I am a little confused about digital...

[Lord Nikon]

My receiver takes digital and optical inputs for dvd/cd/cable...

Now if I purchase a optical cable, and run it from dvd to receiver... do I still need to run L+R interconnects or does the single optical cable transmit video and audio to the receiver?

I am just not understandin what signals go through the optical cable. Video and or audio.... are L+R interconnects still required? Do I need digital, optical, and L+R interconnects at the same time what hehe

[Lord Nikon]

From reading, optical cable is for audio... and s-video is the best i could get for the rest.

[Swerd]

I am just not understandin what signals go through the optical cable. Video and or audio.... are L+R interconnects still required? Do I need digital, optical, and L+R interconnects at the same time what hehe
The digital signals coming from a DVD or CD player or a cable box are audio signals. A single digital cable connecting a DVD player to your AV receiver will handle all the audio signals. This is the only way to play 5.1 (or more) channel sound on a DVD, unless your DVD player has an on-board processing chip. You may use either an optical cable or a digital coaxial cable. They perform the same. Use what ever is cheaper and more convenient.

You do not also need L+R interconnects. Those are put there for people who do not have AV recievers, and who may want to connect their DVD player directly to an older 2-channel stereo receiver or directly to a stereo TV set. If you connect a DVD player to an AV receiver by these L+R interconnects, you will loose the multichannel sound of Dolby Digital or DTS encoded movies.

Hope this helps.

[Swerd]

In talking about digital audio cables I forgot to say anything about the video signal. You must also connect the DVD player so that the video signal gets to your TV. There are several choices on how to do this.

You can directly go from DVD player to TV set, or from DVD player to AV receiver to TV set. The AV receiver acts a unified switching center that can simplify switching if you have several video sources like a DVD player, cable box, or VCR.

There are 3 types of cables to use for this. Pick one. In order of increasing signal quality they are:

Composite video
S-video
Component video
Most TVs, DVD players, and AV receivers can accept S-video cables. They are inexpensive and will definitely be an improvement over a composite video cable. Component video cables (3 bundled cables identical to composite video cables) will cost more and usually do not make for improved picture quality unless you have a large screen projection set.

[Lord Nikon]

If price isn't that big of an issue, say $80... how do you determine which wires to get between digital optics, or digital coxial? Surely there has to be some sort of difference plus or minus qualities?

[Swerd]

If price isn't that big of an issue, say $80... how do you determine which wires to get between digital optics, or digital coxial? Surely there has to be some sort of difference plus or minus qualities?
There really is no difference in performance. They both carry the digital audio signal from the DVD player to the receiver. The chip in the receiver does the conversion from digital to analog. The coaxial wires are said to be somewhat more flexible than the fiberoptic cables. That's about the only difference.

Is that $80 you're planning to spend on the digital audio cable alone? Or is that a total for all cables?

Consider one of these from Parts Express.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=59

The Dayton and AR brands are fine quality and cost a lot less. You can also find good quality at similar prices at Radio Shack, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

[Lord Nikon]

I was referring to: http://www.bettercables.com/digitalcoax.html

I do not really need componets yet, since I have a suckass 27" magnavox TV that is about to die. :) This forum had a lot of good reviews on these, but not certain if I would notice a difference between this and a $20 cable. :)

[Swerd]

I was referring to: http://www.bettercables.com/digitalcoax.html

I do not really need componets yet, since I have a suckass 27" magnavox TV that is about to die. :)
Although I have nothing against Bettercables, I think $80 for a 1 meter coaxial cable is too much. You can get a very well made one for $20
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=181-866
The differences between them, if any at all, are likely to be miniscule. I doubt that one can be 4 times better than the other.

Save $60 for the day when your TV dies ;).

[Mike That Likes Music]

Although I have nothing against Bettercables, I think $80 for a 1 meter coaxial cable is too much. You can get a very well made one for $20

I have to agree with that. While I am definitely a believer in interconnects making a difference, my real-world experience with cheap digital interconnects is certainly satisfying.
Just for clarification, Nikon:
The coaxial digital cable sends the signal in the same basic way as a conventional interconnect (electrically), and the optical cable (as the name suggests) is made of fiber-optic strands and transmits pulses of light. I personally have a cheap Acoustic Research optical cable, paid about $20 for it, and have never looked back. However, I use it only to go from my disc player to my disc recorder. For listening purposes, I use standard analog interconnects from PS Audio. From what I've gleaned from "the pros" most higher end people tend to prefer coax digital to optical. In the end I personally feel it's really more important that you decide whether to use the DAC in your disc player, or if you prefer the one in your reciever. That's a much debated topic and the consensus generally seems to be... they usually sound about the same. :rolleyes: However, if either your reciever or disc player is decidedly newer or of higher build quality than the other component, you might notice a bigger difference. Hope this helps.
Mike