5.1 analog out cables vs. optical audio out

marx-7 · 06-17-06, 01:13 PM

I have an older Sony DVD player that has 5.1 analog out and optical/digital out. My Marantz SR4500 can accept both, but my question is which will deliver the better signal? I would think that the digital would be better, but splitting the signal to 5.1 at the source sounds like it would provide more detail. I don't have the extra optical cable at the moment so that is why I am asking. Also, am I right to think that the digital out and optical out are the same quality?

PhilH930 · 06-17-06, 01:24 PM

I'm going to try and break this down from my limited knowledge. Anybody, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I believe:

1) Analog (White/Red) connections will not provide DD surround sound

2) Digital Audio Coaxial cables provide full DD sound.

3) Optical Digital provides full DD sound, converting the signal to light to pass through the optic cable then being reconverted.

The best two without a doubt are numbers 2 and 3. Trying to split what sounds better out of 2 and 3 is near on impossible. To me they sound the same, and provide the best audioo.

Therefore, in your case it seems like analog (1) vs digital (3). Without any hesitation if that is the case you want to go for 3 - the Optical digital cable.

marx-7 · 06-17-06, 01:30 PM

Thanks Phil, but keep in mind my question was about 5.1 analog (not red/white, but 6 analog lines going to the receiver). I have heard in that past that analog done properly is better than digital, and my question is whether the 5.1 analog is considered one of those times when analog is done better than digital.

If I decided to use the Digital Coax, can I use a regular RCA cord or is it a special digital cord that just looks like an RCA cord?

Ratman · 06-17-06, 01:59 PM

optical/coax... no difference (99.9% of the time)

analog 5.1 vs. optical/coax. depends on which device has better DAC's.
try both and use what sounds best to you.

Caveat being... you must use analog for hi-rez audio (SACD/DVD-A).

For the digital "RCA cord"... use yellow video cable (75 Ohm).

epete · 06-17-06, 02:02 PM

I believe the only advantage of the optical would be to carry the signal over longer distances with minimal Bit Error Rate. Correct?

marx-7 · 06-17-06, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratman

optical/coax... no difference (99.9% of the time)

analog 5.1 vs. optical/coax. depends on which device has better DAC's.
try both and use what sounds best to you.

Caveat being... you must use analog for hi-rez audio (SACD/DVD-A).

For the digital "RCA cord"... use yellow video cable (75 Ohm).

Thanks for the info!

michaelkingdom · 07-14-06, 03:40 PM

Does this mean that optical supports 5.1?

Ratman · 07-14-06, 03:41 PM

Yes.... but not "hi-resolution" audio from DVD-A/SACD.

BGLeduc · 07-14-06, 03:46 PM

[quote=Ratman]analog 5.1 vs. optical/coax. depends on which device has better DAC's.try both and use what sounds best to you.QUOTE]

Or possibly better bass management and time alignment.

I much prefer the sound of the 5. 1 analog outs from my Denon 3910, versus the same soundtrack sent to my NAD 762 via coax or optical.

Trying both is the best advice here, but do make sure that the two sources are level matched or it will skew your perception of which is better.

Brian

krabapple · 07-14-06, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratman

Caveat being... you must use analog for hi-rez audio (SACD/DVD-A).

On the vast majority* of SACD/DVD-A players, yes. On the rest, there is either an ilink (Firewire) out, or a brand-specific proprietary digital link out, that lets you pass those two high-rez formats digitally to a receiver with the matching input. This has the arguably substantial advantage of allowing all bass management, time alignment, room correction etc to be done by the receiver, identically for all formats.

I've also found that some DVD-A discs allow passage of the stereo tracks (or the downmix of the multchannel tracks) digitally via normal optical or coax connections (downsampled to 48 kHz if the original is at a higher sample rate than that).

(* not that this was ever a large number of players in the first place...R.I.P. , hi-rez)

Ratman · 07-14-06, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krabapple

On the rest, there is either an ilink (Firewire) out, or a brand-specific proprietary digital link out, that lets you pass those two high-rez formats digitally to a receiver with the matching input.

You are correct...
Let's count the compatible A/V receivers and players that accomplish that on one hand.

coolstrategist · 05-24-07, 09:44 AM

I just hooked up my new Sony BDP S1 Blu Ray player and have what may be a basic question.

I am assuming using the 5.1 analog out will provide the best sound so...if I have just three Def Tech tower speakers and ACI Maestro sub (this means I have FR, LR, SW and Center) is it prudent to just hook up analog out cables from those Sony outputs to the four corresponding external analog inputs of my Denon 3802 receiver? I assume this will provide quality output without the SR and SL speaker hookups.

Also...Would the receiver do any kind of extra decoding if I hookup the Sony SR and SL analog outs to the 3802 even though it recognizes I do not have those speakers? Currently I am listening with the Sony coaxial out to my receiver and everything of course sounds fine.

Give me your thoughts. Just trying to get the best out of Blu Ray until I add my surround speakers. I was HD DVD exclusive until today.

whoaru99 · 05-24-07, 01:51 PM

Interesting question.

My first reaction is that you need to hook up all the cables so the processor can do the downmix according to your speaker count/configuration.

Might depend though, on whether or not the player will downmix according to the speaker configuration/settings in it.

coolstrategist · 05-24-07, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoaru99

Interesting question.

My first reaction is that you need to hook up all the cables so the processor can do the downmix according to your speaker count/configuration.

Might depend though, on whether or not the player will downmix according to the speaker configuration/settings in it.

So maybe I should connect all six connections. Would you assume that this analog connection would be better SQ since my 3802 cannot decode all the new the Blu Ray sound parameters via coaxial or optical? Even though I only have LR, FR, C and SW.

jwatte · 05-24-07, 07:20 PM

The problem with going from digital to analog in the player is that your receiver likely re-digitizes the signal to do bass management, tone control, etc, and then sends the signal through its own DACs (unless it's a cheapie or very expensive all analog receiver).
Thus, you are almost always better using a digital transport to the receiver.

Note that the PS/3 is a SACD player, and has HDMI out, which can play high-def digital audio to your receiver. So it's not quite dead just yet :-)

sivadselim · 05-24-07, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwatte

The problem with going from digital to analog in the player is that your receiver likely re-digitizes the signal to do bass management, tone control, etc, and then sends the signal through its own DACs (unless it's a cheapie or very expensive all analog receiver).
Thus, you are almost always better using a digital transport to the receiver.

Most (but not all) receivers do not allow any bass or time management of their analog multichannel inputs. So, most receivers will simply amplify the analog multichannel input that they're sent from a 5.1 analog connected player.

In the case of a receiver that does allow bass and/or time management of it's multichannel analog inputs, NOT using these capabilities with a player connected via a 5.1 analog connection would be desirable if one wanted to avoid another analog-digital-analog conversion through the receiver's DACs.

However, several owners of receivers that do allow bass and/or time management of the multichannel analog inputs have reported here at AVS that they perceived very little, if any, degradation in signal when passing the signal through both the player's DACs and then the receiver's DACs.

whoaru99 · 05-24-07, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolstrategist

So maybe I should connect all six connections. Would you assume that this analog connection would be better SQ since my 3802 cannot decode all the new the Blu Ray sound parameters via coaxial or optical? Even though I only have LR, FR, C and SW.

No, I would not necessarily assume that.

You have several options on how to connect and configure your system. The only way to know for sure is to try them all for yourself.

Some possibilites are:

1. Analog out from player, player handling speaker config/bass management
2. Analog out from player, receiver handling speaker config/bass management*
3. Digital (optical or coaxial) out from player, receiver handling speaker config/bass management

*As previous poster mentioned, not all receivers can do full bass management/speaker config on multichannel analog inputs.

How many (analog signal) cables are necessary from your player to your receiver is, afaik, determined by where the speaker configuration/bass management is performed.

smmonez · 01-14-08, 10:27 AM

I just recently bought a Sony Blue Ray and was having problems with getting the digital connection to work to my Sony DE985. Doing some searches comparing 5.1 analog or digital, this was in my google result, just registered.

I found this on Sony sight:

Quote:

The audio drops out when playing a Blu-ray Disc® movie using a digital (optical or coaxial) connection for sound.

This Audio/Video (A/V) receiver was manufactured prior to the introduction of Blu-ray Disc® (BD) technology. The digital (optical and coaxial) connection does not support the Dolby® Digital signal from a BD movie; this symptom is not a malfunction. Alternatively, an analog connection should be used to connect your BD player to the A/V receiver in order to hear the sound.

NOTE: There are no plans at this time to update the A/V receiver to support the Dolby Digital signal from BD movies.

Thought I'd share it.

Sluggonics · 01-17-08, 06:29 PM

I'm currently using the optical audio out on my Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player. However, I'd like to also connect the 5.1 audio out to my 5.1 multichannel input on my receiver (Sony STR-DE897) so I can take advantage of the uncompressed 5.1 PCM audio options on some Blu-rays.

Anybody know what the best cables are for 5.1 analog multichannel? Do I really need to spend $100 on one of those Monster SACD/DVD-Audio bundles? Or can I just run three pairs of RCA audio cables?

sivadselim · 01-17-08, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sluggonics

Anybody know what the best cables are for 5.1 analog multichannel? Do I really need to spend $100 on one of those Monster SACD/DVD-Audio bundles? Or can I just run three pairs of RCA audio cables?

3 pairs of standard audio RCAs will work just fine. So will 2 pairs of component video cables.

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marx-7 I see dead pixels Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Reistersburg, MD Posts: 355	5.1 analog out cables vs. optical audio out I have an older Sony DVD player that has 5.1 analog out and optical/digital out. My Marantz SR4500 can accept both, but my question is which will deliver the better signal? I would think that the digital would be better, but splitting the signal to 5.1 at the source sounds like it would provide more detail. I don't have the extra optical cable at the moment so that is why I am asking. Also, am I right to think that the digital out and optical out are the same quality?

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epete Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: NJ Posts: 255	I believe the only advantage of the optical would be to carry the signal over longer distances with minimal Bit Error Rate. Correct?

05-24-07, 01:51 PM	#13 \| Link
whoaru99 AVS Special Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,243	Interesting question. My first reaction is that you need to hook up all the cables so the processor can do the downmix according to your speaker count/configuration. Might depend though, on whether or not the player will downmix according to the speaker configuration/settings in it. __________________ Don't look too hard for black and white in a grayscale world.

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jwatte It's all good! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Redwood City, CA, USA Posts: 1,209	The problem with going from digital to analog in the player is that your receiver likely re-digitizes the signal to do bass management, tone control, etc, and then sends the signal through its own DACs (unless it's a cheapie or very expensive all analog receiver). Thus, you are almost always better using a digital transport to the receiver. Note that the PS/3 is a SACD player, and has HDMI out, which can play high-def digital audio to your receiver. So it's not quite dead just yet :-) __________________ My A/V living room remodel thread

06-17-06, 01:24 PM	#2 \| Link
PhilH930 Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 147	I'm going to try and break this down from my limited knowledge. Anybody, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I believe: 1) Analog (White/Red) connections will not provide DD surround sound 2) Digital Audio Coaxial cables provide full DD sound. 3) Optical Digital provides full DD sound, converting the signal to light to pass through the optic cable then being reconverted. The best two without a doubt are numbers 2 and 3. Trying to split what sounds better out of 2 and 3 is near on impossible. To me they sound the same, and provide the best audioo. Therefore, in your case it seems like analog (1) vs digital (3). Without any hesitation if that is the case you want to go for 3 - the Optical digital cable.

06-17-06, 01:30 PM	#3 \| Link
marx-7 I see dead pixels Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Reistersburg, MD Posts: 355	Thanks Phil, but keep in mind my question was about 5.1 analog (not red/white, but 6 analog lines going to the receiver). I have heard in that past that analog done properly is better than digital, and my question is whether the 5.1 analog is considered one of those times when analog is done better than digital. If I decided to use the Digital Coax, can I use a regular RCA cord or is it a special digital cord that just looks like an RCA cord?

06-17-06, 01:59 PM	#4 \| Link
Ratman AVS Special Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Collingswood, N.J. Posts: 8,246	optical/coax... no difference (99.9% of the time) analog 5.1 vs. optical/coax. depends on which device has better DAC's. try both and use what sounds best to you. Caveat being... you must use analog for hi-rez audio (SACD/DVD-A). For the digital "RCA cord"... use yellow video cable (75 Ohm).

07-14-06, 03:40 PM	#7 \| Link
michaelkingdom Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 118	Does this mean that optical supports 5.1?

07-14-06, 03:41 PM	#8 \| Link
Ratman AVS Special Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Collingswood, N.J. Posts: 8,246	Yes.... but not "hi-resolution" audio from DVD-A/SACD.

07-14-06, 03:46 PM	#9 \| Link
BGLeduc AVS Special Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 1,295	[quote=Ratman]analog 5.1 vs. optical/coax. depends on which device has better DAC's.try both and use what sounds best to you.QUOTE] Or possibly better bass management and time alignment. I much prefer the sound of the 5. 1 analog outs from my Denon 3910, versus the same soundtrack sent to my NAD 762 via coax or optical. Trying both is the best advice here, but do make sure that the two sources are level matched or it will skew your perception of which is better. Brian

05-24-07, 09:44 AM	#12 \| Link
coolstrategist Senior Member AVS CLUB MEMBER Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,254 Classified Rating: 100% (7)	I just hooked up my new Sony BDP S1 Blu Ray player and have what may be a basic question. I am assuming using the 5.1 analog out will provide the best sound so...if I have just three Def Tech tower speakers and ACI Maestro sub (this means I have FR, LR, SW and Center) is it prudent to just hook up analog out cables from those Sony outputs to the four corresponding external analog inputs of my Denon 3802 receiver? I assume this will provide quality output without the SR and SL speaker hookups. Also...Would the receiver do any kind of extra decoding if I hookup the Sony SR and SL analog outs to the 3802 even though it recognizes I do not have those speakers? Currently I am listening with the Sony coaxial out to my receiver and everything of course sounds fine. Give me your thoughts. Just trying to get the best out of Blu Ray until I add my surround speakers. I was HD DVD exclusive until today.

01-17-08, 06:29 PM	#19 \| Link
Sluggonics Hammock District Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Carmel, IN Posts: 124	I'm currently using the optical audio out on my Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player. However, I'd like to also connect the 5.1 audio out to my 5.1 multichannel input on my receiver (Sony STR-DE897) so I can take advantage of the uncompressed 5.1 PCM audio options on some Blu-rays. Anybody know what the best cables are for 5.1 analog multichannel? Do I really need to spend $100 on one of those Monster SACD/DVD-Audio bundles? Or can I just run three pairs of RCA audio cables?