Patent ID: 7548494

Claim:
An audio system, comprising a disc reproduction device and an audio output control device, wherein: the disc reproduction device includes: a disc reading section for reading audio data recorded on a disc; a first signal output section for outputting the audio data in a first signal format; a second signal output section for outputting the audio data in a second signal format different from the first signal format; an output selection section for selecting whether the audio data read by the disc reading section is output in the first or second signal format; and an output selection controller for controlling the selection operation by the output selection section; the audio output control device includes: a first signal input section for receiving audio data of the first signal format; a second signal input section for receiving audio data of the second signal format; an audio output processing section for outputting the audio data of the first signal format or the second signal format to a sound generator; an input selection section for selecting one of a plurality of audio data received from the first and second signal input sections and inputting the selected audio data to the audio output processing section; and an input selection controller for controlling the selection operation by the input selection section; the disc reproduction device further includes a determination section for determining whether or not data can be exchanged between the first signal output section and the first signal input section; and the output selection controller controls the selection operation by the output selection section so that audio data read by the disc reading section is output in the first signal format if audio data can be exchanged between the first signal output section and the first signal input section whereas the audio data read by the disc reading section is output in the second signal format if audio data cannot be exchanged between the first signal output section and the first signal input section.