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Cable tv music analogue or digital?

I was trying to improve the quality of the sound coming from my cable tv box, sometimes I like to listen to the jazz station. I ran a regular rca jack from the analogue outs on the cable box to the analogue inputs on my pre-amp, the sound is ok, but I wanted to improve the sound. so I ran a cable from the digital coax output on the cable box to the coaxe input on my Cary 306/200 cdp/dac and then into the pre-amp. guess what, no audio signal coming from the music channels but I do get an audio signal coming from the regular tv channels. Is it possible that regular tv signals are broadcasting in digital but the music channelis still going out in analogue? what else could it be.
joeb

Showing 2 responses by reubent

reubent
6,935 posts
 
Many cable systems only output Dolby Digital, not PCM. So, you would need to send the signal to a "processor", not just to a DAC which converts PCM digital stream to analog.

Check the configuration on your cable box. Some do have a configuration setting that will allow for PCM output instead of Dolby Digital. If in doubt, call your cable company's tech support (good luck with that one!) or contact the manufacturer of the cable box (possibly a better source of information).

Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
6,935 posts
 
Joeb,

PCM does indeed stand for "pulse Code Modulation". Basically that the name for a 2-channel stereo signal which is digitally encoded.

Your cable box might have a configuration option in the audio section which allows you to select the type of digital signal it outputs. You may be able to select "PCM" or possibly "stereo" which would be be the correct signal type to output to the DAC in your Cary.

Lastly, yes, you can connect a digital cable from your DVD player to the Cary and use the DAC in your Cary to improve the sound for concert videos. You will need to go into the audio menu in the DVD player and change the digital audio from Dolby Digital to PCM or Stereo.

Enjoy,

TIC
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