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[Reallink]

So, people are dumbasses, they wouldn't have bought the component cables on the store shelves anyway. Gotcha.

Topic was that 1% of people used GC component cables, which someone blamed on Nintendo's (direct sale only) distribution. You then responded "anyone with a component TV would have known where to buy component cables", suggesting you believe their bogus 1% statistic was accurate and representative of the market. No on all accounts. You have to actually make a product available, and you have to communicate to consumers the advantages. Nintendo did none of this, therefore, 1% is a tilted figure.

 

[Raistlin]

I'm so shocked at this [/sarcasm]



Usually companies aren't this petty. MS and Sony work together and license stuff from each other all the time.

Nintendo on the other hand will not unless absolutely necessary (optical drive).



The don't want to pay the $.50 or whatever to Sony for S/PDIF licensing.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Can someone confirm if this is still the case? Seems absurd

 

[MatthewB92]

Can someone confirm if this is still the case? Seems absurd

It is still the case.

 

[Wario64]

Well that's stupid.

 

[Kyoufu]

Whaaaaaaat. Pre-order canceled. :/

 

[BocoDragon]

Can someone confirm if this is still the case? Seems absurd

I don't really think its absurd. Most HDMI TVs sold over the past several years will have an optical output to the TV. And most audio receivers will have HDMI inputs.

It's quite a niche, and I could see why Nintendo would not spend extra money putting a digital sound output on the unit.

For that niche, there must be some kind of general HDMI adaptor you can buy to separate the audio out to optical or coaxial digital output.

 

[JABEE]

I was wondering this too. How could Nintendo leave this out?

 

[Kabuki Waq]

It is still the case.

Well fuck

 

[Community Forum]

Holy shit you have got to be kidding me.

 

[alr1ght]

I was wondering this too. How could Nintendo leave this out?

Nintendo's cheap.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

I don't really think its absurd. Most HDMI TVs sold over the past several years will have an optical output to the TV. And most audio receivers will have HDMI inputs.

It's quite a niche, and I could see why Nintendo would not spend extra money putting a digital sound output on the unit.

Having hdmi inputs in recievers is one thing having true hd audio is another.

 

[radioheadrule83]

I run all my devices into my TV via HDMI and then the TVs optical out into my amp, no noticeable lag, 5.1+ passes through this setup fine and I don't have to change channels on the amp when using a different piece of kit, DVD player, Xbox etc. It just works... I don't actually need optical out, personally.

 

[Dartastic]

Looks like I'm going to have to buy one of these. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-HIFI-4x1-HDMI-Mini-Switch-w-Remote-Toslink-Coaxial-Audio-Output-/150676973182#vi-content

 

[BocoDragon]

Having hdmi inputs in recievers is one thing having true hd audio is another.

You can't do True HD over optical or coaxial digital output anyway.

 

[alr1ght]

Looks like I'm going to have to buy one of these. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-HIFI-...Coaxial-Audio-Output-/150676973182#vi-content

Looks the same as the monoprice one. It works as expected.

 

[Matt]

I run all my devices into my TV via HDMI and then the TVs optical out into my amp, no noticeable lag, 5.1+ passes through this setup fine and I don't have to change channels on the amp when using a different piece of kit, DVD player, Xbox etc. It just works... I don't actually need optical out, personally.

If that is true, you have on of the very few TVs that will pass through more then stereo. In fact, it is so rare that i suggest you look into it to be sure.

 

[The_Lump]

that is just stupid. optical is a must

Why? It's a legacy connection. Maybe treat urself to a new receiver* Plus many modern TVs support HDMI passthrough and optical out

joke, I know not everyone can fork out for that

 

[OverHeat]

My A50 are crying right now.

 

[alr1ght]

Why? It's a legacy connection. Maybe treat urself to a new receiver* Plus many modern TVs support HDMI passthrough and optical out

joke, I know not everyone can fork out for that

Nintendo is all about legacy technology.

 

[DjRoomba]

This really does suck for those of us with the same setup. No possible way to get real surround does actually affect my decision to want one

 

[Kyoufu]

My A50 are crying right now.

I was going to buy an A50... God dammit.

 

[radioheadrule83]

If that is true, you have on of the very few TVs that will pass through more then stereo. In fact, it is so rare that i suggest you look into it to be sure.

I wasn't aware it was a rarity. I definitely get 5.1 from my Sky set top, Xbox 360 and LG blu ray / smart tv set top. The tv is LG as well for what its worth, don't know the model off hand.

 

[Dartastic]

This really does suck for those of us with the same setup. No possible way to get real surround does actually affect my decision to want one

I'm just gonna buy that hdmi splitter when I get the cash. I need one anyway.

 

[OverHeat]

I was going to buy an A50... God dammit.

I might upgrade my receiver " pioneer vsx 1019" to a new one with optical out because of this......

 

[radioheadrule83]

Hopefully a third party will create something like this if Nintendo don't accomodate those who can't use a pass through option themselves

 

[meppi]

I wasn't aware it was a rarity. I definitely get 5.1 from my Sky set top, Xbox 360 and LG blu ray / smart tv set top. The tv is LG as well for what its worth, don't know the model off hand.

Me neither. Mine is a 3-4 year old Panasonic Plasma and does the exact same thing.
360, PS3, Telenet digital tv set-top-box and video streambox.
Used to have a setup with all kinds of cables going everywhere till I realised that I could simply connect all the HDMI cables to my tv and have a single optical audio cable go from my tv to my home theatre setup.
Works perfectly and doesn't have as much clutter. Not to mention no need to switch the audio channels all the time.

 

[BocoDragon]

Hopefully a third party will create something like this if Nintendo don't accomodate those who can't use a pass through option themselves

The thing is, it wouldn't be a proprietary Nintendo output, it would just be an HDMI adaptor that splits out the audio into optical/coaxial. So it wouldn't be a Wii U-specific adaptor at all, and these things already exist out there somewhere. Hopefully an option emerges that is easy to find and inexpensive.

 

[The Xtortionist]

The thing is, it wouldn't be a proprietary Nintendo output, it would just be an HDMI adaptor that splits out the audio into optical/coaxial. So it wouldn't be a Wii U-specific adaptor at all, and these things already exist out there somewhere. Hopefully an option emerges that is easy to find and inexpensive.

Hopefully. I don't want to have to buy a $40 box.

 

[BocoDragon]

If that is true, you have on of the very few TVs that will pass through more then stereo. In fact, it is so rare that i suggest you look into it to be sure.

This seems weird to me. If the TV only outputs stereo... then why put an optical output at all? They should just put cheaper analog outs. I would imagine all optical output-equipped TVs pass 5.1.... If not, it would be baffling why not.

 

[grap3fruitman]

Looks like I'm going to have to buy one of these. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-HIFI-...Coaxial-Audio-Output-/150676973182#vi-content

Why don't you just put that money towards a decent, recent receiver?

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I wasn't aware it was a rarity. I definitely get 5.1 from my Sky set top, Xbox 360 and LG blu ray / smart tv set top. The tv is LG as well for what its worth, don't know the model off hand.

Hang on... Your TV outputs 5.1 though its optical output from a HDMI source? That's more than just a pass-through, that would actually be your TV compressing and encoding a real-time Dolby Digital (or DTS) stream on the fly. You're positive it isn't just a stereo signal that your amp is processing as Pro Logic?

Edit: Huh, actually, after a bit of research, HDMI cables can actually support compressed audio streams like Dolby Digital or DTS, so I guess it is possible that your TV could just pass the signal through.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

I wasn't buying one before I heard this news, but if I was, and I had heard this, I wouldn't be, now.

Ridiculous.

 

[Matt]

Hang on... Your TV outputs 5.1 though its optical output from a HDMI source? That's more than just a pass-through, that would actually be your TV compressing and encoding a real-time Dolby Digital (or DTS) stream on the fly. You're positive it isn't just a stereo signal that your amp is processing as Pro Logic?

That is probably the case for both him and meppi. Hopefully not though. I would be really curious to know their TV models.

 

[BocoDragon]

Hang on... Your TV outputs 5.1 though its optical output from a HDMI source? That's more than just a pass-through, that would actually be your TV compressing and encoding a real-time Dolby Digital (or DTS) stream on the fly. You're positive it isn't just a stereo signal that your amp is processing as Pro Logic?

I don't see why it would be re-encoding anything as long as the source is actually set to standard DTS/DD. If it were one of the True HD DD or DTS-HD uncompressed audio formats, then yeah, it would have to processed (unecessarily and unrealistically) into a compressed 5.1 stream, but no one ever said that the optical passed through True HD/DTS-HD... just regular DTS/DD.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I don't see why it would be re-encoding anything as long as the source is actually set to standard DTS/DD. If it were one of the True HD uncompressed DTS or DD, then yeah, it would have to processed (unecessarily) into a compressed 5.1 stream, but no one ever said that the optical passed through True HD.

Yeah, I edited my original post. I genuinely didn't know HDMI cables could support compressed streams. I always assumed that was superfluous, as if you had an amp that supported HDMI as an input, it would naturally support lossless audio streams. I suppose it makes sense to have legacy support for exactly this scenario!

 

[radioheadrule83]

Hang on... Your TV outputs 5.1 though its optical output from a HDMI source? That's more than just a pass-through, that would actually be your TV compressing and encoding a real-time Dolby Digital (or DTS) stream on the fly. You're positive it isn't just a stereo signal that your amp is processing as Pro Logic?

I'm not an audiophile, all I can tell you is that my sky is set for Dolby digital / adpcm, the Xbox to use digital too, and when I have them on I get each of the speaker channels light up on the amps LCD display in a way that doesn't happen when I play 2.1 / Dolby pro logic content. It certainly sounds discrete to me.

 

[Ingueferroque]

Did you really expect Nintendo to put high spec stuff in their hardware?

 

[Teletraan1]

If Nintendo is only going to output uncompressed audio through HDMI, any box/dongle whatever is going to have to re-encode on the fly the uncompressed audio source into DD5.1 or DTS to pass it through the optical cable. Optical only has the bandwidth to support 2 Channel PCM, DTS or Dolby Digital. The reason there is a working one on the 360 is that the games themselves output DD5.1 through HDMI so there is no conversion to be made.

 

[Matt]

I'm not an audiophile, all I can tell you is that my sky is set for Dolby digital / adpcm, the Xbox to use digital too, and when I have them on I get each of the speaker channels light up on the amps LCD display in a way that doesn't happen when I play 2.1 / Dolby pro logic content. It certainly sounds discrete to me.

Find out your TV's model. You could easily be hearing Pro Logic-ed stereo.

 

[BocoDragon]

Did you really expect Nintendo to put high spec stuff in their hardware?

HDMI is the high spec.

Optical is for people with older equipment.

 

[BocoDragon]

double posts ><

Find out your TV's model. You could easily be hearing Pro Logic-ed stereo.

I highly doubt it.

Xbox 360 only supports compressed Dolby Digital.

If there's an optical output on the TV, it is surely just passing the DD right on through as it should.

If he was playing on a PS3 or blu-ray player, and everything is set to True HD DD or DTS-HD, then you might have problems. But that should be turned off unless you have HDMI inputs on your audio reciever. PS3 and blu-ray can still output compressed DD and DTS.

 

[Foxix Von]

Looks the same as the monoprice one. It works as expected.

Would something like this even work to get anything other than stereo out? I mean so far there's been no statement about the wii u supporting anything other than LPCM.

The problem might be larger here than most people think.

And yeah a TV that passes through a 5.1 signal is very, very uncommon. Uncommon to the point where I too would recommend you double check it because it could very likely just be Pro Logic you're hearing.

 

[BlueTsunami]

HDMI pass through is a godsend with receivers. 'Dat single HDMI out to HDTV.

 

[Matt]

double posts ><



I highly doubt it.

Xbox 360 only supports compressed Dolby Digital.

If there's an optical output on the TV, it is surely just passing the DD right on through as it should.

If he was playing on a PS3 or blu-ray player, and everything is set to True HD DD or DTS-HD, then you might have problems. But that should be turned off unless you have HDMI inputs on your audio reciever. PS3 and blu-ray can still output compressed DD and DTS.

Most TVs do not do that. The optical out only sends DD from OTA signals. For the other inputs, it sends them in stereo.

 

[Dartastic]

Why don't you just put that money towards a decent, recent receiver?

Because I like the setup I have, and 40 bucks is far cheaper than putting together an entirely new system? I have an older Bose Lifestyle 35 (that I got for free, so don't fucking give me shit about owning Bose) and it sounds pretty damn good. If I wanted to get a new setup, I'd have to sell it and start from scratch. I don't have the money for that right now, because I just graduated from graduate school and I'm job searching. If this thing passes through 5.1 which it seems to do, I'm good.

 

[alr1ght]

Would something like this even work to get anything other than stereo out? I mean so far there's been no statement about the wii u supporting anything other than LPCM.

The problem might be larger here than most people think.

Yeah, it doesn't decode anything, just passes the signal through a toslink cable. I'm sure Nintendo is too cheap to license Dolby/DTS so you may be stuck with 2.0 unless you have an HDMI receiver. Any high res pics of it? There's usually a DD logo on it if it can output it.

 

[bob page]

HDMI is the high spec.

Optical is for people with older equipment.

Uhh, no. I have a soundbar that's only a year old, has great reviews, and doesn't have HDMI.

Not including optical audio on a HD console is quite bullshit.

 

[Matt]

Uhh, no. I have a soundbar that's only a year old, has great reviews, and doesn't have HDMI.

Not including optical audio on a HD console is quite bullshit.

Yes, actually. Optical is an old and very limited connection type.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

So Nintendo sees fit to not only exclude Ethernet but SPDIF as well. It doesn't affect me, personally, but it sucks for those that it does. What do we want to bet that it'll be a USB device (yes, USB, it's got the bandwidth for compressed streams like DD5.1 and DTS) and be handled poorly.

I do find it odd that Nintendo went from "nobody has HD yet" with just RCA cables tyo "HD coming, ya'll" and only supports HDMI for audio.