using digital coax connection gives VERY QUIET sound. Help!

[curls]

Hey everyone. Great place you have here. I searched but didn't find anything relevant, so here's my situation:

I just got a new plasma TV and upgraded my cable box to the SA 8300HD PVR. I wanted to connect that cable box to my Philips "HTIAB" 5-disc behemoth, which is about 6 years old, using the digital coaxial audio output/inputs on both units. The Philips does not have optical, just coaxial. The SA8300 has both.

When I connected the two with a fresh new 75ohm digital coaxial cable, the volume from the speakers was barely audible even when cranked to 100% on the Philips unit. Obviously being digital the SA8300 volume controls didn't do anything.

The volume is way too low to be at all useful, so I have temporarily gone back to the traditional red/white RCA connections. I'd like to use the digital connection, as the Philips has surround sound and a sub. but maybe the true surround only comes from that unit when using a DVD through the 5-isc changer? If so, that sucks, because I'd love to have surround sound with digital cable as that's what we watch the majority of the time.

What can I fiddle with to get this to work? Or is is simply a limitation on the Philips home theater that it cannot accept the digital input from the cable box? (But why have the jack if it can't be used?). There are settings in the SA8300HD that I have tried, such as Volume: Variable of Fixed. Audio: Dolby Digital, Other, or something else. Or Audio: Auto DVI/HDMI, Digital Out, or Other (for use with RCA's).

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Cheers.
Eric

 

[agarwalro]

Hey everyone. Great place you have here. I searched but didn't find anything relevant, so here's my situation:

What can I fiddle with to get this to work? Or is is simply a limitation on the Philips home theater that it cannot accept the digital input from the cable box? (But why have the jack if it can't be used?). There are settings in the SA8300HD that I have tried, such as Volume: Variable of Fixed. Audio: Dolby Digital, Other, or something else. Or Audio: Auto DVI/HDMI, Digital Out, or Other (for use with RCA's).

Welcome to the forum.

You are using the correct cable and the settings on the SA8300 should be,
Volume: Fixed (since you will use the HTIB for volume control)
Audio: Digital Out (since you want to use Coax)
Audio Range: Wide (to get maximum dynamics)

It could be either of the two devices that causes the problem. Since the HTIB is old, maybe its Coax circuit is bad or maybe the STB has some problem...

If the HTIB has another Coax input try using that, if not, can you connect something else (maybe a borrowed DVD player) to the same Coax input on the HTIB and see if it works. This will be the easiest way to identify the problem device.

If it works with the borrowed player, then you know the HTIB input is good, replace the SA8300.
If it does not work with the borrowed player, it might be time to upgrade the HTIB .

Best of luck.

 

[curls]

Thanks agarwalro.

I'll give that a shot tonight,especially the settings for the SA8300. I have a cheapo progressive scan DVD player that has coax output -- I'll give that a shot. Actually I have two of those same DVD players to try if the first one results in the same quiet output.

Just out of curiousity, what kind of increased quality sound should I expect by using the digital coaxial vs. the L/R RCA's? I definitely don't mind the quality from the RCA's currently but as always, if it can be better for the cost of a cable, why not try, right?!

 

[agarwalro]

What kind of increased quality sound should I expect by using the digital coaxial vs. the L/R RCA's?

The quality of sound will be only as good as the lowest quality device. In this case, the speakers. I cannot imagine there will be a discernable difference in this situation. If your HTIB has matrixed processing modes like "Hall", "Stadium", etc., you will not be able to use them since you have bypassed the processing circuits in the HTIB.

On a purely theoretical note, the Digital to Analog (DAC) circuitry will govern this. Say you have a $5000 flagship DVD player and a $250 entry level receiver. I expect the processing on the DVD player will be significantly better than on the receiver. In this case, if other components are ideal or close to it, the analog connection to the receiver should sound better.

In a realistic situation, the speakers, their placement and room effects have such a huge impact on sound quality that the processing differences will get washed out.

 

[curls]

So considering it's in my living room, which is open-concept with the kitchen and dining area, the acoustics aren't superb in the least. LOL! I'd still like to try the digital connection to see what difference it makes, but if it doesn't work, oh well I guess.

I'll save the big spending on audio/vieo equipment when I do the basement in about 5 years. It's pre-wired for surround and such, but I'm saving that investment for later.