Optical + RCA to Optical Out Switcher?

[Teej]

We are baby-proofing the house, and part of that is that I got rid of the receiver plus multiple speakers and stands in our home theater in exchange for a simple, buttonless sound bar (little guy is a button-pusher). My problem is that the soundbar has only a single input and it's optical. TV has an optical out, so that's fine, but my turntable has RCA out. What I would like is a switcher that has both RCA and optical inputs and a single optical out. Anyone come across this warlock?

I see that I can get an RCA to optical converter and run that to an optical switcher, but that seems more complicated than it needs to be. A single switching unit would be ideal.

Thanks!

 

[whoaru99]

Well, a simple switcher won't work. There needs to be a phono preamp to apply the RIAA curve and to provide sufficient gain for the TT (unless this TT has a built-in phono pre?). Then there needs to be an analog to digital converter to change that analog signal from the phono pre to the (apparently) digital input-only sound bar.

There might be a unit that does what you're asking, but I'm not aware of it (aside from something similar to what you already got rid of in the HT receiver/processor).

 

[Teej]

Well, a simple switcher won't work. There needs to be a phono preamp to apply the RIAA curve and to provide sufficient gain for the TT (unless this TT has a built-in phono pre?). Then there needs to be an analog to digital converter to change that analog signal from the phono pre to the (apparently) digital input-only sound bar.

There might be a unit that does what you're asking, but I'm not aware of it (aside from something similar to what you already got rid of in the HT receiver/processor).

The TT has a built-in pre-amp (Teac TN-300) that turns off with a simple switch. I found a reasonably-priced optical switcher. I was thinking if I could find a pre-amp with an optical output that would do the trick (I can switch the built-in one off), but such a thing does not seem to exist.

Since I wrote that first post I ended up buying an inexpensive analog-to-digital optical converter (powered) which I will then run through the optical switcher. Seems to be my only option. A little worried about signal degradation though. We'll just have to see. I'll try to report back in 2 days when everything comes in.

 

[Teej]

These come in today. Going to hook everything up when I get home. Fingers crossed my TT doesn't sound like junk now...

 

[Teej]

So...

First the obvious: don't get a sound bar with the intention of listening to records on it. The Bose is wonderful for movies and TV and even listening to music via Bluetooth, but it is lacking in the vinyl department. I wouldn't say it's unlistenable, but the difference is there, and it is noticeable even to my plebian ear holes.

I ended up doing the only thing I found that might work, and it actually did - remarkably well, I might add. The TT is connected to an ADC (LinkS RCA to Optical converter - $13 on Amazon) which is connected via optical to a 3-way optical switcher (also $13, also on Amazon) along with the TV (which has a Wii U, PS4, and Apple TV connected directly to it). I mounted the switcher to the back of the TV which is right beside my stereo stand.

I'm happy to report it works about as well as I could have hoped. The sound bar is not built for vinyl listening, but it is serviceable (and not where I do the majority of my listening, anyway - my vaguely audiophile setup is in the garage with the pool table). I was concerned about signal degradation, but I'm really quite pleased with how decent it sounds.

In summation: it works, but I miss my receiver and speakers.