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optical vs.coaxial vs.analog

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Rio

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I'm new to the digital audio world. I just bought my first DVD player and the instructions suggest using either an optical or coaxial cable to hook up the audio signal to my a/v receiver. I have noted that there is only one "out" port for either on the DVD. After habitually using (l) and (r) analog hook-ups (ala VCR), I'm confused. Does "one" cable (optical/coaxial) do the job of the older analog (l) & (R)? Since I do not yet have "optical" cable, I went the analog route. Is the analog route even remotely capable of reproducing the DVD audio correctly, or am I completely confused? HELP!!!!!!

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Re: optical vs.coaxial vs.analog One Dark Cat 07:36:07 12/05/00 (1)
This drove me nuts too when I got into digital.
If your DVD has a built in decoder, and you have 5.1 inputs on your receiver, than you can use analog interconnects, but you will have to run 5 separate cables and this can get pricey.
If, however, your receiver is doing the decoding for Dolby Digital and DTS you will have to run a digital cable from your DVD player to the recevier, if you don't, you won't get 5.1 channel sound. And, yes, you will only need one digital cable to handle all sound channels, be it 2, 4 or 5.1. The AudioQuest Digital 1 is a petty decent Coax cable for the money at $30 a meter. The Monster cable isn't bad either at $40 a meter. Although I'd highly recommend the the DH Labs D-75 at $75 a meter, though. Try www.audioadvisor.com for cables and the reviews page here and at audioreview.com for reviews.
With lower priced receivers and DVD /CD players I've never been pleased with the sound of fiber optic (Toslink) cables. I'd blame this more on the DAC in my old receiver than on the cable itself. In my old Sony DB830 fiber was almost unlistenable with music and bearable for DD/DTS. With my new V333ES receiver fiber sounds much better but not as good as a decent coax digital cable.
So, if you can, run a good digital coax cable and bask in the sound. If you can't do the coax and end up with Toslink, treat them with care as they are pretty fragile and look for a good connection between
the cable and your components.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
- Re: optical vs.coaxial vs.analog (audio also) Jim Cate 17:54:28 12/14/00 (0)
  That answers the question regarding 5.1 digital signals on a DVD, but what about the audio signals from a CD-SACD player when playing two-channel audio? (I'm referring to the Sony 9000ES player, which plays video DVDs as well as audio CD and SACDs.) I'm running the audio outputs to my 2-channel audio preamplifier and amp through audio cables, but could I also run the audio through the optical output to my five-channel HT receiver, which has an optical input? Would it provide any improvement in the response? Or is the audio meant to be conducted through normal audio cables?
  This may be a stupid question, but I don't see anything in any of the instruction manual(s) answering this question.
  Thanks,
  Jim

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