2. home-theater
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Any Time/Warner digital boxes output PCM?

Howdy All,

First of all, "yes, I know AVS forum" would be a good place to post this! But I,m "right here, right now", so here ya go............

I would like to use the 24bit/192K DAC in my Quad 99 CDP to improve my digital audio from my Time/Warner cable tv service. I do enjoy some of the music channels and would like to see if there is a benefit to having the DACs in my Quad 99 CDP decode the digital output from my digital STB. However, my current digital STB, PACE DC550P, appears to only output Dolby Digital AC-3 output.

Does anyone know if any of the supported T/W HDTV Digital STB's can be configured to output PCM so I can use my DAC?

Thanks and Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
6 responses Add your response
edesilva
768 posts
 
You might try running a search on the set top box manufacturers website--sometimes they have users manuals with more information. Sadly, I was able to discover that my Sci Atlanta box would not, in fact, down mix to PCM.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
This goes back to a few years ago; I was helping a friend set up his cable box. (TW Cable) I brought over my 2ch dac and the music channels were in 48--the movie stations were in 5.1---So when you switched to HBO no audio came out of the 2ch dac.---I don't have a clue if their stuff still works this way. I also own a MSB processor with digital out,for the fronts; So dts/dd are mixed down, but still digtal.
Post removed 
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
Could you hook up both coax and optical, and assign one for say movies and use another input on processor/reciever for your digital into your DAC for music, I think that might work.
edesilva
768 posts
 
I like Chad's idea, but it probably won't work. Most of the boxes have optical, but no coax. Even if they did have both, they probably output the same feed electrically. My problem was that, in my case, the configuration of the STB would not permit you to "create" a PCM only port. Probably b/c in the absence of a PCM soundtrack, the box was too dumb to do downmixing.
reubent OP
6,982 posts
 
Ed,

Your are correct. It will not down-mix anything to PCM. It only outputs DD (5.1 or even 2.1 sometimes) via either the coax or toslink.

TIC
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