When an optical disk player is switched on, a controller obtains information of a sampling frequency or sampling frequencies that are supported by an appliance that is connected to the optical disc player through an HDMI cable. Then, when a playing start command is input, it is judged whether the connected appliance supports the audio output or not. When the connected appliance supports the audio output, and the sampling frequency of a sound source is larger than the sampling frequency or frequencies that the connected appliance supports, the audio signals are down-sampled to fit the connected appliance. Output of the audio signals is then started.