Analog audio output with HDMI video output

Hi,

I’m interested in purchasing the WD TV Live. I have a HD TV that will be ideally connected using HDMI cable, while for the audio I need to use the analog (RCA) output since my Hi-Fi stereo amplifier accepts only analog connections. What I would like to know is if it’s possible to send the video signal to the TV using HDMI while at the same time send the audio stereo signal to the amplifier using the RCa output.

Luca

Yes.   If you set the audio output to STEREO, you will have 2.0 audio at the analog jacks, while keeping VIDEO on the HDMI.  

All right then, thank you for your reply :slight_smile:

I would add to the solution that since the HDMI cable sends both audio and video to the TV, you tap the analog audio out from the TV and plug it into the amp’s audio Video-in. 

There is an additional way to send analog audio to amp/receiver, and it has its advantages in that audio is passed to the amp even if the TV is turned off. Very handy, if say, one is streaming audio tracks or internet radio from WDTV all day as I often do.  Why have the TV on unnecessarily?   I actually have my WDTV audio set up both ways; each going into different amp inputs.

The WDTV comes with a combo hook-up cable that transfers L/R audio and composite video.  It happens there is a proprietary wiring for this cable that is unique to WDTV.  I have tried using two other (longer) such cables, but since the wiring at the jack tip was different, neither worked correctly.  There seems to be no standard for these kinds of cables, so the WDTV-supplied cable has to be used. 

The situation is made more complex in that the WDTV’s cable is around 3-feet long, and not long enough to reach many amps; including mine.  In this case, I added a standard 6-foot audio cable connected to the RCA end of the WDTV cable via double-ended female RCA to RCA couplers.  Finally, since the composite video jack of the cable is not used, I covered it with kitchen plastic wrap to prevent it from shorting out against something in the cabinet.

I easily manage this tangle of audio inputs by sending the HDMI audio direct to TV and on to amp’s Video-In, and the audio from the WDTV cable goes into an audio switch box (along with audio from the Roku, DVR recorder, etc).  The audio from the switch box goes into a Tape-in input, because. . . who uses Tape-in anymore!

In these ways, I can serve up audio anyway I want to.

Out of curiosity, do you leave the WDTV set for HDMI Digital audio and still get proper stereo out of the analog jack?  That would be convenient for me as well, but I haven’t gotten around to digging through my current mess of wiring to test it myself.

No, actually my setup is analog audio throughout, so using digital audio could make things different.   With analog (stereo) audio out from both TV amd WDTV, it’s more straightforward and works for me.

The best way of getting stereo sound from the WDTV is to buy a DAC (digital-to-analog converter)

You connect the WDTV to the DAC via Optical Out and then from DAC to amplifier -  picture

These separately sold DACs are specialized at converting mp3 and other newage formats.

A DAC is build-into CD players, iphones, mp3-players and there’s actually one build in the WDTV. But these DACs comes in all forms of quality, and the stereo out of egg. smartphones and laptops, are with a DAC of very low quality.

No point having expensive stereo amp for quality sounding music when the bottleneck is the DAC built-in the WDTV (put there mainly for compatibility with scart)

Flac and DAC is the superior choice.

And no, Surround Sound amps are usually not any good at stereo music, but if you have one that has a great DAC then this post was redundant anyways =)


nafnist wrote:

The best way of getting stereo sound from the WDTV is to buy a DAC (digital-to-analog converter)

You connect the WDTV to the DAC via Optical Out and then from DAC to amplifier -  picture

These separately sold DACs are specialized at converting mp3 and other newage formats.

 

A DAC is build-into CD players, iphones, mp3-players and there’s actually one build in the WDTV. But these DACs comes in all forms of quality, and the stereo out of egg. smartphones and laptops, are with a DAC of very low quality.

No point having expensive stereo amp for quality sounding music when the bottleneck is the DAC built-in the WDTV (put there mainly for compatibility with scart)

 

Flac and DAC is the superior choice.

And no, Surround Sound amps are usually not any good at stereo music, but if you have one that has a great DAC then this post was redundant anyways =)


 

 

So you either plug the supplied lead into the AV output of the WDTV or buy a $300 dollar DAC for a slightly better sound. Ponders for a second or two - I think I choose the lead into the AV input. 

My old ears certainly can’t hear the difference… :slight_smile: My mp3 rips that I did 10 years ago when disks were still phenomenally more expensive still sound fine to me. :slight_smile:

The SPDIF or TOSLINK interface was never designed for hi-fidelity audio reproduction that is why there is an EBU audio standard for professional audio reproduction.

While the WDTV Live specifications does not quote inter-modulation and harmonic distortion figures, the WDTV Live is audio compatible with other products with a similar functionality and price range.

The WDTV Live is designed and marketed as a video streaming device. There is a considerable audio perception difference between 5.1 movie effect audio and hi-fidelity audio reproduction. 5.1 is designed for an instantaneous audio visual effect because the human sensors are concentrating on the movie experience. Hi-fidelity audio is recorded in stereo to replicate a natural auditorium experience because when listening to music, the human sensors are concentrating purely on audio reproduction.  

Hi-fidelity DAC’s are expensive. There is no marketing advantage in using a high quality hi-fidelity DAC in a device that is marketed as a video streaming device. That would be committing marketing suicide especially when the audiophile market is probably 1% of the total audio consumer market.

It also requires a high quality digital to digital converter to produce a high quality digital bit-stream. The digital bit-stream produced by the WDTV Live is not a high quality digital bit-stream and will never reproduce hi-fidelity audio reproduction.  

Using an external DAC like the Cambridge Audio will not contribute to any perceivable difference to the hi-fidelity audio experience. I would say that the only perceivable difference will be the pain felt in the hip pocket nerve.

I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX Audio card installed in one of my computers. (Approximately $200) The DAC’s and analogue output used by Asus Audio card are high quality. I feed both the Asus and the WDTV Live analogue and TOSLINK into a Yamaha RX-V457 driving a pair of STAX SR-X Mark 3 electrostatic headphones.

The STAX SR-X Mark 3 electrostatic headphones are the functional equivalent of a pair of $25,000 professional studio monitors. The weakest link in the chain is the Yamaha RX-V457.

The hi-fidelity audio reproduction of the Asus Audio card is far superior to the WDTV Live analogue and TOSLINK outputs. When playing movies, in some movies there was very little perceivable difference between the two as the music soundtrack was secondary.

My conclusion.

I am wary of the golden ears circulating on the Internet who regurgitate technical information without any technical understanding of electronic equipment. Expensive esoteric interconnects, external DAC’s and expensive audiophile amplifiers will never improve the inherent design limitations of the manufacturer’s equipment.

If a person wants to listen to hi-fidelity audio reproduction then purchase a dedicated hi-fidelity system. If a person is only interested in listening to background audio and watching movies then the WDTV Live feeding a general purpose 5.1 amplifier does a more than a reasonable job of reproducing the movie theatre sound experience. 

I have read through this post and a few others and have a lingering Q.

Do you have to set the WDTV audio output to stereo to get a composite signal?

I ask because I cannot seem to get HDMI + composite output. I want both connected to my home theatre amp because I watch movies and listen to music with HDMI input. My amp (Pioneer VSX 1020) will only allow analouge stereo inputs to go to the second zone (which I have in my kitchen. Therefore, I need the WDTV to output the same signal to both HDMI and composite.

Nothing is happening from the composite cables??

Please help

It’s not “Composite” (that’s only video) but “Analog.”

And yes, the analog audio outputs are only active when set to STEREO.

Thanks, switched to Stereo and signal came through. Will just have to switch it before playing music in second zone.