setup connected this way:

Xbox/PS3 --> TV Via HDMI, TV--> reciever via Toslink (optical)

Would there be a difference if I did....
Xbox/ps3 ---> Reciever via Toslink (optical)
and
Xbox/ps3 --> Tv via HDMI


Thanks!!