Optical Woes

[beicholz]

Probably a dumb question from a newbie, but please let me try.

I have a very high-end Yamaha receiver that's about 12 years old. I paid a fortune for it, along with an incredible set of speakers...including a woofer that can knock stuff off of shelves.

Unfortunately, it's just old enough that it lacks Optical input jacks. Therefore, I can't really get surround sound from my new BluRay and Cable box.

Question: Is there such a thing as a converter box that would split an optical signal into its components (left, center, right, rear right, rear left) so that I can get true 5 channel audio out of my receiver? One that takes optical in and has jacks for cables to go out?

I tried searching on-line, but all I can find is optical in, mono output.

Or do I have to buy and all new receiver?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[j_garcia]

You will NOT get the latest audio formats via optical on a Blu-ray player as these formats are not fully compatible with SPDIF (optical/coaxial); you would need HDMI for that. Most of the nicer receivers that came out just prior to digital inputs were "digital ready" however, so if this receiver has a multichannel analog input, you can get a player that has multichannel analog outs and get the audio benefits of the latest audio formats that way. I do exactly that as my receiver lacks HDMI, but I have a m/c analog input and use it with my BD player with internal decoding and 7.1 outs to get the current audio formats and it works great.

Cable box typically does not include the higher audio formats, but to get true surround, you would need to use optical from there.

If your receiver does not have multichannel inputs, then I think you'll be looking at replacing it.

 

[Josuah]

It would help if you posted your receiver's model. Then we can see what inputs it has and signals it supports.

 

[markw]

Excellent point. Time marches on.

It would help if you posted your receiver's model. Then we can see what inputs it has and signals it supports.

It's highly possible that that receiver only supports DPL (Dolby Pro Logic), which is derived from red/white stereo analog signal (like on VHS Hi-Fi tapes) or, on the more advanced models of it's day, 5.1 analog inputs which allowed for "future" developments.

Of course, that "future" from back then is now the prehistoric past.

My spidey sense tells me that's what you have.

To use that receiver with the latest sound, you'll need to find sources that offer analog 5.1 audio outputs, which are becoming more and more scarce.