Coax/Optical input and 5.1

Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › Coax/Optical input and 5.1

joefish

32 posts

Geek

Topic # 96505 29-Jan-2012 10:25

This question probably has an obvious answer to some, but I haven't had much experience with this sort of thing!

If I have an AV receiver that has both coax and optical-in ports, and has connections for 5.1 surround speakers, then can I assume that If I connect a bluray player using either of those two ports, I will get 5.1 sound?

The reason I ask is because I'm about to get a bluray player, and I'm thinking of buying such a receiver from Trademe. I don't want to fork out the $$ for a receiver that has HDMI inputs.

Thanks for your help.

Jaxson

6752 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 594

Trusted

Reply # 574554 29-Jan-2012 11:03

Yes, if your receiver has an optical/digital coax input you will get 5.1 audio from most bluray players. Some cheap receivers/bluray players may not but if you stick to known brands you should be fine.

Just note though that bluray offers HD video and audio, but optical/digital coax is NOT sufficient to transfer these higher quality formats. You need hdmi for this but most discs/players will offer lower quality audio options that are compatible with the basic optical/digital coax connection types.

B1GGLZ

1933 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 130

Reply # 574636 29-Jan-2012 15:22

joefish:
The reason I ask is because I'm about to get a bluray player, and I'm thinking of buying such a receiver from Trademe. I don't want to fork out the $$ for a receiver that has HDMI inputs.

I think it would be difficult to find a modern Receiver that doesn't have HDMI in/out as well as optical/coaxial digital even in the lower price range. HDMI is superior for audio and video.

Dunnersfella

3422 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 483

Reply # 574765 29-Jan-2012 22:49

You'll still find at least one or two receivers for sale in your local stores that won't do audio via HDMI.
The one that springs to mind is the Marantz SR3053.
Not a bad sounding amp, but connectivity wise, that thing is a d.o.g.