Optical Audio Cable or Place it connects

[JuliusEdlavitch]

Optical Audio Cable or Place it connects has been working between my receiver and DVD for 5 years at least

Suddenly I feel it is not working
either the cable or one of the two places it attaches to
the DVD or the receiver

Do the cables go bad over time or to the ports go bad suddenly
Hpw can I figure out what is wrong the cable or the port or something else

When I use rca cables the audio is ok but not sure if I am getting the surround sound

Any Advice
Julius Edlavitch
edlav001@tc.umn.edu

 

[Unregistered]

Optical cables don't usually go bad unless they were handled roughly and bent or cracked. I doubt the cable is the problem. An inexpensive test is to simply go buy the cheapest one you can find and replace your old cable.

The toslink connectors are pretty fragile and perhaps are worn and not seating properly anymore or maybe the receiver's detector or dvd player's emitter is actually going bad.

Before you come to that conclusion though, try a different cable and/or double check all your settings (is the optical in on the receiver actually assigned to the dvd player input?)

 

[JuliusEdlavitch]

actually assigned to the dvd player input

""""""""""""double check all your settings (is the optical in on the receiver actually assigned to the dvd player input?)"""""""""""""""""""""""

It was working for 5 years

What do I do to check this last thing suggested??
JE

 

[Unregistered]

There will either be a menu option or a button on the front panel/remote that allows you to assign digital inputs. For example, on my Onkyo there is a button marked 'digital input'.

I connect the DVD player video to the DVD input. I connect the optical audio to Optical 1. After I select the DVD input, press digital input and it cycles through the options. When the digital input says 'optical 1' then the dvd input is assigned to optical 1. This only has to be done once.

I understand when you say it used to work, but you know sometimes we inadvertently press buttons and things get out of whack. Just a suggestion as that is the number one thing that gets messed up.

Post the brand and model number of your receiver if you still have trouble and maybe someone will be familiar with that exact model.

P.S. There is also the possibility that the dvd player settings are incorrect. You must tell it to pass digital audio. If you have it set to 2-channel stereo, it will use the analog outputs, and if the analog cables aren't hooked to the receiver, you will get no sound.

 

[JuliusEdlavitch]

You are a genious

I think I never had things set up for the last five years

I repluged in the Optic cable
and I read ( OY VEH ) the book

I set the Onkio for Optic and prologic and it plays on my 5 speakers like never before

I am wondering if I never set it up and the RCA cables were doing it and they came un odne or you were right someone touched a button

What ever it has been a long time since I bought it

But I set it up and the DVD and Reciever and the speakers work like a movie theatre

Now I am checking to see if I have my sterio VCR set up right
Thanks Julius

 

[Unregistered]

Glad to be able to help.

Yeah you probably had just the analog (rca) cables hooked up. In that case, you get a 2 channel analog signal and the pro-logic decoder turns it into 5.1. It's 5.1 but not quite the same as Dolby Digital.

 

[Unregistered]

One more thing. Make sure you go into the dvd player setup menu and select 'bitstream' for the digital output (not pcm). If its on pcm, then the dvd player will do the decoding and send only a 2 channel signal to the receiver (but it will at least send it over your optical cable now that your assignments are correct) which will turn it into 5.1. If you set it to bitstream, it passes the data read off the disc untouched and the receiver will decode it, which is what you want for true Dolby Digital 5.1.

 

[JuliusEdlavitch]

Confusing

I have these three possibilities
in the audio menu

PCM Down COnversion set to yes ( Rather than no )
Dolby Digital set to bitstream
DTS surround sound set to bitstream

I think this is correct
The pcm down conversion one is confusing to me whether to be yes or no

my receiver does decoding

I think yes is correct but manual confuses me

Julius

 

[Unregistered]

The PCM down conversion option is to tell the dvd player what sampling frequency to use when outputting PCM.

PCM is output when you are playing a PCM track on a DVD or when you use analog cables or when you have the Dolby Digital or DTS setting set to PCM and not 'bitstream'. You are correct in setting DD and DTS settings to bitstream as that will allow the receiver to do the decoding and not the DVD player.

The manual usually states what frequency it will use; if it doesn't its a safe bet that it is 48kHZ. If you set PCM down conversion to Yes(on) then any PCM track read from the disc will be down sampled to 48kHZ if it is higher than that on the disc. The vast majority of dvds that have PCM tracks are at 48kHZ so setting pcm down conversion to Yes or No will have no affect - it's already at 48khz and doesn't need to be down sampled. If the track happens to be at 96kHZ and down conversion is set to No(off) then you will hear nothing IF the receiver you connect it to doesn't have 96kHZ or greater capable DACS. Likewise if you were to only use the analog cables which require the signal be converted to pcm then analog.

I have an Onkyo receiver with 96kHZ dacs and an Onkyo DVD player. It allows more than just 'yes' or 'no'. You can set it to 96kHZ or 48kHz compatible. 48kHZ compatible is the equivalent of you setting PCM down conversion to Yes (if the track is greater than 48kHZ it will be downsampled to 48kHZ).

So if your receiver has 96kHZ or greater capable DACs you can use No for PCM down conversion and get the full resolution for any discs you might have that actually do have PCM tracks that are 96kHZ or greater.

'Yes' is the safest decision as it will ensure compatibility with all discs and all receivers you might connect it to and will work even if your receiver does have 96kHZ or greater Dacs as it's always safe to send it a lower sampling frequency than it is capable of handling.

 

[JuliusEdlavitch]

You have been incredibly helpful

What wisdom is there that is greater than kindness?
Thanks for your help
May the force be with you
Julius Edlavitch