Optical Audio jack on 522

[mitchflorida]

I just started to use the Dish 522 receiver and am extremely impressed! The picture quality and features are amazing. The interface that Dish is using with the Receiver is rather primitive though, but I am sure it will be made easier to use.

My question is regarding the audio outputs. I am using RCA cables now, with decent results. My audio receiver can also accept the optical audio cable, but the cable costs around $30. What are the exact benefits of using optical instead of RCA? Is the difference quite audible? Thanks!

 

[TuxCoder]

For most things I personally don't notice much of a difference between the analog stereo connection and digital audio (PCM 48kHz). However, if you have the HD pack or any of the handful of premium movie channels that send Dolby Digital, there is a very nice improvement over analog stereo. And I'm speaking more of DD 5.1 than DD 2.0. So in my opinion it's not really worth the cost unless you'll be picking up the relatively small amounts of DD 5.1 audio they actually transmit. I'll leave it to someone else to remind us exactly what channels those are.

 

[TuxCoder]

Oh and also, of course, the HD pack is only available through an HD receiver, not the 522.

And welcome to SatelliteGuys.us!

 

[Toph]

$10.00!!!!

The optical cable can be found for around $10.00....keep looking. I was at The Shack the other day and they had a gold 6 foot combo cable for component video and digital audio on clearance for $10.00.

IMO, the optical digital audio sounds better than the component audio.

Also, for more info on optical digital audio in this forum see this link.

Try it out...

 

[AllyBaba]

I don't have the HD pack and i use the 522. It passes Dolby Digital 5.1 using the optical output jack into my Denon 3805 without issue. These are mainly on premium channels like showtime and hbo.

Enjoy.

 

[TuxCoder]

I don't have the HD pack and i use the 522. It passes Dolby Digital 5.1 using the optical output jack into my Denon 3805 without issue. These are mainly on premium channels like showtime and hbo.

They are only on premium channels (not counting HD pack and select PPV channels). And to limit the selection even more, they are only on the primary east & west coast feeds, not the 'Comedy' / 'Family' / 'Beyond' / 'Extreme' / whatever additional channels in the premium packages. But I also get the DD just fine through Showtime East & West. I don't have HD nor do I ever order PPV.