A few weeks ago, I was talking to one of our front-line tech experts and they asked me this question on behalf of a customer. The answer is actually “yes,” but it takes a little bit of explaining to get there.
First, why would anyone want RCA audio?
Chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve connected up some sort of audio device with a pair of RCA plugs like what you see above. It was the standard way of connecting things up in the 20th century. After all, we barely had any sort of surround audio back then and we certainly didn’t have Bluetooth.
All things considered, this is a pretty low-quality solution. Depending on the quality of the cables, there can be some seriously degraded audio. It’s only two channels which is far less than the 127 channels that Dolby Atmos offers. Even a simple optical cable, with its 6 channels of low-bitrate audio, is better. But the RCA cables just won’t go away.
RCA connections are still used in cases where people are less sensitive to sound quality. In bars and restaurants, they’re still an easy way to connect audio to a public address system. Pretty much every piece of sound equipment will support an RCA connection and if you don’t care about sound quality it’s perfect.
So where’s the RCA connection on an H26K?
DIRECTV’s H26K Commercial Receiver is getting a lot of attention. It’s DIRECTV’s first-ever commercial-only satellite receiver, and the first new commercial hardware since 2015. Our customers are snapping them up by the dozen to replace older H24 and H25 receivers that have been around since 2010ish. But, look closely. There’s nothing even resembling an RCA connection on it. There’s digital optical, which is fine if that’s what you want. But for those who want RCA, it would seem like there are no good options.
Luckily, appearances can be deceiving.
There’s a connector labeled “A/V OUT” on the back of a DIRECTV H26K. It’s the same connector that’s on the Genie clients and even on the H25 receiver. It has the ability to give you component video, composite video, digital coaxial audio, and analog stereo audio. All you need is one of these cables from ZeeVee. For those who only need RCA stereo audio, you can use DIRECTV’s own cable which is lower priced.
Either way, you’ll get a pair of stock-standard RCA cables that will connect to pretty much anything out there. If you’re going out to an audio amplifier, this will guarantee you a nice clean installation without having to run adapters to pull audio from HDMI or optical.
Ready to upgrade to the H26K?
You’ll want to contact DIRECTV’s Commercial Dealer of the Year when you’re ready to upgrade. We can help make sure your entire install is perfect from end to end. Call the experts at Signal Connect at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below. We specialize in taking care of business!
