Perhaps a Vista digital & analogue sound zone solution?

supragte84 · **26th March 2008, 02:15 PM**

Hi guys,
I'm having the same freaking problem as alot of other people out there who have upgraded to Vista or purchased a Vista MCE. We cannot get digital(Optical/Coaxial) and analoge(green plug) outputting at the same time.

If you want to put it to a 2nd or 3rd zone usually the amplifier will only accept analogue signals and it wont convert the digital signal you have supplied it.

My idea is to take the CDR-REC analogue out and simply loop it back into the analogue input for zone 2 and/or 3.

I'm yet to buy a Yamaha amplfier but is someone able to try this and see if it works?

It may have been tried before but I have been given a circuit diagram of the Yamaha amps and the output at the CDR-REC RCA's comes directly from the DAC and DSP so it would have already been down coded to 2ch stero which is what we all need for our 2nd and 3rd zones.

Hopefully this works and can help others, else I'll have to purchase the Gefen Optical to Analoge converter from Infrared http://www.infrared.com.au/ for $151 in North Sydney.

Does anyone else know of any products that arnt rediculously expensive that will convert optical to analogue?

Paul
paul.pearce@honeywell.com

logifuse · **26th March 2008, 02:34 PM**

A couple of thoughts:

Does the Gefen output both analogue and digital? If not, you're stuck at the same point aren't you? I suppose you could run optical in to that and coaxial in to the receiver?

I don't think the ability to output both is far away. There are a stack of people trying to crack it and I noticed the other day that the digital out leaks in to the speakers out (on a Realtek onboard), but not at full volume, so there are links there but it seems to be muted.

Justin

supragte84 · **26th March 2008, 04:17 PM**

The Gefen only outputs analogue but thats fine as it will only be going to the other zones in stereo.

Its for a customers house and stereo output in zone 2 and 3 in analogue is fine for these areas but the home theatre room has to be 5.1

What everyone else using? Benchmark make a DAC but it a freakin $1000

logifuse · **26th March 2008, 04:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by supragte84

The Gefen only outputs analogue but thats fine as it will only be going to the other zones in stereo.

Its for a customers house and stereo output in zone 2 and 3 in analogue is fine for these areas but the home theatre room has to be 5.1

Still a bit confused - so you're splitting the SPDIF before the Gefen? One line going to the receiver & the other to the Gefen & then stereo RCA to the zone 2 input of the receiver? If not, how are you going to get concurrent output? And make sure the Gefen can decode 5.1 & not only 2.0.

supragte84 · **28th March 2008, 02:52 PM**

Yes exactly. I've bought a simple Toslink splitter for Dick Smiths for $11. Plugged the optical cable coming from the back of my Media Centre PC into the splitter which has two outputs.

I put one output straight into the receiver as normal so the 5.1 when watching DVD's goes through and plugged another toslink cable into the other output of the splitter into the Gefen DAC. Which then the analogue L+R comes out of the Gefen and plugs into the zone 2 + 3 input on the amp but could be sent anywhere for anyone else who wants to use this setup.

I tested it last night, the Gefen only decodes 2.0 which sucks. I sort of expected it because of the cheap price $155 from InfraRed in St Leonards and the size too, would be extremely difficult to fit a Dolby Decoder into the Gefen which only weighs 25grams.

2.0 out of the Gefen isn't really a problem as its for a 2 + 3 zones which only have a pair of speakers in each.

When i set it up though I am only getting sound from one channel out of the Gefen DAC. Tried different mp3, wma's in media centre and winamp still the same problem. Thought maybe the song were only recorded in a single channel so i put a brand new retail audio cd and let media centre play it, again only came out of the left channel.

Any ideas?
Anyone else using a Gefen?

http://www.gefen.com/gefentv/gtvprod...p?prod_id=5279

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...uct/View/P6700

logifuse · **28th March 2008, 04:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by supragte84

When i set it up though I am only getting sound from one channel out of the Gefen DAC. Tried different mp3, wma's in media centre and winamp still the same problem. Thought maybe the song were only recorded in a single channel so i put a brand new retail audio cd and let media centre play it, again only came out of the left channel.

Is it the same with or without the splitter? Can you test it from another SPDIF source (a standard DVD player)?

Justin

supragte84 · **2nd April 2008, 01:01 PM**

It could be tested with any SPDIF signal I guess.

I received the Gefen product but it had a faulty/loose SPDIF input plug so I've sent it back to get a new one. Will let you know how it goes when i get it back.

supragte84 · **27th April 2008, 05:34 PM**

Guys,
tried this setup and it doesn't work. When using the optical splitter the signal must be getting deteriorated and neither the amp or the Gefen D to A are getting the signal.

When I remove the splitter and plug the optical out of the PC into the amp it works straight away, also when I plug the optical out of the PC into the Gefen A to D and the sound is set to PCM it works.

So for some reason the optical toslink splitter is causing issues.

Has anyone else had success with toslink splitters?(if so what brand/setup) or the same setup as I've tried?

There is this link here where this guy reckons Micro$oft are going to fix the issue properly. Anyone heard any different?

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/...6274&SiteID=17