really basic question

[MbayAQ]

Hi, ive been searching the internet and these forums and have only found confusion and conflicting answers. Is digital coaxial 5.1? ie, the orange digital out on a dvd player, can it do dolby and dts, etc
Some sources that ive found say that only optical is 5.1....are they right?

 

[Taco]

Yes, if i play a non-stereo source, then my default stereo DAC can't convert the signal, so it must be a dts signal. Unfortunatly I don't have a dts-receiver to test it.

 

[Schaef]

To clarify Taco's statements.... Yes coaxial can transmit 5.1, whether its Dolby Digital or DTS. What it won't do (I'm not sure if it CAN do this) is transmit DVD-A or SACD data, for those your player has to decode it to the 5.1 analog outs. (Also, this doesn't make a difference if its optical or coaxial, neither will do it)

Hope this clarifies things for you!

 

[chris ma]

IMHO,

Do you mean to ask the digital coaxial output RCA jack of the player or the coaxial cable itself?

If it is the former then it is highly dependent on the player. If it is the later then it certainly can transmit digital data, be it PCM, 5.1 or 6.1 or 7.1EX etc etc.

Chris