Coax and Optical pass through the internal DAC. They have to, these are digital signals. The only pure analog path through the 976 is with a connection to the 7.1 analog inputs.
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Main HT <> 976 <> 7200 <> Ultra-X12 <> sapphire ST2 mkII RF/LF <> sapphire SC center
sapphire ST2 mkII SBR/SBL <> sapphire SS SR/SL <> Verizon/DVR <> Vizio M70Q7 <> Oppo UDP-203 <> Amazon 4k Fire TV