want to get 5.1 surround, but quite confused

snow patrol

snow patrol

snow patrol

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Hi all, i have recently got myself a 40" sony lcd, along with an xbox 360 and sky hd. The tv has 3 hdmi sockets, which are occupied by the 360, the sky box and my pc via a dvi-hdmi converter cable. (the sound from the pc comes out of the tv speakers thanks to another cable running from the sound card into the pc.

Basically, i want to get myself a surround sound setup, but i'm just wondering - will i be able to connect all 3 devices, and will it matter that the pc is in the opposite corner of the room?

Budget is around 400 quid but it's very important that i can connect the pc, the 360 and the sky all at once. Can someone explain it to me in easy language perhaps? thanks :o:p
 
Basically what you are sying is that you require a sound system with at least 2 optical digital inputs. I use a Panasonic SA HE70 AMP with 2 Optical Digital inputs, 1 Coax output and inputs for 5.1 channel suround output for players which have the 5.1 channel output on the back and stereo inputs for Turntable/Tape/VCR/Mini Disc. Every hing is configurable. So far I haven't seen anything like this since Panasonic parted ways with the seperates range. but I hear Denon do something similar. My unit with speakers cost me £1100 9 years ago. And it is still going strong. So far I haven't found anything remotely better for my living arrangements and see no need to keep up with the Joneses so to speak until a fully agreed 7.1 setup is formalised.

But if you can look for inputs on an amplifier like the 2 optical and at least a 5.1 channel input, you are at least half way there. If not you are going to have to buy an optical switchbox so you can switch between inputs from your devices.
I hope I have explained the beginnings of things for you, but most of all keep it simple. Your DVD has an optical output and so does sky. So Next is your Xbox 360 which has an optical output. Looking at it like that you need an amp with either 2 optical inputs or an amp with an Optical switchbox.
 
Look for an AV amp with 2 or 3 HDMI inputs. X box and sky HDMI into amp, PC into tv or amp. Optical or SPDIF from sound card into the amp also then use the amp to switch between them.
 
As recommended in another recent post, Onkyo 506 or Sony DG820 + Jamo surround speakers set can be ahead for around £400 and will suit your needs.
 
i don't understand how it works to plug my xbox / pc hdmi into the amp...so that means i don't plug them into the tv? Or do they go into the amp and then another hdmi cable goes into the tv from the amp?
 
that is correct. with an Audio/Video amp, it handles and switches both. so youd plug both the audio and the video from a source (dvd player, console, whatever - using only one connection if its HDMI as that handles both) and the amp would handle the audio while it routes the video (via another connection) to the tv.

This has the added bonus of being able to control everything you see and hear from the amplifier instead of having to switch both the amp and the tv over seperately :)
 
sswats said:
As recommended in another recent post, Onkyo 506 or Sony DG820 + Jamo surround speakers set can be ahead for around £400 and will suit your needs.
Click to expand...

I have just this weekend done something quite similar to OP bar the PC stuff, just hooked up a SONY 52 to an Onkyo 506 and Onkyo 5.1 speaker package and can say its well worth it.
 
I got a yamaha 363 the other day and found it for under £170 has 3 hdmi slots on it
and will handle all your needs.As you said you got £400 that would leave you £230 for
some speakers.another amp put in the mix for you to check out.
 
hmmn, my sound card doesn't have opitcal out or hdmi. So how best would i connect the sound card to the amp to get 5.1 sound from pc games / movies etc? Thanks for all the help guys btw.
 
Reality Bites said:
does it have 5.1 analogue outputs? If not, you'll need a different sound card.
Click to expand...

it's an xfi music card. It has 4 or 5 3.5mm outputs on the back and that's it. I'm assuming it must output 5.1 though? Sorry to sound so silly, i really am totally lost at see when it comes to sound stuff. So by what means would i connect the xfi to the amp?
 
snow patrol said:
it's an xfi music card. It has 4 or 5 3.5mm outputs on the back and that's it. I'm assuming it must output 5.1 though? Sorry to sound so silly, i really am totally lost at see when it comes to sound stuff. So by what means would i connect the xfi to the amp?
Click to expand...

you may have analogue outputs for 2 channels in one 3.5mm output (i.e fronts and rears etc) Not sure about the sub out put though.

i have this and use 3.5mm output to 2 phono cables.
 
Sub output is shared with the center.

so front stereo in one 3.5mm socket, rear stereo in another 3.5mm socket and sub and center in the third.
and you have a 4th socket usually for 7.1 systems.

And yes you need 3.5mm to phono cables/adaptors.

For PC games you should use analogue outputs instead of optical anyway.
 
sswats said:
Sub output is shared with the center.

so front stereo in one 3.5mm socket, rear stereo in another 3.5mm socket and sub and center in the third.
and you have a 4th socket usually for 7.1 systems.

And yes you need 3.5mm to phono cables/adaptors.

For PC games you should use analogue outputs instead of optical anyway.
Click to expand...

thanks, so will i still have an input for my standard pc speakers?
 
yes.
but you can switch back and forth between onboard and x-fi from inside windows. easy to do just a bit of a pain doing it all the time
 
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