Newbie Question (1 Viewer)

[Rowan_Oliver]

Hey guys, pretty basic question I'm putting forward here.

Just bought myself a receiver with 5 speakers and a sub. Also bought myself am LG dvd player to connect up to it. When I connect the dvd player up the receiver, there are only 2 audio inputs on the dvd player. Sound only comes through 2 speakers thru the amp. Would I be right in saying this is a 2 channel dvd player and to get 5.1 channel i'd need one with 6 audio inputs in the back of the player???

Also, i was told to get a coaxial/optical cord to connect the 2 appliances - which one is better and how much difference does it make the sound? Oh, and do I need to still have the 6 audio plugs plugged in?

Thanks, Andrew

 

[Nathan Stohler]

Yes, you want to connect your DVD player with a coaxial or optical cable. You could also connect it with 6 analog cables, but this would only be beneficial if your player does SACD/DVD-A, or if it has some kind of special processing that your AVR does not.

On the back of your player, you shouldn't be looking for *inputs*; you should be looking for *outputs*. Look for something marked "digital audio out" or something. The jack may be orange for coax. If there's a optical output, it may have a plastic cover on it.

You may also need to go to your DVD player's menu to set it to output the digital signal. Likewise, you may need to set your receiver to look for the digital input.

By the way, there isn't really much difference between the coax and optical connections, as far as sound quality is concerned. Personally, I prefer the coax connection because it's easier to damage the optical cable. Plus, you can always use a regular video cable for the connection.

 

[Rowan_Oliver]

Yeah, there are only 2 audio outputs on my dvd player - the red and white plugs. Does this limit the surround sound so I can only play it through 2 speakers?

My parent's have a player upstairs which has about 6 audio outputs, connected to a receiver - do i need a player like this?

With regards to the optical cord, I have one of those, but by using it does that mean sound will come through even if it is the only cord connecting the amp and dvd player or do i still have to have the channel outputs???

 

[Nathan Stohler]

If you use a digital cable (optical or coax), you only need one cable for audio.

I'm suprised that you bought a new player and it doesn't have a digital output. Even most of the cheap $30 players have them these days.

What's the model of your DVD player? If you're sure that it doesn't have digital out, I'd return it for another if it's not too late.

 

[Rowan_Oliver]

Thanks for the help guys... found out why it wasn't playing.

I was running the digital output into the input correctly, but even though the receiver was in DVD mode it did not play the sound even though the receiver was set to DVD optical input - when i plugged in the the 2 audio output plugs it came out only 2 speakers tho! Video worked fine all the time.

However, then I changed the Receiver mode to VCR, and had the optical input plug set to VCR mode and it worked fine. Don't know why, but it would only play sound in DVD mode if the 6 red and white plugs were in use, and not the optical cord.

Anyway, thanks for your help - at least i know for the future now. And to think I had the DVD all packed up to get a refund!

 

[Nathan Stohler]

One last thing -- it should probably work in DVD mode as well. My receiver, for instance, has a signal select for each input (DVD, VCR, TV, etc.). It can either be:

1) analog (red/white RCA inputs)
2) digital (coax or optical)
3) auto (digital if present, analog otherwise)
4) multichannel (6 analog cables)

Maybe your DVD mode is set to look for multichannel and your VCR is set to look for the digital signal.