Solved! How do I connect an older Yamaha AV receiver with no optical or HDMI, only RCA, to my TV and able to play sounds.

[justice507]

I have an older Yamaha AV receiver and surround sound system, however, it only has RCA ports. My newer Panasonic TV is connected to set top box and has Chromecast plugged in. It has HDMI ARC, and RCA ports and a digital optical audio port. However my older Yamaha receiver only has RCA outputs, so I tried connecting RCA cables in to the TV but there's no audio.

I'm assuming this is because I'm watching digital TV, while RCA only sends analog signals only right? So how do I watch Chromecast, Netflix etc with this older Yamaha surround system? Is there any way?

 

[HARClX]

use tvs headphone out 3.5mm to yamaha rca. You need 3.5mm to rca cable. Make sure you dont plug into phono input on yamaha

 

[justice507]

use tvs headphone out 3.5mm to yamaha rca. You need 3.5mm to rca cable. Make sure you dont plug into phono input on yamaha

Sadly, my TV doesnt have a 3.5mm jack. Can I buy a digital to analog converter instead? Eg. the Fiio D03?

So I connect yamaha RCA into the converter and then use digital optical cable to connect from the converter to the TV? Does that work?

Yamaha RCA -> RCA output of converter -> Digital audio input of converter -> Digital audio output of TV

 

[HARClX]

Whats the TVs model nr?

 

[justice507]

Whats the TVs model nr?

Panasonic Viera th55dx600. I physically checked the TV and I can't seem to find any stereo 3.5mm jack

 

[Sonic Illusions]

Most cable/ SAT boxes do have analog RCA outputs. Just connect to the INPUTS on your AVR, not the outputs, as you mentioned. If you still have no audio, you may need to go into the settings of the box to change the output. Another option would be to get an HDMI to RCA analog adapter.

 

[justice507]

Most cable/ SAT boxes do have analog RCA outputs. Just connect to the INPUTS on your AVR, not the outputs, as you mentioned. If you still have no audio, you may need to go into the settings of the box to change the output. Another option would be to get an HDMI to RCA analog adapter.

What about digital optical to RCA analog adapter, which one would be better or would it be the same?

 

[Stegrech]

I have a very similar promblem with my new samsung tv and 33yr old NAD amp. I bought a optical digital to analog rca converter and most of the problem is solved but i cannot play everything. Netflix and certain movies for example just produce noise. I am assuming its due to dts 5.1 encoding so im looking for a decoder for this. Also you will need to control the volume directly from the receiver since you cannot control it through this system.

 

[americanaudiophile]

Is your TV audio menu set to output in PCM stereo? That should work with any source but if it doesn't try your Netflix audio settings.
There are DACs that will accept a 5.1 input. They don't specify which codec though. Might only work with Dolby Digital.

 

[Sonic Illusions]

Sonic Illusions said:
Most cable/ SAT boxes do have analog RCA outputs. Just connect to the INPUTS on your AVR, not the outputs, as you mentioned. If you still have no audio, you may need to go into the settings of the box to change the output. Another option would be to get an HDMI to RCA analog adapter.

What about digital optical to RCA analog adapter, which one would be better or would it be the same?

Yes! Read the reviews, because there are differences in sound quality of the various DAC's.

Here's a note on PCM, which is a digital signal:
PCM (pulse code modulation) describes a process that's used to convert analog audio signals (represented by waveforms) into digital audio signals (represented by ones and zeros — much like computer data) with no compression.

So if your TV doesn't have a headphone (analog) connector, which you could use to directly connect to your receiver, via the proper cable, then getting an DAC with optical input is the next best thing. Volume will be controlled by your receiver if you go the DAC route.