HDMI arc or Digital optical to RCA?

[DKL]

I need to connect my newish Samsung tv to my older Yamaha 5.1 amp. TV only has digital optical and hdmi arc audio outputs (RCA are inputs as I found out!) , amp only has RCA.
You can get 5.1 dig opt to rca convertors and hdmi arc to rca convertors. So which is my best option for sound, it's just to watch films through the surround system.
I do have a dvd player connected with hdmi to the TV and then rca to the amp, but I can't use that in any way to get TV sound can I?

[hoegaardenruls]

I think if you are keeping the the current amp, then the digital to RCA converters would be the way to go - something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KNNSKV0

I've used one of these in the past, and a newer Samsung TV will be configurable to route sound out through the optical port for all input. Worst case you end up with two converter, one for the TV and one for DVD, and use the amp to switch inputs

[DKL]

hoegaardenruls said:

I think if you are keeping the the current amp, then the digital to RCA converters would be the way to go - something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KNNSKV0

I've used one of these in the past, and a newer Samsung TV will be configurable to route sound out through the optical port for all input. Worst case you end up with two converter, one for the TV and one for DVD, and use the amp to switch inputs

The DVD works fine, I just wondered if there was a way of utilising the connections to allow the TV sound to be heard. I doubt it.

That convertor is one I'd found but I think only does 2 chanel sound. But there is a newer one that seems to do 5.1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-...

[Largechris]

I kind of had the same situation when I got my new TV, except my older Denon amplifier has an optical input -

I don’t know how good the RCA optical converters are, but when I installed the optical connection (that I hadn’t been using before) between the TV and the Denon, I noticed a big leap in sound quality. And this is with decent KEF speakers. Quite surprising.

If I was you, I’d be looking into a new amplifier with optical in, compared to the cost of the tv it wouldn’t be much, I don’t know, £300? Rather than faffing with adaptors.

[FunkyGibbon]

DKL said:

The DVD works fine, I just wondered if there was a way of utilising the connections to allow the TV sound to be heard. I doubt it.

That convertor is one I'd found but I think only does 2 chanel sound. But there is a newer one that seems to do 5.1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-...

That takes 5.1 input but only 2 ch stereo output.

[FunkyGibbon]

DKL said:

Yamaha 5.1amp

What's the model number?

[DKL]

FunkyGibbon said:

DKL said:

The DVD works fine, I just wondered if there was a way of utilising the connections to allow the TV sound to be heard. I doubt it.

That convertor is one I'd found but I think only does 2 chanel sound. But there is a newer one that seems to do 5.1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-...

That takes 5.1 input but only 2 ch stereo output.

Bugger, no improvment then.

FunkyGibbon said:

What's the model number?

DSP - A592

[hoegaardenruls]

DKL said:

hoegaardenruls said:

I think if you are keeping the the current amp, then the digital to RCA converters would be the way to go - something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KNNSKV0

I've used one of these in the past, and a newer Samsung TV will be configurable to route sound out through the optical port for all input. Worst case you end up with two converter, one for the TV and one for DVD, and use the amp to switch inputs

The DVD works fine, I just wondered if there was a way of utilising the connections to allow the TV sound to be heard. I doubt it.

That convertor is one I'd found but I think only does 2 channel sound. But there is a newer one that seems to do 5.1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-...

Check the sound settings on the TV, as all the Samsung TV's I've owned have been capable of this, going back 12yrs - although older models were limited to 2.0.

If using pass-through on the TV for the DVD, then it would be DVD (HDMI) -> TV -> Converter (Optical/RCA) -> Amp.

The TV would then output whatever source is in use, either it's own tuner or the DVD - might be limiting if you use the DVD player for CDs though.

Worth bearing in mind considering the Pro Logic amp, that this was only designed to work on a two channel input, where the surround was encoded from 4.0 into a 2.0 format, and the amp does the work of splitting the signal.

Personally, I'd be tempted to upgrade the amp as mentioned - one HDMI (ARC) between TV-Amp and another HDMI DVD-Amp is likely to everything you want, and open up more audio options.

[Murph7355]

Man maths - time for a new receiver

[DKL]

Murph7355 said:

Man maths - time for a new receiver

It would make things easier I grant you...

[FunkyGibbon]

DKL said:

DSP - A592

And the TV?

Does it have multi-channel RCA out (6 ports)

Edited by FunkyGibbon on Wednesday 23 February 14:24

[FunkyGibbon]

OK your AMP has multi channel input

see here:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/197266/Yamaha-Ds...

This will take optical to 5.1 multi channel

https://www.amazon.co.uk/aoeyoo%C2%AE-Audio-Digita...


But as others have said - man maths would suggest a new amp, with digital inputs would be much better.

[Lucid_AV]

Yamaha DSP-A592

hoegaardenruls said:

Worth bearing in mind considering the Pro Logic amp, that this was only designed to work on a two channel input, where the surround was encoded from 4.0 into a 2.0 format, and the amp does the work of splitting the signal.

This^

Although the 592 has a 5.1 input and so doesn't need an internal DD decoder - that's what the adapter does - it does lack some of the additional features that Dolby Digital supports such as Night Mode.

There are a few options for changing the amp other than jumping straight in with a new replacement.

If you like the sound of the 592, and one of the later models that added DD and DTS as well as optical and coax inputs could be a viable choice. There's a nice looking DSP-A595 on Ebay with BIN of £114.70 (odd price), and for £100 the later DSP-A2. A little cheaper there's a DSP-AX620 at £80 and another at £60. These are really good as stereo amps if that's your thing. Two notes of caution here: (1) neither show the remote, so you should check with the sellers whether that's included. (2) Make sure to see pictures of the illuminated display. It's a VFD and they get a bit faint on the bits that are lit up constantly.

If you fancy adding HDMI ARC and getting with it on the HDMI front then there's a DSP-A1020 sitting at £250 with no bids and 2 days to go. I have owned the model before it - the 1010 - and that was a good amp. HDMI ARC is a useful feature to have.

[FunkyGibbon]

Lucid_AV said:

DSP-A1020 sitting at £250 with no bids and 2 days to go.

That is a lot of amp for the money, when you consider 4K upscaling on HD sources as well as the sound capabilities.

[Timothy Bucktu]

Just look on Facebook Marketplace for a slightly newer receiver. There's usually loads quite cheap as people upgrade.

[DKL]

FunkyGibbon said:

And the TV?

Does it have multi-channel RCA out (6 ports)

Edited by FunkyGibbon on Wednesday 23 February 14:24

TV is ue40h6400 so no rca output at all, only optical and hdmi arc

Edited by DKL on Wednesday 23 February 18:49

[DKL]

Thanks all, I'll have a look through the other suggestions.

[syncropatrick]

Note that HDMI does not carry volume control, so these HDMI->analog DACs leave amplification/volume control with the receiving amp. Therefore an additional remote control just to change TV volume.