I am trying to run optical audio cables from my Sony DVD player (DVP-NC600) to my Sony receiver (STR-DE875). I can see the light in the optical cable, so I am pretty sure the DVD player is putting out sound, but the receiver is not getting it! I have tried every input mode on the receiver to no avail. Does anybody have any tips on how to get it working? Oh, another question-- Is optical audio better than coaxial audio??
Alford Holland
Posted on
Optical/Digital, I doubt that you could hear a difference with either. One should be as good as the other.
Go into the menu on your DVD player. Select audio. Select Raw or digital out, this varies by player. Whatever, just be sure the DVD player is not set to analog out.
Let me knoe how this works.
PS I believe that with the Sony receiver you can put in the Auto mode to detect DD or DTS. do this after you properly set up the DVD player.
Also, make sure (if the DVD menu has it) that you select:
1. PCM=off: This will NOT mixdown the digital signal to output via the analog outputs, but will leave the digital mix as 5.1.
and,
2. Bitstream=ON This will output the digital as bitstream data to be decoded by your HT receiver.
That *should* do it. Also make sure that the input you have selected on the receiver is associated with the optical input that you are using (like opt1, 2, 3, as opposed to coax1, 2, 3...get it?
And, no neither optical nor coaxial are better than the other.
Basically, Sony and Phillips led the development of S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital InterFace), commonly called digital coax, and Tascam led a consortium which developed TOSLINK (Tascam Optical Standard) which is now commonly known as Optical.
They both can pass raw, uncompressed digital bitstream data. Both pipes are very wide and can carry ALOT bandwidth.
For home theater it IS true, but in Professional recording the TOSlink (optical) standard can carry 8 tracks worth of digital data, or four stereo pairs, whereas the SPdif standard (coax) can only carry a stereo pair. So maybe this would be considered "better".