Problem with XRt12 digital output

AlanH · March 2005

Hi,

I'm using the coax digital output to hook my XRt12 to a Sony TA-E2000ESD digital preamp. I can hear the music channels fine (great sound!) but I'm unable to hear any of the traffic channels with the digital connection. The traffic channels are fine using the analog connections so I know my XM signal is ok.

I've heard that XM uses a 32KHz bitrate for the traffic channels. I checked and the Sony unit is documented to support 32KHz signals. Is there something proprietary about XM's 32KHz signal that makes it impossible for the preamp to decode the datastream?

Any hints/tips/suggestions you could toss my way would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Alan

bknauss · March 2005

Alan - you've contacted customer service already, haven't you? I just got a note about this problem today or yesterday

Here's what we think the problem is:
the music channels are at a sample rate of 44.1kHz and the traffic channels are at 32kHz (as you already found out). Our guess is that your processor doesn't handle 32kHz and just gives up on you. We played around with a lower end Sony receiver and it worked A-OK. Maybe this is a problem with older receivers... how old is your preamp?

disneyjoe7 · March 2005

I agree its a problem with the AVR older version maybe. I've checked myself using the optical digital output works fine on my Onkyo 898 AVR 32khz or 44.1khz.

AlanH · March 2005

Originally posted by bknauss
Alan - you've contacted customer service already, haven't you? I just got a note about this problem today or yesterday

Nope, it wasn't me. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only customer who had tripped across this problem!

Our guess is that your processor doesn't handle 32kHz...

The doc for the TA-E2000ESD says that it supports 32KHz, 44.1KHz and 48KHz sampling frequencies.

Maybe this is a problem with older receivers... how old is your preamp?

The TA-E2000ESD is circa 1992. I'm not sure if that qualifies as "older" or not.

Any other ideas?

Thanks again for your help!

Alan

disneyjoe7 · March 2005

I still think its your receiver / preamp. Is there another receiver you could try with, friends, co worker, anyone?

AlanH · March 2005

Originally posted by disneyjoe7
Is there another receiver you could try...

No, but I can try some experiments with my DAT deck to see if it can read the 32KHz signal. I'll need to recable it so that it gets its signal directly from the XRt12 rather than from the preamp. I'll also make a test recording at 32KHz off of the DAT deck's analog inputs and confirm that a 32KHz signal can be played back through the preamp's digital input.

It's a long shot, but I'll also try an optical connection between the XRt12 and the preamp since that's what you used with your Onkyo.

Thanks again for your help...

Alan

AlanH · March 2005

Well, I had no luck with either the optical connection or the DAT deck (a Sony also, roughly the same vintage as the preamp). I guess the bottom line is that there are two incompatible 32KHz datastream formats.

I'd like to try pursuing this from the Sony side. bknauss - could you share the model number of the Sony unit you tested with? Maybe I can find something useful by comparing the specs/docs for it with the specs/docs for my preamp.

Thanks...

Alan

bknauss · March 2005

STR-DE985. I also have another Sony receiver at home, can't remember its model number, but it was the lowest end receiver with DTS back in '02. The tuner also works with that receiver.

AlanH · March 2005

Thanks! I'll update the thread if I find out anything useful.

Alan

Problem with XRt12 digital output

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