Thinking of buying a new TV in January sales. At present I use a bit of cheapo Toslink Optical from TV to NDX2 so considering new cable with new TV. Any recommendations without spending too much - is there such a thing as hi fi optical cable?. Also is is right to put it into NDX2 or should it go into preamp (252). I assume that is the only way to get TV audio to speakers. It works ok but you do have to adjust the delay on the TV to sync
Thereās no such thing as a hifi optical ācableā.
Some are claimed to be better than others, glass vs plastic etc., and that might be true with commercial installations.
But the Toslink connectors & TV sound are the limitations, Ā£10āish from Amazon is all you really need.
I chose my optical because it has smaller diameter metal Toslink ends rather than the chunky plastic types because that made the NDX end connection easier.
It must go to a DAC, that lives in the NDX2.
It works a treat with the Naim app
If the receiver re-clocks the data before sending it to the DAC, as Mike-B said, thereās no real advantage is paying mega-bucks, because the most critical timing is under the control of the receiver. As long as all the bits get transferred, preferably in the right order (as Monty Python would say), you shouldnāt notice any difference in sound quality between different optical cables.
I got an audioquest vodka one for a great deal on ebay. I think the seller was clearing stock. It connects my sony tv to my nds. I was using a decent lead to start with but for the price I thought the vodka was worth a try, although I didnāt really expect much. It does sound better so Iām pleased I just tried it. Try to get a dem of a good quality optical lead and come to your own conclusion is my advice.
Thanks. As I said I have existing TV to NDX2 without issue and previously into 272. Only thing I find is the speaker volume compared to tv is quite low. In other words would have to pump up the volume control on the 252 to equalise the tv and audio speakers then the music would be way too loud so just leave as is where tv is dominant source and speakers secondary. So no need to spend loads on new cable then?
Yes its the same with mine, I also find the TV set sound is best tuned right down to zero as it messes with whatever sound stage that might exist, plus the TV sound can be (50/50) out of phase with the Naim side.
Could be worth considering a TV that doesnāt have a captive mains cable. So you can swap in an audiophile one.
Should do more a better job.
We had a Sony set that had a captive cable, but now a Samsung with a Nordost purple flare Fig8 cable. Iām certain the audio and visual quality is better than using the bundled one.
I havenāt heard of that before. Most TVs are stock figure 8 plastic cables. Presumably you mean the tv sound quality not the audio from the Naim. Wouldnāt it be voiding warranty to change power lead?
I only used the TV sound from itself to check lip sync is correct. All other times I use the audio from the connected Ndac.
I actually have optical cables going to both my TV and my Sky box as the Samsung has some smart streaming services that isnāt presently on the Sky platform.
Morecambe and Wise.
Pedant mode off.
Possibly both? I see your pedant and raise you single-man-with-nothing-better-to-do-on-Christmas-day. Have a great day Bruss!
Now itās time for Great Actors, introduced as usual by Alan Semen.*
[edited for brevity]
Sir Edwin: Ah, well, I donāt want you to get the impression itās just a question of the number of wordsā¦ umā¦ I mean, getting them in the right order is just as important. Old Peter Hall used to say to me, āTheyāre all there already-- now weāve got to get them in the right order.ā And, er, for example, you can also say one word louder than anotherāer, āTo be or not to be,ā or āTo be or not to be,ā or āTo be or not to beāāyou see? And so on.
I ran my TV and my Pioneer laserdisc player into my Superuniti using Toslink optical and both worked very well (neither has a SPDIF output). Now I am using the same connections into my recently acquired NDAC, which outputs to my Supernait 3.
I am happy with the sound quality. The laserdisc in particular sounds excellent.
I canāt remember off the top of my head which brand(s) of optical cables I am using in the above applications.
My Nova is similar (with HDMI) but you can adjust the trim in the Naim App settings to increase it which helps.
If itās a new TV then you should be able to turn all the tv speakers off and just use the optical out.
Iāve just got a new one. I bought a Chord C-Lite optical cable to plug it in to the NDX. I didnāt compare it to any others. It was just the one my dealer suggested. About Ā£50 for a 5m cable.
Given itās a new tv the OP shouldnāt have that issue. A lot of the new ones enable you to turn the sound off and just use the digital output.
Yes, that is so, if thatās what you want.
Personally I choose not to, and I expect a lot of people prefer to use the Naim connection only for programs that are most suited to it.
For what itās worth, I use the Blue Jeans plastic optical cable for exactly that purpose and it works a treat.
I hadnāt realised BJC had a TOSlink, just checked it on the www.
Only problem is the price, 26USD for 16 feet (5m) (plus whatever shipping) is a bit high.
I use a deleyCON 5m that cost around Ā£8 a few years ago (Ā£9.99 today)
I chose it because its metal TOSlink ends are smaller diameter than the usual chunky plastic types.
But like all TOSlink ācablesā , it works. And as TV sound is not anything special, itās good enough.
I guess so. Probably depends where the tv is relative to the speakers etc as well.
We have just defaulted to tv sound from the speakers for years. The Sky remote operates the 52 so itās pretty well integrated.
TV between the speakers is probably not best for perfect hifi sound but itās all compromises.
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