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Digital Inputs
Frankie Carroll
28-01-2003
I was wondering if anybody could tell me what is the difference between the Optical connection and the Coaxial connection on the back of my amp.
The reason I ask is because I would like to connect my X-Box to my Amp and I am told I will have to connect through the Optical connection, leaving the coaxial connection free for my DVD Player.
Is there much difference in quality between the two connection?
Milky Joe
28-01-2003
i had to make this decision a while back....im not too sure on the difference but i have heard that optical is more likely to be distored due to bends in the cable etc, whereas coaxial is just solid metal.

Although that is what i have heard...not sure if its true.... (although you WILL have to connect your x-box up to the amp using the optical connection, unless you get a 3rd party scart lead). Trust me you'll LOVE the x-box in 5.1, it adds a whole new dimension to games
monkeysoup
29-01-2003
Think they should work the same (it's all the same ones and zeros being transmitted), but the quality of lead/error correction done may affect the sound you get. Never actually done a proper comparison hooking the DVD up to both - just leave my amp with the one optical in for the ps2 (the only option) and coax for the DVD. Offering both coax and digital does give you options though. And they both sound great.

What I don't get is the economics - amps give you more coax than optical ins, dvd players generally give you one of each output, but consoles (manufactured as cheaply as possible) give you optical only - would have thought coax was the cheaper connection to build in.
Dan9
29-01-2003
The difference in sound quality between optical and co-ax is down to the fact that the digital signal needs to be converted to an optical one in the source and then back again at the amp. Obviously the less the processing involved, the better the signal.
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