I'm using a Scentific Atlanta 8300HD box from Time Warner Cable and it has a single, digital audio out plug. My current receiver is an older Yamaha that accepts the old style 6 RCA inputs for 5.1 sound (L, R, C, RearL, RearR, Sub)

Is there such a thing as a "digital coax" to "6 RCA" cable? I couldn't find anything from monoprice or blue jeans or ramelectronics.

Thanks!

Short answer, no.

The six RCAs are analog, for use with things like DVD players that have corresponding 5.1 analog outs (my old Panasonic DVD player was like that. It had onboard Dolby Digital decoding.) I don't think I've seen any cable box with multi-channel analog RCA outs. The digital coax is, of course, digital. You would need a digital to analog converter (DAC) in between the cable box and the receiver, and I've never seen a cable or a standalone box like that. Most if not all newer receivers have DACs built in.

Easiest solution is to just use the standard left and right (red/white) analog stereo outs if the box has one. Or a receiver that can accept digital coax.

Short answer, no.That may be the EASY short answer! :rolleyes:

There is actually a solution though ... a company called Jazz Speakers in Taiwan make two products called the DE005 and DE006. They are *EXACTLY* what you are looking for.

They accept coax or optical digital input and output:
Dolby Digital (5.1 Channels)
DTS (5.1 Channels)
Dolby Pro Logic (4.1 Channels)
Stereo (2 Channels)

Last I checked it as US$49.

Check this web-site (http://jazzspeakers.english.eyp.com.tw/eyp/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=DE005&Category=200011096) or this one (http://www.technoyard.com/hardware/audio-devices/jazz-de006/page_1.html) or Google "jazz de005".

http://www.technoyard.com/hardware/audio-devices/jazz-de006/conn.gif

Thanks CAVU! I appreciate the response.

Sort of off topic but is it better to use the 5.1 analog inputs over digital(optical/coaxial) input if your device(DVD player) can provide 5.1 analog outputs ?

is it better to use the 5.1 analog inputs over digital(optical/coaxial) input if your device(DVD player) can provide 5.1 analog outputs ?No.

Sort of off topic but is it better to use the 5.1 analog inputs over digital(optical/coaxial) input if your device(DVD player) can provide 5.1 analog outputs ?
No.
Not sure why cavu said "no" so succinctly.

If you use the 5.1 analog outs of your DVD player, you are using the DVD player's DAC to decode your DVDs. If you use the DVD players digital out, then you are using the receiver's DAC to decode your DVDs. Theoretically, you would want to decode wherever the best DAC is, however you may find that you prefer the sound of the lesser DAC. Fact is, you really can't control for all the variables well enough to simply compare both devices' DACs. All you can compare is one "pathway" to the other; DVD player connected via 5.1 channel analog outs versus DVD player connected via a digital connection. In many cases, as long as the settings are the same for each "pathway", it's not possible to really discern a difference. And even if there is a discernable difference between the 2 "pathways", it's often hard to say which one "sounds better" with any degree of surety.

And some other factors may determine where you prefer to do the decoding, like the bass-management capabilities of each component. Often-times, AV receivers have better bass-management capabilities than DVD players.

One thing that having both connections allows you is for you to have 2 completely different sets of settings for each connection. The player's settings are appied to its 5.1 channel analog outputs. The receiver's settings are applied to whatever is input to it digitally.