fiber optic output vs. hdmi?

[BroomQueen]

I just baught a 5 disk RCA HDMI upconverting 1080p dvd player last night. I already have a 52" RCA rear projection HDTV that has the DVI input. I went to amazon.com and got the dvi/hdmi cable to connect them but then realized the DVD player has the fiber optical output and was wondering if that was better than the HDMI output? Should I cancel the HDMI/DVI cable and try to find (and do they even make them) Fiber optical/DVI cable? Thanks! I want the BEST quality that I can possible get for DVD as I watch A TON of movies! Thanks ALOT!

[Krispy Kritter]

They are identical. HDMI carries the video and digital audio signal in a single cable. Since your TV only has DVI, that is irrelevant for you anyway. In your case, you will need the HDMI to DVI cable connected to your TV for the video signal and an optical/coaxial digital cable connected to your AVR for your audio.

The only thing to keep in mind here, is that not all DVD players allow you to output audio across seperate cables.

[BroomQueen]

Well i checked b4 i baught it and this dvd player does let me output sound throgh reg. rca cables, so I just hook up the hdmi/dvi cable from dvd player to tv then the rca cables from dvd to my 5.1 surround theater right? since the hdmi/dvi cable carries sound also does that mean sound will come out the tv and the 5.1? currently i dont have any sound hooked up through tv, everything goes to the 5.1 theater.

[Noahtuck]

One thing about using the RCA cables for the audio, you will not get true DD5.1 or DTS5.1 through your A/V receiver, which kind of defeats the purpose of a surround sound system, you must use either a digital coaxial cable or the fiber optic cable.

[BroomQueen]

the digital coaxial is the one is kinda looks like an rca but it's orange right? well if i can't get true 5.1 how come it sounds like it? like say im watching 'cars' and i can hear it where it sou nd slike the car is coming from behind me to the front or like a plane going overhead?

[BroomQueen]

oh yeah by the way, when i was referring to my hooking up the rca cables, they were'nt the cheap red/white kind, i got the monster kind that say digital on them, i just refered to them as rca cuz they go in the same spot... what is the orange tipped cable for? looks just like the yellow tipped video but orange, is that just a better video cable than the yellow tipped one?

[Noahtuck]

the digital coaxial is the one is kinda looks like an rca but it's orange right? well if i can't get true 5.1 how come it sounds like it? like say im watching 'cars' and i can hear it where it sou nd slike the car is coming from behind me to the front or like a plane going overhead?

Because most A/V receivers will convert "stereo" through rca cables to "Pro-Logic" which is not true 5.1 surround , DTS5.1 will not even run through rca cables.

oh yeah by the way, when i was referring to my hooking up the rca cables, they were'nt the cheap red/white kind, i got the monster kind that say digital on them, i just refered to them as rca cuz they go in the same spot... what is the orange tipped cable for? looks just like the yellow tipped video but orange, is that just a better video cable than the yellow tipped one?

It does not matter how much you paid for a set of rca cables or what they call them, if there are only two cables hooked up to your A/V Rec. for the audio, you are only getting stereo input, right and left.

If you have a single "Digital Coaxial" cable running into the receiver's "Digital" input & coming out of the "Digital" output of a standalone dvd player and hev the setting's set correct on the Receiver then you will get "true" DD5.1 & DTS5.1 surround sound. You only need 1 Digital cable to get the digital 5.1 & up signal, not two.

And it could be just the video if you bought a set of cables that have 3 actual wires in them, right, left, video.
I have never seen a set of cables that just had L/R cables with a digital coaxial cable in the mix.

And even if you play a dvd that does not have DD5.1, ect audio on it, just stereo or a cd, it will still play through the Digital audio input/output.
The only component i have in my EC that uses rca cables is two old game system's, all my dvd/cd players, LD player, ect are all hooked up with a single Digital coaxial or Fiber optic audio cable.

[BroomQueen]

so i should go and get a digital coaxial audio cable then? how much difference is there in sound between that and PL2 (which is what i use, my receive has about 5 choices i like PL2 the best though)

[Noahtuck]

so i should go and get a digital coaxial audio cable then?

That's up to you But i have 4 full surround systmes in my home, and i use nothing but digital audio hookup's on all of them, all fiber optic. Although i do have a couple of Coaxial cables i used to use for a couple of player's that did not have fiber optic outputs,
Just a personal pref., just make sure what kind of digital hookup for audio you have so you don't buy one and get to find out you need the other

how much difference is there in sound between that and PL2 (which is what i use, my receive has about 5 choices i like PL2 the best though)

A lot, assuming you have the full 5.1+ setup, 5 main speakers and a subwoofer.
That's because you have not listened to true DTS or DD 5.1 yet 8)

There is usually a setting on the A/V rec. so you have to actually turn on the Digital input to which input you are using, then the A/V rec. auto detects the signal coming from the dvd player depending on which audio track you choose to listen to on the dvd you are watching. Most DD 5.1 dvd's automatically play the DD 5.1 soundtrack, some auto play to the 2.0, you must always choose DTS on any dvd that has a DTS soundtrack.
Most people concur that DTS is the better sounding audio track when available.

[Noahtuck]

Oh yeah, and if you have sound coming out of you tv also from the HDMI or whatever hookups, just turn the tv down

[BroomQueen]

OK, well i found a 3 ft. digital cable and hooked it up, unfortunatlly i had to move my receiver and hook up all the wires again, it took like an hour argh! haha, well i hope i hear a diff after all that BS. no now i gotta find my book for my reciever cuz there's a button called AFD and that's how you choose from dolby PL or PL2 and a few others but i dont think dts is 1 of them but it has to be there cuz it has the input thingy for it..

[BroomQueen]

well im watching chronicals of riddik. can't really tell if i hear a diff but im sure it's there. well i found the button that chooses coax in but it still gives me a choice to choose pro logic or PL2 and a few others, i thought coax was diff from PL and PL2? i guess i'll just have to mess around with it to figure it out.. thanks for all the help, really appreciate it

[Noahtuck]

There usually is NOT a button or setting for DTS 5.1 or DD 5.1, you will however need to turn the digital input on, the receiver will Autodetect the type of signal coming in from the player over the digital connection.

You may also have to go into your dvd players setup menu to make sure the correct digital output is also turned on.

When it detects a stereo signal, 2.0, as if from a cd ect. it will automatically go to PL or PL2, however you have it set, and autochange to DTS if it senses a DTS audio signal coming in, a DD5.1 signal coming in, ect.

[Noahtuck]

well im watching chronicals of riddik. can't really tell if i hear a diff but im sure it's there. well i found the button that chooses coax in but it still gives me a choice to choose pro logic or PL2 and a few others, i thought coax was diff from PL and PL2? i guess i'll just have to mess around with it to figure it out.. thanks for all the help, really appreciate it

One way to make sure you have the digital input on and working for the specific input you choose, is to take off the R/L rca cables, then you will know the only audio coming through is the digital connection.

[BroomQueen]

well it wasn't so much a button to turn it on as it was to choose what imput to use, so right now it has a little things saying on the display "coax sp dolbydigital d-range" and then a little letter for all 5 plus the sub and then it scrolls "dolby digital 3/2.1" i dont know what any of that means really, do you know what the 3/2.1 means? is that 2.1 channels? i thought it should be 5.1? it even says on the receiver itself DTS like how they print little things on there by the name or something

[VideoTechMan]

well it wasn't so much a button to turn it on as it was to choose what imput to use, so right now it has a little things saying on the display "coax sp dolbydigital d-range" and then a little letter for all 5 plus the sub and then it scrolls "dolby digital 3/2.1" i dont know what any of that means really, do you know what the 3/2.1 means? is that 2.1 channels? i thought it should be 5.1? it even says on the receiver itself DTS like how they print little things on there by the name or something

The "3/2.1" means that there are "3" front speakers (two front and center channel) and the "2" means the two surround speakers, and the ".1" means the subwoofer, so when added up its 5.1.

The only exception to using the RCA cables for surround sound is if you have an HD-DVD player that has analog outputs....connected with a compatible receiver that has the 5.1 analog inputs (aka multichannel) and with that setup you can hear the TrueHD and DD+ sound in full glory.

For everything else, coax cable will do fine for normal DD and DTS. The receiver will automatically select the input based on the signal it receives from the player.

[BroomQueen]

so if it says on the little display that it's 3/2.1 and coax and it's on pro logic 2 is that THE best audio? i think i got the setup for the best audio im just having a hard time figuring it out how to get it there,,, i can't find my book for my receiver

[Krispy Kritter]

Though most AVR's have settings to alter/adjust how the input sounds, you typically want these disabled/off for movie watching (although it is personal preference) so you will hear the audio as it was recorded and meant to be heard.

3/2.1, as noted above, indicates the AVR is receiving a 5.1 signal. Coax would indicate it is receiving a digital signal on the coax input (as opposed to optical if your AVR supports it). And Pro Logic 2 is the Dolby processing that is being used. So you should be getting quality audio now (as opposed to the processed stereo audio you were using before). Also note that although most DVD's have a DD5.1 (Dolby Digital 5.1) soundtrack, not all movies utilize it well.

You should be able to find your AVR manual online at the manufacturers website. And if you haven't yet, spend the time to fine tune your AVR to match your speakers, including adjusting the individual volume of each speaker to match your primary seating location.

[BroomQueen]

Well I think I got it as good as it's gonna get, digital coax with Pro Logic 2 and I got the distance settings and all that, thanks for everyone's help! Now just waiting for the DVI/HDMI for the best picture!

[Scooter_NJ]

A coaxial Digital Audio output will give you the same audio as a fiber optic output. It's just that it is sending the digital stream via copper as opposed to fiber. If you go R/L dual RCA plugs analog, then yeah...Pro Logic. But the onboard decoder either sees one and zeroes or it doesn't.