How can I connect a PC to this receiver using digital input and a non-Dolby decoder ?

I'm looking for advice as to the best Bose input for SACD (contains 5.1 information) captured to FLAC and played back by computer (Analog Line out currently but considering adding digital out): 1. Bose Aux in 2. Bose Digital in Regarding option 1. The Bose manual states the following which makes me think that Aux is the right decision: Setting up a digital sound source Connect a DTV or DVD player's digital signal directly to the female RCA jack on the audio input cable. Connect the DVD player's analog signal output to the AUX inputs. If your Lifestyle® system receives a valid digital signal (including PCM or Dolby Digital bitstreams), this digital sound is used. If no valid digital signal is received, then your system selects the analog signal being sent to AUX, which is then processed by the Videostage® decoder for excellent home theater sound. If your digital audio source has an optical connector, you will need an adapter with an RCA (coaxial) connector. Consult your dealer or contact Bose® Regarding option 2. I've read the following (not in Bose manual): A coaxial digital audio connection is used to send S/PDIF digital audio signals between devices. It supports uncompressed PCM stereo audio as well as DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1/7.1 surround sound signals. It does not support DVD-A, SACD or high-definition audio such as DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. So in summary: The Aux in is analog but processed by the Videostage® decoder. The Digital in supports 5.1 and should be cleaner/quieter being digital I expect. I'd be interested in onions from other that know for sure what's better or have done this. thanks

The optical connection (SPDIF) doesn't have enough bandwidth to transfer DTS-HD audio. To use DTS-HD, you must connect the blue-ray player and receiver via HDMI cable.

Each DTS-HD audio track on blue-ray includes also "normal" DTS audio, which is probably used when you select PCM. Player decodes it and sends decoded (non-HD) audio via optical cable to receiver.

HI,
There are so many audo formats like Dolby Digital Decoding, Dolby Digital EX Decoding, Dolby Pro Logic Decoding, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Pro Logic IIX Decoding, dts 96/24 Decoding, dts Decoding, dts NEO:6 Decoding and dts ES Decoding Stereo etc. What ever the AVR get a digital input It will decode the format and convert the same While it in the Auto format mode. If auto format is not selected it will convert the same in to stereo.

Ajin

Connecting a DVD player to your stereo receiver (or television, if you don't have a receiver) involves making two basic connections: audio and video.
Audio
The first connection to make is for the audio portion of the signal. There will be several options depending on the receiver you have.

• The best choice (if available) is either to use an optical (also called Tos-link) or coaxial (RCA) digital connection. These two choices are equal in quality. In order to use either of these, you will need to have both an output on the DVD player, and an input on the receiver. Only receivers with built-in Dolby Digital decoders will have this type of input.
  
  The audio outputs on a DVD player
  


• If your receiver does not have a built-in Dolby Digital or DTS decoder, but is "Dolby Digital ready," look for the 5.1-channel Dolby or 5.1-channel DTS. This connection involves six cables, corresponding to different speaker channels: left front, center front, right front, left rear, right rear and subwoofer.


• The last option to connect the two components is with analog RCA outputs. This is a two-cable connection, with one cable delivering the left speaker sound, and the other cable delivering the right. This connection will deliver only stereo sound, but it may be your only option if you are hooking up directly to a television, or if you have an old receiver with only two channels.

Now let's take a look at the video connection.

• The best quality choice is to use component connection. This connection consists of three cables: color-labeled red, blue and green. The quality is superb. However, these connections only exist on extremely high-end receivers and television sets.
  
  The video outputs on a DVD player
  


• The next option is s-video. One cable connects the DVD player to the receiver in this setup.


• The last option, similar to the audio setup, is to use the analog RCA video output, usually color-labeled yellow on both ends. This will deliver the lowest quality, but will suffice for most older, analog televisions.

If you would like to use high definition audio decoding, connect the HDMI from the blu ray player to the receiver. If that it not an option for you due to lack of equipment such as an additional HDMI cable to go from the receiver to the television for the video portion of the signal, then connect your optical cable again. After the optical cable is connected, make sure the Dolby Digital decoding is enabled on the receiver, and that the media you are playing also has a version of 5.1 surround sound. Then, enter the setup menu of the player (which I suspect this is actually where the problem might reside in your case) and make sure that Dolby Digital and DTS are not set to "downmix." Dolby Digital should be set to output Dolby Digital and so on and so forth...hope this helped.

To get DTS and Dolby Digital sound you will need one of a few types of digital cable to connect the digital output on a device to a digital decoder or receiver. One type of digital cable is the SPDIF Coaxial, which is a single cable that can transmit high quality digital audio. Another cable for digital sound is the Toslink Optical cable which uses plastic or glass fibres depending on the cost to transmit light which is then decoded into sound information. With optical cables the signal can break if the cables are bent too much. The other cable that can be used is the HDMI cable, this is used to stream HD video and HD sound formats such as DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD, these can of course stream the standard Dolby Digital and DTS signals, but for what it is worth I would recomend a SPDIF Coaxial cable. These can be found at hi-fi shops and places such as Maplins or Ebay. They are also cheaper than the other digital cables and more reliable than optical ones. Any type will do as long as you have a decoder or home receiver which can convert the digital information into sound. Infact you can use an RCA composite cable and connect that into the coaxial ports at either end. This will transmit the digital information, but not as good quality as a proper coaxial cable, but you still get the DTS and Dolby Digital formats with full surround sound. I hope that this helps.

I believe he avr-5 has 6 channel inputs, what you will need is a dolby digital 5.1 and DTS outboard surround sound processor, say an item as the Technics SH-AC500 decoder, a Harman Kardon Signature 2.1 DTS version outboard processor/preamp, and many others on the market by different manufactors, Run the discrete audio outputs from the Processor into the AVR 5`s 6 channel inputs, select 6 channel input or DVD inputs on the receivers selector and your good to go. Be sure you are playing Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS encoded material.

You will need to tell the PS3 to use the optical cable for digital output in its setup, as well as tell your amp to use the optical cable as the input for whichever 'source' you wish to have associated with the PS3.

PCM is standard when using HDMI cables, you are passing an already decoded audio signal to the receiver and it outputs the sound and does nothing more. The reciever calls this PCM, your PS3, when pressing select should show that it is decoding the dolby digital HD. There is no quality difference in the two. PCM is the same because it is un compressed audio. So when using HDMI, no matter the signal that the movie or music is playing, wether it be dolby or DTS, you will see PCM when using HDMI.

Xbox® is the first and only game console to support in-game Dolby® Digital 5.1 surround sound. This lets you experience all the game sounds from your home theater system in full 5.1 surround. Before you get started, make sure you've got the following: A digital audio output. A free optical digital input on your receiver. An optical digital audio cable. Digital Audio Output Your Xbox didn't come standard with a digital audio output, but you're gonna need one for this to work, so hightail it to the store for the Advanced AV Pack or High Definition AV Pack, both of which have digital audio outputs. Microsoft makes both of them. You can also buy third-party AV cables for Xbox?but make sure they have a digital audio output. Free Optical Digital Input For this slammin' sound system to work properly, you need at least one free optical digital input on your receiver. Ready to Hook It Up? Let's Go! Connect the digital audio output to your Xbox. Connect one end of the optical digital audio cable to the digital audio output on your Xbox and the other end to the optical digital input on your receiver. Turn on your Xbox with no disc in the disc drive. In the Xbox Dashboard, select Settings. Select Audio. You will see an Audio Mode screen that shows Dolby Digital and DTS status. Select Dolby Digital. You will see the question "Does your stereo system support Dolby Digital Audio?" Select Yes. You will see Dolby Digital Enabled in the audio screen. Your Xbox is now ready for Dolby Digital gameplay. Insert a game disc and play!