Need Help Hooking Up Headphone Amp

[Jack in Wilmington]

Hi Guys,
Just picked up my Musical Fidelity X-Can headphone amp and I connected it like the book says. I didn't have any line out jacks on the back of my receiver, so I used the tape out jacks into the X-Can and out of the X-Can into the tape deck.
Here's the strange part. I get sound out to the headphones when I'm listening to the tuner and the TV, but not when I put a CD in to play. I thought maybe because it is hooked up with a digital optical cable. For now I have the X-Can hooked to the CD player only thru the line out on the back of the CD player. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Mr Peabody]

I'm assuming your problem is that you want to switch from tuner to CD or whatever without plugging and unplugging cables. The only thing you can do is use your CD players analog output into your receiver therefore allowing switching of all sources. You might even find that the internal CD players analog output stage is better than the receiver's or you may not notice any difference, if the sound is worse...... well you are back to square one.

You seem like you know how to hook things up but is your DVD player and cable/satelite hooked up digitally as well? They should be.

[Jack in Wilmington]

I'm assuming your problem is that you want to switch from tuner to CD or whatever without plugging and unplugging cables. The only thing you can do is use your CD players analog output into your receiver therefore allowing switching of all sources. You might even find that the internal CD players analog output stage is better than the receiver's or you may not notice any difference, if the sound is worse...... well you are back to square one.

You seem like you know how to hook things up but is your DVD player and cable/satelite hooked up digitally as well? They should be.

I will connect my CD player with the analog outputs when I get home. I do have my DVD player hooked up with a digital coax cable and the HD cable box is hooked up with a digital optical cable. Thanks for your help. I guess going from digital to analog is not always simple.

[markw]

I guess going from digital to analog is not always simple.Trying to input a digital signal directly into an analog input is like connecting an FM antenna to an analog input and expecting to be able to hear radio stations. There's a piece missing.

You just need to pass it through a Digital to Analog converter like this:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=BENCDAC1&product_name=DAC-1%20Digital-to-Analog%20Converter%20with%20Headphone%20Amplifier

[Jack in Wilmington]

Well guys, I connected the CD player with analog cables. Then I connected the receiver via the tape out to the X-Can line in, and success. They say you should learn something new every day. Well today was one of those days. Thanks to Mr Peabody and Mark.
What a great sound between the amp and the new headphones.