Thread: Need A/V Help...There...I said it!

Man...never thought I would see the day when I (a computer dork) would need tech help...but here I am.

Been deployed for a LONG time now and am just about ready to come back home. I decided that a little present for me/family would be home theater stuff since our bif family thing is weekend movie night.

Anyway, I have the Dish 622 HD DVR and I need to get the sound from it to my new home theater which has "COAXIAL DIGITAL IN" and it looks more like a RCA jack. It of course has RCA in, but I wanted to get the 5.1 from Dish.

Is this even possible or am I talking apples/oranges here? I thought the audio out on my Dish HD DVR was toslink...but I dont know.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks,

Sean

The 622 has toslink (optical) audio out. If the only input for digital audio is the coax connection on your HT receiver you may be in trouble. You can use the L/R stereo audio via rca but it won't be of the same quality as the optical would be.

A (very) quick search found
this

but I'm not sure if you'd want to spend the money.

Ok, so it looks like I need a converter...dang.

I found Toslink to Coax coverters for around $20...I assume that I wound then need a Toslink cable from the Dish to the coverter, then a coax (rca) from the converter to the receiver. Sound about right?

I guess it is a hassel to just add 5.1 from the Dish...I am really only interested in the 5.1 for the DVD's which is internal to the receiver.

Will RCA in carry 5.1 or not? I am guessing no.

Originally Posted by illin

Ok, so it looks like I need a converter...dang.

I found Toslink to Coax coverters for around $20...I assume that I wound then need a Toslink cable from the Dish to the coverter, then a coax (rca) from the converter to the receiver. Sound about right?

I guess it is a hassel to just add 5.1 from the Dish...I am really only interested in the 5.1 for the DVD's which is internal to the receiver.

Will RCA in carry 5.1 or not? I am guessing no.

RCA in (the red/white two connector cable) only sends in analog stereo. Many AV receivers can apply processing on that stereo source, but there's no mistaking that for true 5.1 surround sound. The toslink to coax converter route is really the only option. Be sure to check MonoPrice.com, they have great selection and prices for these kind of things...

The L/R rca cables will carry an analog signal. A dolby encoded analog signal can carry 5 channels of surround. This is not, however, the same as dolby digital (or dts, etc.) which requires one of the digital connections (optical/coax). I'm not sure if you can use a regular rca cable for the digital coax connection. I think not but who knows. The connector is the same.

Originally Posted by griz_fan

RCA in (the red/white two connector cable) only sends in analog stereo. Many AV receivers can apply processing on that stereo source, but there's no mistaking that for true 5.1 surround sound. The toslink to coax converter route is really the only option. Be sure to check MonoPrice.com, they have great selection and prices for these kind of things...

An analog signal can give true 5.1 surround. That's what Dolby Pro Logic is. See link:
Dolby Pro Logic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Granted, the vast majority of improvements have been made in the digital arena but there is no mistaking that Dolby Pro Logic is true surround.

Originally Posted by illin

Ok, so it looks like I need a converter...dang.

I found Toslink to Coax coverters for around $20...I assume that I wound then need a Toslink cable from the Dish to the coverter, then a coax (rca) from the converter to the receiver. Sound about right?

Correct.

Will RCA in carry 5.1 or not? I am guessing no.

Since you do have an input labeled "COAXIAL DIGITAL IN", that's what you should use. And yes, it will pass 5.1 Dolby Digital signal. Forget about analog connections! The signal quality will not be that good.

Just FYI for some of you - Digital Audio Inputs can be of the RCA connector variety. RCA is simply the name of a connector type AND does not always or specifically mean the Red&White/Left&Right 2chnl audio. Just like a COAX (coaxial) does not always mean the RG59/6 video cable. My 37' component video (YPbPr) cables are of the RCA connector type. And YES, you should use a better grade rated S/PDIF cable for coaxial digital audio IN and LFE Sub, not the cheap crap supplied for the 2chnl L/R audio. Something like
THIS

READ UP!


RCA connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia