CD/DVD player connections

[RSstuff]

Is it unusual for these players to have an HDMI and optical output? My Panasonic TV has an HDMI connection, my Cambridge amp optical. I expect there's a way around this, but I'd like to get the best quality connection to the amp, when playing music.

[Griffith4ever]

Was pretty standard, to have both. Allows you to get the sound into a non-AV (or AV with no HDMI) amp, and then the picture to the TV.

Remember, even high end AV Amps didn't have video switching for ages. Not really until HDMI became commonplace.

[RSstuff]

Most of the decent used players I see only have HDMI.

[Griffith4ever]

I think you missed a small window with DVD players.

Older = SCART and Tslink - no other way to get the digital audio out
Newer = HDMI and Toslink - cross over period. They must have existed?
Newest = HDMI - everyone wants HDMI only now.

[RSstuff]

Griffith4ever said:

I think you missed a small window with DVD players.

Older = SCART and Tslink - no other way to get the digital audio out
Newer = HDMI and Toslink - cross over period. They must have existed?
Newest = HDMI - everyone wants HDMI only now.

When was the crossover period though?

[Griffith4ever]

You need to find that out, not me.

[TEKNOPUG]

Loads of players have HDMI with dedicated analogue audio outputs.

[Lucid_AV]

RSstuff said:

Is it unusual for these players to have an HDMI and optical output? My Panasonic TV has an HDMI connection, my Cambridge amp optical. I expect there's a way around this, but I'd like to get the best quality connection to the amp, when playing music.

If you want the best sound quality from music CDs, then you should really be running a dedicated CD player. However, there are DVD players (not Blu-ray, just DVD) starting at £40 with digital coaxial out. Have a look at Sony. All players are backwards compatible back down to CD level, and so these will play CDs too.

If you want to add Blu-ray capability then you'll need to be forking out £150+

[RSstuff]

Lucid_AV said:

If you want the best sound quality from music CDs, then you should really be running a dedicated CD player. However, there are DVD players (not Blu-ray, just DVD) starting at £40 with digital coaxial out. Have a look at Sony. All players are backwards compatible back down to CD level, and so these will play CDs too.

Thanks,
Just the occasional CD, and very infrequent DVD probably.

[OutInTheShed]

I've got a cheap old Philips DVD player, the audio DAC in it is surprisingly good.

I'd consider spending money on the speakers, then the amp before spending a lot on a video player..

[Lucid_AV]

OutInTheShed said:

I've got a cheap old Philips DVD player, the audio DAC in it is surprisingly good.

I'd consider spending money on the speakers, then the amp before spending a lot on a video player..

He already has decent speakers - Mission floorstanders, I think - and recently spent money on a decent amp; a Cambridge Audio AXR100. Despite a decent amp and speakers, the main music source being used is YouTube.

[TEKNOPUG]

Surely the TV has an optical out? DVD to TV via HDMI, TV to Amp via optical.

[Grumps.]

OutInTheShed said:

I've got a cheap old Philips DVD player, the audio DAC in it is surprisingly good.

I'd consider spending money on the speakers, then the amp before spending a lot on a video player..

Whilst that is sometimes the case, it should be source first.

Rubbish in, rubbish out.

[RSstuff]

TEKNOPUG said:

Surely the TV has an optical out? DVD to TV via HDMI, TV to Amp via optical.

Best diirect connection to the amp when playing CD's is what I'd like.

[OutInTheShed]

For £10.53 on ebay, you can get an HDMI audio extractor with analogue and SPDIF outputs.
Would that work with Richer's cheapest LG DVD/Bluray player with HDMI out only?

Some players have USB sockets for stored media, is it possible to connect a USB DAC?

Panasonic DP-UB450 video gramophone thing has coaxial PCM audio out as well as a second HDMI socket which is 'audio only'.
£199 from the nice Mr Richer.

Likewise Sony UBP-X700 for a few more squids.

[TEKNOPUG]

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/sony-dvpsr760hb-...

£39.99 CD/DVD player with Digital out.

Literally the first one Currys website.

[GravelBen]

RSstuff said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Surely the TV has an optical out? DVD to TV via HDMI, TV to Amp via optical.

Best diirect connection to the amp when playing CD's is what I'd like.

The signal is staying digital until it reaches the amp and then being converted to analog by the amp's DAC, so in theory it shouldn't make any difference whether it goes through the TV or not. It might be annoying having to turn the TV on to listen to music though.

As others have said it shouldn't be that hard to find a DVD player with optical or coax output as well as HDMI.

[OutInTheShed]

TEKNOPUG said:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/sony-dvpsr760hb-...

£39.99 CD/DVD player with Digital out.

Literally the first one Currys website.

That seems very tempting.
Unless the transport is horribly noisy or something, what's the point of buying an 'audio CD transport?
These days, the DA C in it probably can't be all that bad either?

[RSstuff]

OutInTheShed said:

That seems very tempting.
Unless the transport is horribly noisy or something, what's the point of buying an 'audio CD transport?
These days, the DA C in it probably can't be all that bad either?

Call me cynical, but how good would something that probably cost a tenner to make be?

[TEKNOPUG]

Buy this then:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/panasonic-dpub82...