digital and rca cables

pmckeealaska

OK....so I have a system that I use for both 2 channel and HT. I also enjoy listening to high rez (DVD-A, SACD), so I have all the cables I need for that. My question is, and this may be a stupid question, do I need a digital optical cable for any reason? The sales guy at a store told me I needed it for HT listening. One cable instead of the five that I already have for high rez. I picked up a $15.00 digital cable just in case. Please helped this confused member!

PolkThug

The high-rez stuff has to go through the analog outs.

pmckeealaska

I know I need the rca's for high rez, but do I need the digital cable for HT??

polkatese

yes, for DD and DTS contents of your movies and music videos.

tonyb

Don't know much about NAD receivers,if you have all your analog pre-outs
l-r-c-rs-ls-sub hooked up and you have it set up that way on your dvd player
then you should be OK.I have a digital cable also with my rig and when I switch from 2-channel to movies,my dvd player will recognize it and picks
up the DD SIGNAL thru my digital cable.So the answer is it won't hurt anything,hook them both up,go into your set-up menu and make sure
DD is turned on,see if it makes a difference,if not take the cable back and buy a good CD.Just for **** and grins,how do you have the subs on the
LSI's hooked up?:)

pmckeealaska

The NAD has 2 subwoofer outs. I have my Sub-X cables running from the LFE in to the subwwofer outs on the reciever. The cables make a noticable difference compared to going without them.

tonyb

Well of coarse they do,especially when watching movies,but how is that
for music?Do you have everything set up in your receiver correctly?Some of the most common problems is the built in subs throw people off when trying to set up a HT.Well,I am getting of the subject here,you still can use both cables,when you play a movie,see in the dvd display if it says DD.Does it say
that without a digital cable hooked up?
I leave both hooked up on mine.

ledhed

I believe it all has to do with which unit is doing the processing. If it is the DVD player then your analog ICs should be fine. If it is the avr then you need a digital connection.

Skynut

ledhed wrote:

I believe it all has to do with which unit is doing the processing. If it is the DVD player then your analog ICs should be fine. If it is the avr then you need a digital connection.

Bingo, i think we have a winner.

I had my sacd player hooked up this way and I like the processing in the avr better for movies. Sacd would only play through analog.

janmike

Exactly, where does the best DAC reside.

drew spelts

There should be one in your receiver and one in your DVD/CD player. If you use digital IC cables then you are using the DAC in the receiver. If you are using analog cables then you are using the DAC in the DVD/CD player. So if you have a bitchen CD player then use analog cables to hear the best quality. Other wise Digital is just fine until you get about $4000 or more into youre setup.