digital coaxial audio vs optical audio

K-daugh

Aight boys and girls which is better coaxial or optical and why??????runnen a sony avr with monitor series spakers....any opinions will be appreciated ....any facts will be appreciated.....thanks

ben62670

Use the search feature;)

K-daugh

what search feature im asking my fellow polkheads !!!!!!!

Conradicles

Searching is cool...

K-daugh

i like searchin too but at the moment i just wish someone would give me an answer

K-daugh

ok i did some searching and rendered no results.....some go one way some go the other...so what i wanna know is how do diehard polkie audiophiles go...

Knucklehead

Im not die-hard, and most of these guys have forgotten more than I know.....but...I use both because its available.

K-daugh

why do i get the feeling that there is not a straight answer

Knucklehead

Well, my answer is...I use optical on my cable box and coax on my DVD player because it dosent have optical.....to me on my stuff, one sounds just as good as the other.

zingo

You're not getting a straight answer because most of us don't want to re-hash that topic. I promise you there are threads upon threads on the topic if you search...

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21006

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100582&highlight=toslink

polkfarmboy

Basicly you should use optical if you have shiizty gear but use digital if you have good gear

polkfarmboy

Yep but you gota have a good semi expensive cable

cnh

As with most debates....they begin and continue. Most people 'here' prefer coax, I would say...but if you 'search' you'll see that some don't.

You are quite right to be a little 'confused'. Welcome to the subjective world of 'listening'!

Enjoy the 'debates'!

cnh

K-daugh

Ok thanks guys intereting reads .....next question will I get beTter sound out of my dvd player hooking it up via dolby digital 5.1 or from the digital output which I have an option of a single coaxial or a single optical

K-daugh

My avr also has a similar digital jack with a coaxial or optical choice ....could I have the cable box hooked up and the dvd at the same time if I used optical for one and coaxial for the other.....obviously I wouldn't be using them at the same time ...which makes me think this could work....but my other option would be to have the dvd via 5.1 and the cable box via optical/coaxial......any thoughts

On3s&Z3r0s

I've tried both from the same source (Toshiba CD's, HDCD's, DVD-Audio) going into a Benchmark DAC1 with various decent headphones (Senns & Audio Technica), and I can't hear a difference. Maybe it's my brain getting in the way because I don't know why I should be able to hear a difference. Both are digital, right? Coax is electrons carrying the digital signal and optical is photons, but at the end of the day the DAC is taking what should be the same 1's and 0's and making them into sound. So maybe I have dead ears, but I can't hear a difference.

Coax is a lot more convenient and seems less fragile, so when I have that available, that's what I use.

Is your last question about whether you should go analog from your DVD player (as in 5 RCA cables going to your AVR and one to your sub) versus digital? Depends on whether your AVR or DVD player has the better decoder. HDMI from the DVD to AVR is usually the preferred method if it's available.

comfortablycurt

In my experience, there is absolutely no difference between coax/optical cables. I've tried several, and have never been able to tell any differences.

I've heard plenty of differences in analog cables...but not digital.

K-daugh

BlueFox wrote: »

Primarily depends on which component has the better DAC, the DVD player, or the AVR.

Well I believe both components have dolby digital and dts ......I dunno which is better.....and is 5.1 channel output supposed done with analog cables or coaxial ......also I'm looking for the best sound .....on my avr under the dvd input (only the sound, the video iS ran to the tv via component) there is rca inputs or two" digita"l inputs coaxial,or optical .....all under "dvd" there is also a spot on my avr for a 5.1 channel source , which my dvd does as well......and finally my cable box which I want to plug into either the optical or the coaxial.....so my question is how to I hook up both the cable box and the dvd and still get the dolby digital and dts or whatever .....what's the best way to do this
My thoughts were to run the dvd coaxial to the avr and run the cable box optical to the avr ....my problem is the coaxial and optical jacks are both labeled dvd.....does this make any sense to anyone ????please help

Knucklehead

Depending on your AVR, they may be "assignable".

acmf74

Just yesterday I did some swapping of cables between my Blu-Ray and AVR with some Digital Coaxs and Opticals. I really couldnt tell the difference between the two. I did leave the Optical in and it sounds awesome.

The Optical was a Mono-price brand and the Coax was from my cable company.

TNRabbit

FYI: Optical TOSLINK will not pass anything higher than 5.1~

heiney9

K-daugh wrote: »

Aight boys and girls which is better coaxial or optical and why??????runnen a sony avr with monitor series spakers....any opinions will be appreciated ....any facts will be appreciated.....thanks

This question has been asked over a dozen times. Do a search if you are really that interested.

heiney9

K-daugh wrote: »

why do i get the feeling that there is not a straight answer

Beacuse there isn't a definitive answer. This is audio and much is subjective.

H9

acmf74

heiney9 wrote: »

Beacuse there isn't a definitive answer. This is audio and much is subjective.

H9

Exactly....

WilliamM2

heiney9 wrote: »

Beacuse there isn't a definitive answer. This is audio and much is subjective.

H9

Yes there is. Most just refuse to accept it, preferring to cling to beliefs that have been disproven again and again.

heiney9

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Yes there is. Most just refuse to accept it, preferring to cling to beliefs that have been disproven again and again.

Giddy-up......................here we go. Another cable debate :rolleyes:. Sick and tired of them. Have fun guys.

H9

acmf74

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Yes there is. Most just refuse to accept it, preferring to cling to beliefs that have been disproven again and again.

cstmar01

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Yes there is. Most just refuse to accept it, preferring to cling to beliefs that have been disproven again and again.

umm audio is subjective. what sounds good to me could sound like crap to another. this is not a cable debate thread, so I would suggest not derailing it to be one.


To the OP honestly it doesn't make a difference in terms of digital cables. Use what is easiest for you and what you can find. They cost around the same for the cables (check mono price, ect) and should work fine in any application. I personally have used both but prefer coaxial as I don't like dealing with an opitical input and trying to get it in the little door ect, RCA plug is just easier IMO

On3s&Z3r0s

K-daugh wrote: »

My thoughts were to run the dvd coaxial to the avr and run the cable box optical to the avr ....my problem is the coaxial and optical jacks are both labeled dvd.....does this make any sense to anyone ????please help

This is a better question than the coax vs. optical one, cause it has the potential to make a bigger difference in how your system sounds once it is all hooked up.

First thing, using a digital connection between your DVD and receiver will probably sound better than analog. Unless your DVD player is new and high-end (I'm guessing not based on the description of connection options) your AVR will probably do as good or better of a job with the decoding of the sound.

Second, if the optical and digital coax inputs are both labeled DVD, then they probably aren't assignable, meaning you can use one or the other for the sound signal (in case your DVD player only had one or the other). But, you're not meant to use one for the DVD player and one for the Cable box.

Third, the digital coax needs to be a 75-ohm cable terminated with RCA plugs. It's not the same as the RCA cables that carry an analog signal like for the front / center / surround channels. You need a special cable if you want to use that.

If you want to post up the make and model numbers of your receiver and DVD player (and if someone is bored) they could probably help you make sense of the connection options better. Just knowing you have a Sony receiver isn't enough info to make a good recommendation of how to hook everything up.

K-daugh

If you want to post up the make and model numbers of your receiver and DVD player (and if someone is bored) they could probably help you make sense of the connection options better. Just knowing you have a Sony receiver isn't enough info to make a good recommendation of how to hook everything up.[/QUOTE]

sony rceiver str de635

K-daugh

sony 5cd/dvd changer dvp-nc80v