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Best way to hook up HD-A2 audio?? (1 Viewer)

king

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I currently own the HD-A1 player and have it hooked up to my Harman Kardon receiver through the Digital Coax output. Video goes straight to the projector through HDMI and it works great.

Now with the lack of the digital coax output on the HD-A2, what's the best way to hook up the audio? I guess my only choice is optical since my receiver has no HDMI inputs??

The new Harman Kardon receivers have HDMI inputs but the manual suggests that a separate digital coax connection is still required for audio.:frowning:

Why did Toshiba get rid of the digital coax outputs??:angry:
 

buggs

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TSO Link cable is going to be your best choice. Frankly, I would choose that over the Digital Coax cable anyway. Either way you are going to get full digital sound from the system - and the TSO cables are relitively inexpensive.

I have the Denon AVR 3805 receiver and I will use the same solution. HDMI from the A2 to the Sanyo Z5, Optical Digital Cable from the player to the A2 to the receiver. Best of both worlds!
 

Clinton McClure

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TOS-Link and digital coax will yield the same results. 1s and 0s are being moved, nothing more, nothing less. I prefer the digital coax because the connection is more stable. (Same reason I loathe HDMI.) Given your options, however, the TOS-link connection is better than the 2-channel analog.
 

king

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Yup, the HK receiver has 5.1 inputs but I don't think the HD-A2 has anything other than optical out & HDMI...
 

Jerome Grate

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From what was read hear, HD-A1 benefits from being connected via the 5.1 inputs since you get uncompressed sound. I think you can enjoy Dolby Digital Plus via the 5.1 inputs. As to the HD-A2 use the toslink connection, I was under the impression HK a toslink in and out. What Model #HK? Just curious.
 

dpippel

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The only way you can get Dolby TrueHD and DD+ from the HD-A2 is over HDMI. If your receiver/processor doesn't support HDMI then you're stuck with the DTS downmix that the HD-A2 converts these audio streams into via the Toslink optical output. The only way to enjoy the advanced HD-DVD audio codecs with the A2 is to get a new receiver/processor that handles HDMI audio.
 

buggs

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Are you sure about that Doug? I looked for quite a while last night before I posted an answer to this question. I could not fine any specific reference that the TOSlink optical was downgraded.

If you have somewhere to direct me, I would appreciate it. That will definately affect my future purchasing decisions.
 

king

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That brings me back to the same question. The Harman Kardon receivers that DO have HDMI inputs still require a separate digital coax or optical link for audio. The HDMI is only used for video switching. Does that mean they are not getting Dolby TrueHD sound from the HD player?

I currently have the HK-AVR335 and was considering upgrading to the newer model which has HDMI inputs...but if that's the case then I won't be any further ahead.
 

dpippel

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I am absolutely, 100% sure. You can search for more info at AVS Forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/

The HD-A2 only passes decoded Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus over HDMI. There's a reason that the HD-A1/XA1 had 5.1 *analog* outputs.
 

dpippel

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I can't answer your question king, as I'm not familiar with the possible limitations of HDMI audio support in Harman Kardon's receivers. However if what you say is true then I'd imagine that they do NOT support audio over HDMI, in which case you'd be correct about not being any better off than you are now audio-wise with the HD-A2.
 

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