Analog output for hifi

tls49

I use a short 3.5 mm to two RCA connectors cable, from the headphone output on my TV. However I get a slight hum in the audio.

Will a DAC used with the optical input to RCA output, on my TV eliminate the hum?

Plain DAC might not work since many TVs, includingPanasonics, output Dolby.  By default they output Dolby with ATSC and PCM with NTSC.  They don't have menu selection.  For that reason I got Samsung.  Check, if your TV has Dolby/PCM menu selection.

kijanki, obviously my Sony has a selection for PCM. Also, I just looked at a few manuals online for other brands, Panasonic included, and all had a selection for PCM in the menu. I suppose it is possible to not have it, but IMHO, this is not typical. It is true that no TV comes set to PCM, and it must be selected.

Don,  I was using a 3.5mm to RCA prior to getting the cheap DAC listed in my previous post, however no hum problem. I got the cheap DAC to see how it worked, thinking I would possibly get a better one. It was an improvement over the 3.5mm hookup, and currently I happy to just use it. I think there is a good possibility that if you change your setup to optical and a DAC, the hum might be eliminated. At 20 bucks for the DAC plus optical cable, it's cheap enough to try.

tls49, My daughter's Panasonic does not have menu selection.  None of Panasonics in ABT Electronics store had it.  Same for LG.  We checked manuals with specialist in the back of the store.  This problem with Panasonics was mentioned in many threads.  Below link to manual of new 4K Panasonics TVs: 

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/ehelp/tc-55cx800_en_ehelp.pdf

On p.54 it states that:

When ATSC channel is selected, the output from DIGITAL AUDIO OUT jack will be Dolby Digital.  When NTSC channel is selected, the output will be PCM.

 

kijanki, not so sure the specialist understood the manual. Look at p.160 in the manual under advanced settings. There is a selection between Auto and PCM. The PCM setting states, "Digital output signal is fixed to PCM". The statement on p.54 applies to what happens in the Auto setting.

Please understand I'm not trying to start a disagreement. I just want to provide the most correct information. I will investigate further and also look at a new LG manual. Just so you know, I'm retired now but worked in A/V and high end audio for over 25  years, and have even kept myself informed of the latest since retiring.