360/tv set up help (surround sound)

[H3RB]

ok so im buying this
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/59184/a ... ystem.html
next friday but i just need to know how to set it up....
basically i play my 360 through hdmi but people have said that for surround u need to use the optical cable.
now my tv has optical out, so does this mean i can plug my 360 into my tv via hdmi and then use the optical out from the tv and plug it into the surround unit?
will that give me 5.1 for the 360 and tv? or will i have to plug in the component cable ito the 360 and use the optical out from that?
any help is great thanks

[Ryan S]

ok so im buying this
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/59184/a ... ystem.html
next friday but i just need to know how to set it up....
basically i play my 360 through hdmi but people have said that for surround u need to use the optical cable.
now my tv has optical out, so does this mean i can plug my 360 into my tv via hdmi and then use the optical out from the tv and plug it into the surround unit?
will that give me 5.1 for the 360 and tv? or will i have to plug in the component cable ito the 360 and use the optical out from that?
any help is great thanks

just use the optical out on the 360, i'm sure the way you suggested will work the same though.
probably the reason your telly has optical out!!

[H3RB]

hopefully as my tv has a setting in the menu for surround sound options.
hopefully all should go to plan

[SamUK]

pretty sure HDMI is just a video signal isnt it?


Id just use the xbox's optical out, be alot easier!

[Ekona]

HDMI carries audio as well.

H3rb, either of your solutions will work, it just depends on whether you want the telly on surround sound as well. That may sound daft, but I have my SkyHD box setup for both normal stereo via HDMI and 5.1 via the optical lead, the reason being that not all (read as: very few) programmes are in 5.1, and my amplifier box does a very good job at impersonating a surround effect from a stereo input. To this end I use the stereo output from the Sky box for normal telly as I'd prefer fake surround to pure stereo, and then switch to optical for movies and football.

[viperrr]

ok so im buying this
now my tv has optical out, so does this mean i can plug my 360 into my tv via hdmi and then use the optical out from the tv and plug it into the surround unit?

I have my xbox plugged directly into my amp via optical, and into the TV with HDMI. I've just tried taking the audio from my TV's optical out but it lost the surround signal. It's a Samsung if that's of any use...

[Ekona]

Ah yes, that's a good point: Unless your telly can decode the 5.1 signal, you'll end up with only stereo, so you will have to go direct from the 360 to the amp. Sorry, that's my mistake there.

[SamUK]

HDMI carries audio as well.

think i was having a blonde moment. was thinking about my PC's connection.

[matt_mr2t]

I have my 360 plugged into my TV with an HDMI then an aux lead into the amp, comes out with "surround" sound fine. Can hardly tell the difference, if at all between that and the PS3 which is connected via an Optical lead.

There's far too many bloody leads these days for a decent set up!

[Ekona]

There's far too many bloody leads these days for a decent set up!

+1

With a 360, PS3, Wii, SkyHD, PS2 and the amp, and with everything connected to both the telly and the amp itself, it's like bloody spaghetti junction behind my cabinet

[matt_mr2t]

I havent got quite as much as you but still enough to wrap around the earth at least once.

I got some plastic tubing with slits through it and fed a lot of my cables through that. It went some way to tidying it all up.

[Ekona]

Yeah, that's something I really need to sort out myself. It's just one of those things that you really need to do before you start getting too much stuff behind there or you end up with something that's getting dangerously close to actually doing some proper work


Maybe when I next move house. Maybe.

[SamUK]

its not that AV equipment that makes the man, its the amount of plugs he uses.


i only have 4 plugs in my room and everthing is in here.

wii, xbox, tv, pc, monitor, amp, sub, dvd player, router, hub and various lamps and stuff.


keep getting told im gonna blow up but its never even flickered.

[Ekona]

All attached to one plug:

TV
Sky
Wii
360
PS3
PS2
Amp
360 charging kit
Rock Band USB adaptor
360 HD-DVD


They're not all on at once, though.

[matt_mr2t]

Hmm.

Tv
Sky
Ps2
Xbox 360
Xbox 360 HD add on (was pi$$ed that had seperate power supply)
Amp
Sub
Router
Aircon/fan depending on time of year
Mobile phone charger
Lamp

Again never flickered.
Although if it was my house I'd turn it off at the sockets quite often lol

[Ekona]

You win

I never bother turning stuff off at the sockets, and never see the point. After all, it's not like the equipment knows when you're going out/going to bed so it'll wait until then to spark up and start a fire.

[SamUK]

You win

I never bother turning stuff off at the sockets, and never see the point. After all, it's not like the equipment knows when you're going out/going to bed so it'll wait until then to spark up and start a fire.

he did untill i added my fish tanks to the list.

thats another 2 heaters, 2 filters an air pump and 2 lights hehe.

i dont even turn my PC off so im not turning the plugs off. cant get to them anway. too much crap in the way.

[matt_mr2t]

PS3 not PS2 for me sorry!

[pcp]

herb if i were you i'd go for an AV receiver so you can plug everything into that and then just hdmi cable to the TV

I have mine set up like this

360 (hdmi video and audio) ----->
Xbox (component and optical) --> AV receiver/amp --HDMI--> TV
Ps2 (component and optical) ---->
PC (hdmi video and audio) ------>

I still have room for another hdmi input (ps3) and another component input if i ever need it

I also run an optical cable from the TV to the amp so that my freeview comes out of my speakers rather than crappy tv speakers.

Makes sure you set up so that if you're using the surround sound that the tv has no audio out, if i don't do that my amp automatically disables DD, purely because it has no control over the tv

On the issue of wires i hid all mine, got some nice skirting board that is routed out to allow cables to run behind it

way too many plugs in my room, beside the PC is a 12 block surge tower with the PC, monitor, printer, HDD, PC sub, phone, camera,ds and a lamp plugged into it. Beside the receiver is another 12 block that has the receiver, 360, xbox, ps2, NAD amp, NAD CD player, fish tank (2 plugs), laptop, wireless headphone charger/antenna and another HDD. then in a compartment under the tv i have a 4 block with the TV, sub and signal booster in it. 23 plugs

[H3RB]

@pcp:
my tv has 4 hdmi ports but i only have 2 hdmi devices so i have enough space for that etc.
my tv also has optical out so i can just use that for my surround (i hope)
also ill be using my ps3/360 as my dvd player so wont need an extra dvd player.
the surround im buying is just the sub, 5 satalite speakers and a control unit.
all the devices plug into the control unit and all the speakers plug into the amp.
will i still need a seperate av thingy if i do it that way? or would it all be ok to do it with what comes with my new system?