Optical cables better?

[Frostwolf]

Optical is the way to go. Run the optical from the 622 to the surround reciever. Some people say you can't tell a diff. I can tell you that it does sound better with the optical.

I can tell the difference. Optical is louder and clearer on my Kenwood system

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

OP-TI-CAL OP-Ti-CAL OP-TI-CAL

 

[jb1945]

Cable arrived today. Removed the old connectors, installed the optical cable in about a minute. I could the improvement immediately. Good advice here, thanks.

 

[jb1945]

Updated report: the optical cable is a definite and noticable inprovement 98% of the time. I notice two minor issues which I suspect are beyond my control. 1. The volume level can be significantly different between channels. 2. The surround sound sometimes does not work on NBC broadcasts. Some NBC programs are ok, the evening news and Dateline are not. Is this common?

 

[RandallA]

Updated report: the optical cable is a definite and noticable inprovement 98% of the time. I notice two minor issues which I suspect are beyond my control. 1. The volume level can be significantly different between channels. 2. The surround sound sometimes does not work on NBC broadcasts. Some NBC programs are ok, the evening news and Dateline are not. Is this common?

Not all programs, shows, and movies are on 5.1. As a matter of fact, the majority are only on Stereo (2 channels).

 

[jb1945]

The setting I use on the surround sound system converts 2 channel stereo to surround sound. The multi channel stations are passed through the way they came in. Could NBC be sending a multi channel signal but using only the stereo channels to carry sound?

 

[Frostwolf]

The setting I use on the surround sound system converts 2 channel stereo to surround sound. The multi channel stations are passed through the way they came in. Could NBC be sending a multi channel signal but using only the stereo channels to carry sound?

Make sure the settings on the receiver match your surround equipment. PCM only or Dolby only may help.

As for louder commercials, I think its a side-effect of having better sound transmission, especially if you had rca before.