Direct Tv music channels ans use in audio system

I use the analogue output from my Direct into a 2 channel HT system and find the sound to be quite good if variable. Shows like the Mentalist or HBO are excellent while some others are mediocre at best. Kung Fu Panda was much better sonically than in the theater on my system. You can take the sound direct from the RCA jacks on the receiver but I have been using the output jacks on my Panasonic Plasma into the pre, can't really tell much difference either way.

I use my DirecTV coax digital out to my Bryston BDA-1 DAC. It works reliable, however the sound quality is so-so. The internet radio channels on my Apple TV sound much better.

It's certainly possible for the music channels to sound excellent, before the Sirius XM merger, the channels that DirecTV carried were different, and some of them just sounded fantastic. Unfortunately, it's now all heavily compressed, and well, better than nothing.

TV shows can sound quite good, and of course you can output sound in Dolby Digital, so for TV shows with a Dolby Digital processor, the sound quality is quite good.

I just got Direct TV so this is good information.

Those channels are ok for background music, but there never has been any quality. Hell, we can hardly get any 1080 video. Cable is no different.

"but the sound quality is pretty bad - thin and lifeless..."

Given how much information "broadband" (CATV, sat, FIOS, etc) providers try to shove down the pipe, it's simply a case of 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag...no surprise.