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View Full Version : A little help please: Caiman/Toslink/TV



Dougr33
13-09-2010, 01:37
Gonna be dumb question I'm afraid. I've never had need for Toslink before, and not a home theater, 7 channel sorta guy. SO... I get a new Panasonic plasma, and it's only audio output (besides it's own speakers) is a toslink. I buy a cable, thinking I can hook it up to my new Caiman and get better sound. No sound. Do I misunderstand.. is the typical toslink/audio-out on a tv designed only for input into an AV receiver setup? The only pertinent audio setting on the Panasonic is "speakers off" (which works, but leaves me in silence).

MartinT
13-09-2010, 02:16
Hi Dougr, is there a setting on the Panasonic where you can ensure the optical output is set to PCM stereo? The Caiman won't like any kind of Dolby Surround output and is likely to stay muted. Also - easy check - is the Caiman end of the optical cable shining red?

CanDAC
13-09-2010, 03:03
I had a similar problem. You're probably aware the Caiman can only decode PCM signals, where most cable/satellite services use a compressed format such as AC-3 for their audio stream. Even though my Motorola PVR has a menu option for PCM output I could never get it to work because that would require firmware that my provider has not seen fit to use. So even if your TV has (like my Sony) has the capability of outputting a PCM signal, it may not be able to do so because of the feed it is receiving.

My suggestion would be to check with your cable company and/or the manufacturer of your digital box. However you may find yourself in the same situation as me, which is why I've suggested to Stan that he offer something with analog inputs.

MartinT
13-09-2010, 04:54
I forgot to mention, my Panny has a headphone output on the left-hand panel. If you use a 3.5mm stereo jack to twin phono cable, you can feed a perfectly serviceable stereo line level output to your amp. Set the headphone output to 50% in the menu. That's what I do to get audio when I'm playing Viera Tools stuff such as media streams.

Ali Tait
13-09-2010, 07:28
No RCA outputs on the Panny?

Do you have a satellite box? A lot of these have spdif out.

Stratmangler
13-09-2010, 07:39
I'm surprised if the Panny doesn't have both RCA and SPDIF outputs.

Dougr33
13-09-2010, 19:16
Thanks everyone for thoughts. This model (their lower end 2010 plasmas) ONLY has toslink audio out. No rca's or headphone jack. Besides, I prefer to use my Caiman as a preamp, and don't have other analogue sources. I'm using rca outs from my dvd and comcast dvr now into an integrated amp. I'll figure something out. Thanks/

dave2010
14-09-2010, 07:44
What's the model number? There's probably an online manual, and we could perhaps check it for you, though you may have already been through every page looking for options. I would expect that there's a setting for the link somewhere in the menus (but then again, there may not be!).

Is there an HDMI out, or any other form of digital out? Manufacturers sometimes make things which don't really do what one expects or wants. Then the options are to replace with another unit, or get yet more gadgets in order to convert what outputs are available into a form which is compatible with other kit.