Question 1

Does this product have a built-in amplifier? If so, how many watts/ohms does it support? Thanks.

Accepted Answer

This device converts a digital signal into an analog output.    The outputs (left & Right audio signals)  are intended to be fed to the line level input on your receiver or amplifier.  I believe the output is less than 1 W and the load should be at least 600 ohms at your receiver's inputs.  Then your amplifier or receiver will boost the signal's power levels to a range suitable for speakers.   Any surround sound encoding  should still be present in the device's analog outputs so that your receiver can still present any surround sound information to your speaker outputs.

Question 2

I have a 4k UHD TV but my older Home Theater System is not compatible would this device work to hear sound through system?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I am sure it would do the job nicely. If you can feed a coaxial or optical audio signal into it, it will output a nice clean analog stereo signal compatable with all the old receivers and amps made since the 1950s.  If your equipment can decode surround sound formats such as 5.1 it should still be able to do that from the left and right analog outputs on this device. The matrixed surround signal should be passed through intact. If you choose to use a fiber optic (toslink) cable, be aware that they are available in long lengths such as 6 meters if your components are far apart. Optical cables also avoid the problems of ground loop hum and picking up electrical interference.  Your computer's sound card may also have an optical output you can use with this device for clearer sound.

Question 3

can I have a toslink and coaxial cable plugged into this at the same time without damaging the item?  If so, will this know what source to convert when I switch from one to the other?

Accepted Answer

You *can* have both Toslink and coax cables connected at the same time without damaging the unit.

According to the manual:

"Note: when connected to the Toslink and Coaxial cables at the same time, the product will give priority to Toslink input."

I haven't verified this, but if you have both Toslink and coax connected AND you want to render the coax source, you will have to ensure that the Toslink source is not sending a valid digital audio signal.

Question 4

can you switch between tv speakers and this output just by turning the headset (thats what will be plugged into this) on and off?

Accepted Answer

The answer to this question highly depends on the specific TV. I'm making a few assumptions here, but most TV's will output audio via optical in tandem with the tv speakers. However the optical output is at a fixed volume level so you'll need volume controls via the headphones somehow. The tv volume will only control the tv speakers so you'll want to turn that down to zero when you're using the headphones. Does that help?

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