problem connecting optical into coaxial

[bananamane]

I have a Yamaha DVR-C300 HTIB and it only has a digital coaxial input but i would like to use the digital optical output that i have on my directtv HD reciever and the output on my ps2 for the audio. I bought a thing that is supposed to allow me to plug the optical in the one side and the coaxial into the other. ( http://www.uniqueproductsonline.com/diaucospcoto.html ) so i got this product this morning and i hooked it up from the directtv reciever and ran the optical into this and then ran the coaxial out the other side into the HTIB and turned them both on and had the HTIB set for digital audio but nothing comes out. Am i doing something wrong or do these converter things not work correctly??


oh and ide like to say hi to everyone on the site, its my first post.

 

[MDS]

The description implies that it goes only one way - coax IN and optical OUT - and you need the opposite.

There are many such devices available. I'd try places like parts$express.com (remove $), monoprice.com, or onecall.com to see if they stock similar switches.

 

[markw]

this appears to be a one way street.

That is to say, it seems to take coaxial in and puts out toslink. It seems you'e trying to use it in the opposite direction. You need one that goes from toslink to coaxial.

This seems to what you need. http://shopper.cnet.com/4014-7855_9-30913837.html?pbrpt=4583

 

[bananamane]

I had ordered the opposite before and it didnt work so i thought i had ordered the wrong one so i ordered this one. im pretty sure that i have the right one with the coaxial in and optical out because the audio reciever is the coaxial and i would need the audio to go "in" the reciever and out which would be the optical from the HD reciever.

 

[MDS]

In and Out is with respect to that switch/converter. You want to convert optical to coax therefore you need optical IN and coax OUT regardless of the fact that from the perspective of the receiver the coax is coming IN.

 

[gmichael]

Yeah, you'll need optical in and coax out from the description you gave above.

 

[markw]

Rethink the signal flow here. Look at it in a biological sense.

An organism takes in food through one hole and excretes waste matter through another. That process only works one way, right? The converter works the same way.

The signal is going from the cable box, which has an optical out to your HTIB receiver, which has a coaxial in. So, whatefver converter you insert has to have the ends compatible with whatever directiion the signal is flowing.

Does that help?

 

[gmichael]

An organism takes in food throu one hole and excretes waste matter through another. That process onyy works one way, right?

The signal is going from the cable box, which has an optical out to your HTIB receiver, which has a coaxial in.

Does that help?

Yick.

 

[markw]

Yick.

You want me to insert some visuals?

 

[bananamane]

okay, i got the other one out and tried hooking that up but still cant get sound. am i stupid or something? is there something i have to change on some kind of menu? I tried using the PS2 thinking maybe something else with HD reciever would be wrong but neither of them work. what else can i try?

 

[markw]

Time to break out the manuals.

Sometimes there's a setting on the cable box to turn on the digitial output. Likewise, sometimes you have to "tell" the receiver that there is a digital input.

Again, unless someone has exactly the same units you do and happens to be reading this forum, both of these take a little reading of the manuals.

Welcome to the hobby. It ain't plug and play no more.

P.S,.. you're running the TV bodx and the game to different inputs, right?

and, can you get, or did you ever any output from that digital input? If not, and this is a new unit, odds are it's a setup problem somewhere. Those converters are no brainers, assuming the dierctionality is correct. Do you have a known configured and working DVD player lying around for testing purposes?

 

[gmichael]

You want me to insert some visuals?

Noooooooooo.........

I have my own visuals that I'm trying to forget.
And I fear any insertions you may have in your mind.

 

[bananamane]

ive never used the digital on ne of the products, they are all new. I have another dvd player i could use. the tv box and ps2 r gonna use the same input from the audio reciever i was just going to unplug the one and plug the other in depending which one i wanted to use.


since neither of them work i think its something w/ the audio reciever but theres nothing in the system options about turning digital on or ne thing. there is something on the ps2 about digital but it says its on. im confused and dont know what it could be.

the reciever is hooked up using red and white analog now and works fine with that but i heard digital is better so i figured ide use that but now i cant get it to work.

 

[MDS]

since neither of them work i think its something w/ the audio reciever but theres nothing in the system options about turning digital on or ne thing. there is something on the ps2 about digital but it says its on.

On most receivers you have to 'assign' the digital input to an input selector; ie tell it that when pressing the DVD input on the receiver it should look for the audio from optical 1 (or optical 2, coax 1, etc). They are usually assigned by default but you can change the assignments if necessary.

Some receivers and HTIB receivers are not assignable. If that is the case it will only associate the digital audio with one of the input selectors. If eg. your receiver assigns the coax input to DVD, you must have the DVD player hooked up to the DVD inputs.

The cable box will certainly have a menu option for digital audio out. Set it to Dolby Digital.

 

[bananamane]

i have the cable box set to DD. the audio reciever is a dvd player. the input buttons on the audio reciever goes thru the choices which are TV, AUX analog, aux digital, radio, or dvd/cd. I have analog running from the cable box to the receiver and that works when i have it in aux analog, so i figured if i ran a digital from the receiver to the converter then coaxial to the coaxial input on the receiver which then i tried using the aux digital but nothing comes out.

 

[MDS]

Maybe aux analog and aux digital are mutually exclusive. Try removing the analog cables and just using the digital to aux digital.

 

[bananamane]

nope, still nothing in digital mode

 

[markw]

Is this your unit?

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200058&CTID=5001000

If so, it's a pretty simple unit that has only one coaxial input. We don't have the manual that goes with it, though. Unfortunately, I cannot find a pdf of the manual on line so I can't help you there, so you're pretty much on your own there.

My suggestion is you get hold of a known working digital source with a coaxial output (another cheap DVD player?) and plug it into it. Scour your manual to see how to get it to work and, failing that, you might have to get hold of Yamaha Tech support.

 

[bananamane]

yea thats the receiver i have. I just hooked up a dvd player thru the coaxial on the dvd player and i got sound in digital mode thru the HTIB. so something with the digital is messed up. does ne one have suggestions on testing that? i just ordered it from uniqueproducts.com so it should be broken.

 

[MDS]

Did you connect the dvd player to the aux digital and then pressed aux on the receiver to hear the sound? If so then the coax digital is assigned to the aux input selector only. If the dvd player works, then the digital input must work.

I'd say it's an output setting from the sat receiver that's giving you the problem. Is there a settings menu on the sat receiver?