Digital to analog audio converter for HDTV

[Mannermusic]

Brought home a 32" Toshiba HDTV yesterday and was surprised to discover that there is no analog audio output. Delightful. Even called the Toshiba customer service center to verify what I had been reading in the set-up manual. Yep, no analog audio out. So, either I swap for a similar Sony, which does seem to have the analog feature or find a digital to analog converter. There is one manufactured by a company called Gefen for approx $60 but the reviews are varying. So, does anyone have experience with this problem? Recommendations? Gotta hook up the JBL rig to the TV - not an option! No home theatre, just two channels for hi fi. Experience, ideas? :crying: Mike

[hjames]

Brought home a 32" Toshiba HDTV yesterday and was surprised to discover that there is no analog audio output. Delightful. Even called the Toshiba customer service center to verify what I had been reading in the set-up manual. Yep, no analog audio out. So, either I swap for a similar Sony, which does seem to have the analog feature or find a digital to analog converter. There is one manufactured by a company called Gefen for approx $60 but the reviews are varying. So, does anyone have experience with this problem? Recommendations? Gotta hook up the JBL rig to the TV - not an option! No home theatre, just two channels for hi fi. Experience, ideas? :crying: Mike

I'm guessing your TV source is off air stations, right?

Usually I've fed audio out from the source device - CATV converter,
Dish Net Box, TIVOHD, etc ... into a receiver and that feeds the JBLs

[Mannermusic]

I'm guessing your TV source is off air stations, right?

Usually I've fed audio out from the source device - CATV converter,
Dish Net Box, TIVOHD, etc ... into a receiver and that feeds the JBLs

Yes, I believe "air head" is the term! Thanks for the reply/info, I wouldn't have thought of that - but will remember when/if I go airless! But, here's the re-e-est of the story: I went over to the TV guy (Best Buy) and told him the haps and he said, no, you don't want to mess with an additional, non-standard converter - they can cause noise problems or worse. We'll just swap for the equivalent Sony and then you can do analog or digital. Great tech, painless exchange. Thanks again. Mike

[yggdrasil]

Yes, it seems they save money on connections. My wife brought home a 55" LG with the same issue.

As a temporary solution I have connected it to the stereo through the headphone connection on the TV. It works, but they have somehow managed to make the sound soooo thin.

As a more permanent fix to this I have bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-new-version-24bit-192khz-DAC-fully-assembled-/160498097197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255e6e9c2d#ht_7106wt_907 (24/192 DIY dac)

This will keep the TV as the hub for both image and audio.

Anyway - I haven't got time yet to install it (I have planned a life for it inside a new pre-amp). With the 24/192 dac chip i hope it will take most digital input signals.

[Hoerninger]

24/192 dac chip
How many channels does it have?
TIA :)
____________
Peter

[hjames]

Yes, I believe "air head" is the term! Thanks for the reply/info, I wouldn't have thought of that - but will remember when/if I go airless! Thanks again. Mike

Yep, my parent's house was mid-way between Baltimore and Washington. with a good rotor there were 30+ TV stations off-air ... in the 70s when a storm came though, sometimes late at night I could DX York, PA, Wilkes Barr, and, rarely, Phillie - tho I suspect HDTV signals (many being UHF) don't travel as far as the old VHF signals did ...

Here in Fairfax, 7 years ago, before I bought my Philips (CRT) HDTV, I experimented with a vintage Winegard UHF antenna & channelmaster rotor mounted on a pole just above ground level for testing. If I had a brick and mortar chimney it would be on the roof for Network reception today - but alas, I don't, so its CATV for us ...

[Mannermusic]

Yes, it seems they save money on connections. My wife brought home a 55" LG with the same issue.

As a temporary solution I have connected it to the stereo through the headphone connection on the TV. It works, but they have somehow managed to make the sound soooo thin.

As a more permanent fix to this I have bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-new-version-24bit-192khz-DAC-fully-assembled-/160498097197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255e6e9c2d#ht_7106wt_907 (24/192 DIY dac)

This will keep the TV as the hub for both image and audio.

Anyway - I haven't got time yet to install it (I have planned a life for it inside a new pre-amp). With the 24/192 dac chip i hope it will take most digital input signals.

Interesting. I checked the ebay link. That's a neat way to go about it, integrating into an amplifier. I feel sorry for the non technical folks - how do they make sense of it all? Ck out Krunchy's thread above in Technical Help. No perfect solutions.:blink:

[yggdrasil]

How many channels does it have?
TIA :)
____________
Peter

2 channels.