Cabling questions - Phono and Optical

WantoN

WantoN

WantoN

Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2003
Posts
10,795
Location
Hampshire
Hey guys,
Currently have an onkyo 606, xbox 360 and an old CRT tv hooked up. Upgrading as cash allows. The xbox serves as my dvd and cd player at the moment, and soon I'll be streaming audio and video to it via ethernet crossover.

The xbox is connected to the TV via the yellow cable, and the audio to the onkyo via the pair of red and white phonos.

Questions:
Do the phonos carry multichannel surround sound for DVDs/Games, or just stereo?
Will I be better off with optical cable running to the TV?
Will the optical cable carry up to 7.1 (Im guessing yes :p)?
What type of optical cable do I need? There's a lot of confusing OM1s e.t.c

Cheers!
Ant :cool:
 
Further investigation has answered all of my questions bar the what cable to get :)

It seems that through the two phono leads I'm not receiving true surround and for that I need a digital signal, ala coax or optical. Considering xbox doesnt have coax I'm left with optical! :p

So if any of you could recommend what type of optical I want, that'd be great! cheers!

Ant :cool:
 
stereo phono cables will let the amp do prologic iirc, you will need a very basic optical cable from your xbox to your amp. Disconnect any other audio cables you have from the xbox to either the amp/tv. The optical cable witll do surround sound just fine.

optical cable you need is a toslink. If you search properly you won't pay anymore than £3-£4 delivered. I paid £5.50 for two clear ones the other week
 
You're bang on mate. The amp was doing prologic/neo6 but not true surround.

Thanks for that. I'll have a nose around! Is there any real benefit to optical over HDMI. Just wondering for when I get a new telly :)
 
WantoN said:
You're bang on mate. The amp was doing prologic/neo6 but not true surround.

Thanks for that. I'll have a nose around! Is there any real benefit to optical over HDMI. Just wondering for when I get a new telly :)
Click to expand...

unless you have one of the new xboxs with an HDMI connection, you will need an optical connection. If you have a new one, go with HDMI. The xbox will only give you DD/DTS etc anyway afaik.

I've got an 875 and i connect all my equipment (xbox, sky hd, BD player, wii etc) up to the amp and then use HDMI to connect the amp to the TV. Then the amp is used as a switching unit. much neater that way.
 
Found a meter for 84p :) Also getting Cat5e 10m for £3.34 and 3m for £1.26, both crossover. Shipping is £1.69.

Think this price is ok?

Cheers fella,
Ant :cool:
 
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Reality Bites said:
I've got an 875 and i connect all my equipment (xbox, sky hd, BD player, wii etc) up to the amp and then use HDMI to connect the amp to the TV. Then the amp is used as a switching unit. much neater that way.
Click to expand...

Thanks again, this is what I had in mind. The optical will do until I buy a tv and all that jazz. The urge to splurge on hi-fi is almost irresistable :p

Ant :cool:
 
Connecting xbox to pc (with pc as the gateway). Xbox is currently connected to the internet via a wireless remote access point, but its unreliable and I want to stream flac and video. The other cable is for my old man :p

Glad I found a bargain, it's called budget for a reason I guess ;) It's from the same place you got yours :p

Ant :cool:
 
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WantoN said:
Connecting xbox to pc (with pc as the gateway). Xbox is currently connected to the internet via a wireless remote access point, but its unreliable and I want to stream flac and video. The other cable is for my old man :p

Glad I found a bargain, it's called budget for a reason I guess ;) It's from cableuniverse if that's any use to you (hope that's not a competitor)

Ant :cool:
Click to expand...

that's where i got mine from....didn't want to post it for the same reason as you were worried about posting it. maybe worth an edit out just incase as they do computer bits too
 
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