Differences in sound quality between a rca and a digital audio connection?

Question

Hello,
I have a tv hooked up to my receiver via a RCA connection for surround sound (analog). My question is, if I connect to the receiver via a digital audio connection instead (optical TOSLINK connection, or digital audio coaxial) will I notice a significant difference in the sound?

Answer 1

Yes , but it depends on the show/movie you are watching.

The L/R analog cables can carry stereo or Dolby Pro Logic. This breaks dialog to a center speaker, and BOTH rear speakers get the same sounds with a limited frequency range.

The digital connection can carry true 5.1. Totally separate sound channels to each of 5 speakers.

For a modern movie with 5.1 sound - the difference in surround effects can be dramatic. For generic Broadast television - it may not be so noticeable.

It all depends on how much time they spent creating the 5.1 mix for the show you are watching.

It is recommended you use a digital connection. 5.1 is the current HDTV standard and you are missing out with L/R analog wires.

Answer 2

Without doubt you will get far superior sound with the digital connection. Other posters have already pointed out some of the technical reasons, including that the digital connection will be able to give you 5.1 DD sound.

Here is the main reason why you should connect with digital. A receiver is mainly focussed on audio quality and it will decode the digital signals and turn them back into analog to drive your speakers with better electronics and thus give you a much cleaner sound. Unless you have a $150 receiver and $5000 TV.

You didn't mention your source, or speaker setup. Heres a tip: If you have surround speakers, either 5.1 or 7.1 with a sub, and you have a audio/video source that can deliver 5.1 sound, such as a DVD player or High Def cable/sattelite box, then you MUST hurry and connect with a digital cable. If you have neither surround speakers nor a digital sound source, you can take your time. Do it when you upgrade.

Tip2: don't connect your TV sound to the receiver, connect the source, and turn the TV sound off. Much better. TV speakers are typically not very good.

Answer 3

To repeat what has already been said, the optical connection has the ability to carry multi-channel sound in a digital format (on a single wire) as opposed to the analog mono signal carried by each channel in the stereo audio connection. However, to say that the optical/digital connection is better, as other reviews have said, is not necessarily true. What it comes down to is which component in your setup, the CD/DVD player or the Receiver, has the best A/D (analog to digital) converter. If you have a expensive Receiver and a cheap CD player, the audio will most likely sound better if you use the optical/digital connection. If your CD player is great but your receiver is cheap, the stereo connection will probably give you a better sound. This example assumes that you are listening to 2 channel audio. If you want 5.1 sound, you will need to use the optical/digital connection so that your receiver will send the audio signals to the correct speakers. Take a listen! Try both ways and see which you like better.

Answer 4

If you have it connected via one rca connector you don't have surround. Even two (white/red stereo) can only give surround via matrix coding (e.g. ProLogic). You need a multichannel capable connection (multichannel RCA (typically 6 RCA connectors), digital coax, optical, iLink (i.e. Firewire) or HDMI) to get 'real' (i.e. discrete) surround.

Will the sound quality differ, analog vs digital? Maybe, it depends on the electronics, program material, the speakers and your ears. Frankly I doubt you will hear a difference for stereo. BUT surround will certainly sound diffferent to stereo.

Answer 5

As pointed out earlier it depends a lot on other factors but it'll sound better in most cases with the digital rather than analog. Try it out yourself. :-)