paulr

Connecting my dvd player to my 5 channel av amp. Normally i use an optical connector but my new dvd recorder doesnt have an optical connection. It does have a digital coaxial connection. Will that do the same job?

The Snug Rhino

Using optical cables instead of coaxials for your digital connections may help minimize susceptibility of coupling RF noise into the line and reduce loss for long runs (10 feet or more). However, optical cables tend to be more costly and sensitive to abrupt external forces, which may potentially weaken the connection over time. In any event, either connection method should yield excellent and comparable results in most cases.

paulr

Its only 12 inches.

corradoboy

Coaxial is fine, better in some respects. Why take an electrical signal, convert it to light, transmit it down a cable, then convert it back into an electrical signal when you can just send the electrical signal straight down a wire minimising potential corruption of the signal. Don't get tempted to buy a hyper-expensive digital co-ax either. A £20 one will perform just as good as a £300 one.

paulr

okay,thanks.

TopBanana

Both identical, buy whichever is cheaper or more convenient. Surround sound data is split into packets and the clock is generated in the receiver. Playing CD's over the link is a slightly different matter.

OllyK

Why take an electrical signal, convert it to RF transmit it down a coax cable then convert it back to an electrical signal, when you can use a phono socket and avoid the conversion?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coax_cable

corradoboy

If the signal was converted to RF then it would not be a digital connection, it would become analogue and then yes, you may as well use RCA phono connectors. Just as the light pulses from an LED laser diode are in binary digital, the electrical pulses which travel down the coax are binary. There is either a current or there isn't, just like there is either light or there isn't when the signal is transmitted optically. The digital coax outputs would then require a DAC, with an ADC at the other end, which I have never seen on any digital source or receiver. The most common misconception is that the light which travels down the toslink is what has read the disc, but it obviosly is just the same digital electronic signal which feeds the coax output which is fed to a red LED laser diode and converted into pulses of light for transmission, before being reconverted into a digital electronic signal. It is this additional conversion which I choose to avoid, as coming from an audiophile background I am averse to any unnecessary extra links in the chain which may add colouration or corruption.