A little confused...

[Gizmogajet]

Hi, I want to buy a cheap sound system so that I can take full advantage of my PS2, Gamecube (Dolby Pro-logic II) and my DVDs. I was looking at my PS2 and it has something called a Digital Optical Output for Audio. Im not sure what that means. On my dvd player (Apex 1100) it has an orange output port which it calls a coaxial output. Again I have no idea what that means. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what all of this means or point me in the direction of a guide which explains what i need to be able to use these outputs for better sound. Thanks alot.

[FulciLives]

Hi, I want to buy a cheap sound system so that I can take full advantage of my PS2, Gamecube (Dolby Pro-logic II) and my DVDs. I was looking at my PS2 and it has something called a Digital Optical Output for Audio. Im not sure what that means. On my dvd player (Apex 1100) it has an orange output port which it calls a coaxial output. Again I have no idea what that means. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what all of this means or point me in the direction of a guide which explains what i need to be able to use these outputs for better sound. Thanks alot.

I don't have a PS2 or GAMECUBE but at least with DVD you need a sound system that has DOLBY DIGITAL and to get true DOLBY DIGITAL you need to use the optical or coaxial outputs. These two types of outputs do the same thing more or less. Some DVD players have one of each whereas other DVD players only have one or the other. If you have a choice the OPTICAL is sometimes considered by audiophiles to be better quality but it is doubtful you would ever notice the difference.

Most DOLBY DIGITAL receivers have at least two digital inputs with one for optical and one for coaxial. Often they will have one coaxial and one or more optical. RADIO SHAK also sells a switcher that can be used to input two optical sources to one optical input. They also sell a device that converts coaxial to optical and vice versa though I doubt that is very usefull as I'm sure the conversion probably is not error-free.

Also most DOLBY DIGITAL receivers also support DTS and for true DTS you also need to use the optical/coaxial digital type connector. For both DOLBY DIGITAL and DTS you will also need 6 speakers. Your "normal" front two stereo speakers, a center speaker, two surround speakers and a subwoofer. This is how you get 5.1 surround. For some reason they call it 5.1 instead of 6 so I guess the subwoofer only gets a .1 instead of a 1.0 hehehe

Major stores such as BEST BUY and CIRCUIT CITY sell combos where you get a DOLBY DIGITAL/DTS receiver and the 6 speakers. Sometimes you also get a DVD player. The combo units aren't high-end but will do if you are on a budget.

If you decide to go with seperate equipment it is still a good idea to buy the speakers as a set. This way they are "balanced" and work well together. There are both budget and expesive speaker combos that will work with any DOLBY DIGITAL/DTS receiver.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman