Wiring DVD and cable box audio to integrated amp

aps1ngh

I own a Panasonic plasma television with optical out and an integrated amplifier with optical in. Both my HD cable box and my dvd player have optical outs as well. Clearly, I'm going to be using HDMI from both the HD cable box and the dvd player to the TV's separate hdmi inputs.

What I need to know is whether or not I should use the separate optical outs from the DVD player and the cable box to input separately into the amp or whether I should just use the single optical out from my TV to send it to my amp. Any suggestions?

superjunior

are you talking a dedicated AMP or a receiver ?

comfortablycurt

He's talking about an integrated amp...as he said in the title.;)

It probably makes little difference which connection method you use, since it's a digital signal.

I'd connect them directly to the int. amp, just to reduce the number of connections in the chain. If you like to use your TV's speakers sometimes though, you might want to run it through the TV.

aps1ngh

comfortablycurt wrote: »

He's talking about an integrated amp...as he said in the title.;)

It probably makes little difference which connection method you use, since it's a digital signal.

I'd connect them directly to the int. amp, just to reduce the number of connections in the chain. If you like to use your TV's speakers sometimes though, you might want to run it through the TV.

Thanks for the suggestions. Just realized my integrated amp only has one optical in. So I have to modify my question. Is it better to route the audio through my TV (HDMI from cable box and dvd to TV; then optical out from TV to amp) or to just use analog RCA cables from my cable box and dvd to input separately into my amp? Essentially, should I use digital or analog?

I feel like running one optical cable from my TV to my amp would be more convenient in that I would not have to switch my audio source every time I switched my video source. But I am not sure (and hopefully someone can answer this question) as to whether or not I could listen to a CD from my DVD player while my tv is off if it is routed through my tv's optical out.

aps1ngh

Keiko wrote: »

Welcome to CP aps1ngh. This is really a matter of preference I think. Personally, I would use analog over digital. The signal is going to be converted back to analog if you use optical anyway. There's some debate about this issue over which is better. Again, it's personal preference. I'd keep it simple and run with some nice analog cables. Check out the different cables available on the market. Some I can suggest are AudioQuest, Signal and Blue Jeans Cable. Signal will give you a 5% discount if you mention you're a Club Polk member. Here's the links.

http://signalcable.com/

http://bluejeanscable.com/

http://www.audioquest.com/

If you're on a budget, checkout monoprice.com.

Good luck!

Thanks for the help. Actually, before I even made this post, I had already decided on blue jeans cables but your help is greatly appreciated none the less.

My choice will also depend upon which DAC I trust more, the amp or the sources (cable box or oppo upconverting dvd player). I'm leaning more heavily towards analog just due to the fact that it will give me more options in terms of the amps that I want to use. I've also read that the DAC on the Oppo dvd player is fantastic for the money.

But one last question that has been left unanswered: if i do decide to use digital routed through my TV (HDMI from cable box and dvd to TV; then optical out from TV to amp), will I be able to play cd's on my dvd player while the tv is off.

aps1ngh

Keiko wrote: »

My guess would be "no." The signal probably won't be able to pass with the power off on the TV. I would highly recommend you don't do that anyway. You'd get better sound by not having an additional device in the chain. It's simply better to connect the source directly to the amp/receiver. Having the TV in the path will dilute the signal.

Thank you very much.

polktiger

one other thing to consider if you go through TV first is the type of signal that is output by the TV. Some TVs can not passthrough a dolby digital or DTS signal via its optical. They will send a 2 channel LPCM signal.

Not sure if your integrated is 2 channel or 5/7 channel so I don't know if it matters to you. Also some cable boxes and DVD players will output to both the HDMI and analog. My cable box will only do one or the other so if I am just watching TV I tell it to send sound via HDMI to TV (default). If I want to power up the system for TV, I just tell the cable box to feed the optical for surround.