Connecting my TV to Nait5i?

Hi Chain,

You also might want to consider the Music Fidelity V-Dac. It is in version II now, but also the original version is very good. You can have a good 2nd hand one for some € 125. If have used one in the past (also compared to DacMagic) and it's heart to beat.

Disadvantage of hte V-dac is, that it has only 2 inputs, so if you consider to connect more equipment than just your TV, you might want to look further.

Cheers, Iver

Thank you for your reply, I will have a look to see what they are currently retailing at.

I have also just stumbled across this on the whathi-fi website (in the CD section rather than the DAC section which is very confusing, but hey ho)

Surely the TV has line-out sockets? Why not just use these - should be good enough for TV sound unless you are very fussy.

Peter

no line outs seems some modern TVs don't have them anymore!

How strange!

I wouldn't have thought it worth going to Arcam Dac prices though. How about an Aune DAC or similar for around £100?

Peter

I discovered yesterday that Arcam are about to launch a range of inexpensive dacs: rPac for USB, rLink for optical/digital, and rBlink for bluetooth.

Though the rLink would be the one for your tv, probably worth looking at the bumph that's already on their website about the rPac, as they all share the same tiny casing:

All three are expected to be around £150.

Wow that rlink looks good, any news on a release date?

Doesn't your BT Vision box have audio out?

Richard

Soon. Don't know about the rLink, but I read somewhere that the rPAC is expected next month - I think my Nait 2 wants one.

Sorry if it sounds impertinent, but are you absolutely sure there isn't a line out on your TV somewhere? If there is a scart socket then there should be line out available on certain pins of that. Or if there is a headphone socket then you could take a signal from that.

I haven't bought a TV for some time but it does seem very strange indeed that basic socketry such as this should be omitted - even very cheap models have them. They aren't by any chance hidden behind a pull-off flap or something?

Peter

I have seen a MF v dac for 129 on Sevenoaks which looks like a good deal!

What are people's thought on the optical and IC? Tv is a weak source therefore just use a cheap-ish cable? Any recommendations?

There will probably be some kind of delay in sound when going digital out, though it is worse in some models than others. But if you are the kind of person to notice a 1-2 frames delay in lip-sync, then it might just be a waste of money.

Surely it won't be that noticeable though?

You will have to try it out to know. Samsung has had a LOT of complaints, because external audio was being send out without delay, and apparently their displays took about two frames to create the picture. I don't know if LG's are the same, or if you would even notice, but try google samsung+lipsync to get a taste of what I'm on about.

Does the BT Vision box have analog out? Just a thought. 

If you have a DVD player and/or video streamer, you might want to get some kind of AV processor or receiver to wrangle them all into the Nait AV input.  Personally, I wouldn't make the TV the switcher for multiple sources; it should be an end-point.  I would only connect the TV to the Nait if it is receiving direct-broadcast signal and is thus an original source

Regards,

Nick

Naim UnT I am a bit unsure what you mean by a small box, sounds like you mean a switcher box? But I just want to take the audio from my TV (with all of my devices going into the TV already via HDMI).

I do appreciate the post about getting a specific receiver, this is something that I would consider if it was £150-£175, but when I looked, most, if not all at that price level don't act as a pre-amp.

Therefore, what I am currently concluding from all your inputs is that an expensive DAC won't benefit me anything here, so I now see my options as thus;

1. Cheap DAC just to get the job done, if lipsync is a problem I can get it back on ebay and max loss would be £10-£15.

2. Just go headphone socket to the AV input on my Nait. As the TV has processed the sound for 2 channel stereo there should be no lipsync issues and also the TV remote should control the overall volume of the system. So my question here is what 3.5mm to RCA cables can people suggest, as this is a cable for everyday I want a decent one, and would budget £40-£50. Will the output given off by the TV headphone socket be enough for the Naim to pickup, I know if I did this with my ipod the volume would have to be on full not to have the Naim vol at 12 o'clock or something.

I really just want something that does the job without spending too much, certainly dont want any more speakers, just keep the setup nice and simple. And vastly improve the sound my TV gives off at the minute.

Then I can start saving for a 152/155

It's worth checking that the TV doesn't output a Bitstream digital signal, or whether it's switchable between PCM and Bitstream.  Most 2 channel DACs can't deal with a multichannel bitstream - it's designed for connection to multichannel DACs in AV processors and receivers.  Older AV receivers like Denons and the like seem to go for peanuts these days.

Anyway, probably time to move this to the Home theatre forum.

Volume output from the headphone socket will be more than enough.

However don't run the volume on the TV at 100% as you'll likely get distortion.

I'd say 60-80% should be enough.

Have a you a cheap 3.5 to RCA tucked away somewhere to try things out before getting a decent cable?

Using the headphone socket seems a rather inelegant solution to me.

If you don't want to spend much cash, there are dozens of dacs available for under £40. Just search for dac on Amazon - the Lindy one seems well-reviewed.

If your Nait and tv are a fair distance apart, go for a long optical cable and standard length RCA interconnect. Any well-made optical cable will be sufficient, and needn't cost more than £10.