New Onkyo 595 arrives, and one ? (1 Viewer)

[Thomas B]

Just unpacked my new Onkyo 595 (nice deal for $359 from J&R), and will offer my opinion on performance later. But, I do have one (dumb) question on the connections . . . why is it recommended to connect both the digital and the analog audio hookups from the DVD player to the receiver? Shouldn't the digital input alone be sufficient?

 

[RichardH]

Yeah, that's messed up. You only need the digital connection. Maybe if you were going to use the DVD player as your CD player, and you thought that the DVD player's internal DAC's were better than the receiver's, then you'd want the analog output of the DVD player. But, in that case you'd have to make sure that the receiver's analog "direct" input didn't redigitize the signal, otherwise, what would be the point?
Long story short, you only need the digital connection.
RichardH

 

[Ken Seeber]

They didn't make that recommendation just for the heck of it. There must be a reason, whether we know what it is or not.
Maybe it's so that you have some sort of sound while the DD or DTS decoder locks on the digital signal. Who knows? I assume Onkyo's engineers know better than I do how their equipment works.

 

[Thomas B]

Thanks, guys. I may have found the answer to my own question. Browsing further through the manual, I noticed the following warning on recording . . .
You cannot perform digital recording with the TX-DS595. Also, digital-to-analog conversion is not possible, so to record audio signals from digital sources, you must not only make the digital connection, but the analog connection, as well.
Seems like that gives the reason for using both analog and digital connections.

 

[Steven Spargo]

It's not a stupid question. I had the same concern when I set up my 595 last week. Our problem was that we do not know enough, and so we actually read directions. These directions are superflous. Of course hook up the digital or the optical. I felt dumb when the service rep was explaing it to me. At least I know I'm not alone . Thanks

 

[Carol Curtis]

Onkyo are you listening? Please put a digital output & front inputs on next years models. And for heaven sakes, don't cut the watts to pay for them either. Even cheap receivers today have a digital output & front inputs. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Thomas B]

Thanks, Steven. I am new at this Home Theater stuff, too, so I actually DO read the manual! Then again, I have always been that way about most anything. Never hurts to read the instructions. I still haven't set up the Onkyo yet (due to work time restrictions), but will post an opinion later on my impressions of the unit's performance.

 

[John Kotches]

The 5.1 inputs are intended for the output of a DVD-Audio or Multi-channel SACD player.
Regards,
------------------
John Kotches
Contributing Writer
Link Removed

 

[Thomas B]

John, thanks! I didn't see this anywhere in the manual, but it seems like the 595 will support DVD-Audio or SACD formats by the 5.1 multichannel inputs, correct?