Computer/XBox/TV speaker setup...

[mike88nf]

Hey guys, first post here so not sure if this is where I should post this, just let me know if its the wrong forum.

Ok, my current setup is a 32" LCD HDTV with my computer and my XBox360 hooked up to it.

I have the hard drive hooked up through the VGA input and the Xbox through the component input. Also, the hard drive has one single stereo cord to the TV and the XBox has a red/white stereo cord to the TV.

In the past I hooked my computer directly up to my Logitech surround speakers, but once I bought my TV, I found out that I couldn't use them with the TV. (The TV has red/white outputs, while the speakers have green/black/orange computer audio cords.)

So I'm going to buy a new surround sound setup for my TV, and I want to make it so that I feed all of my audio (XBox/PC) into my TV and then it all gets fed out through the new surround sound.

But I'm not sure if I'll get the same quality audio from my PC and Xbox if I feed them through my TV before the surround sound. In the past I would hook up my PC directly to the surround sound with a left/right/sub setup, but it would only be a single stereo cable to my TV, and then the TV would have to feed it out as red/white before it gets to the surround sound.

Tell me if you guys dont understand what I'm trying to say. Thx

[dyazdani]

Trying to decipher everything that's going on....

What kind of "surround sound" system are you looking to buy? The logical thing to do would be to hook up all of your audio to your new HT receiver. This would include the TV, Xbox, and PC. There should be no need to run through the TV first.

FYI, it is possible to hook your TV to your computer's sound card and vice versa. You can buy a cable that is red/white RCA on one end and a stereo "mini-plug" on the other.

Your Xbox and possibly your computer (depends on sound card) should have digital audio outputs. These would only require one coaxial or optical digital cable.

[mike88nf]

Trying to decipher everything that's going on....

What kind of "surround sound" system are you looking to buy? The logical thing to do would be to hook up all of your audio to your new HT receiver. This would include the TV, Xbox, and PC. There should be no need to run through the TV first.

FYI, it is possible to hook your TV to your computer's sound card and vice versa. You can buy a cable that is red/white RCA on one end and a stereo "mini-plug" on the other.

Your Xbox and possibly your computer (depends on sound card) should have digital audio outputs. These would only require one coaxial or optical digital cable.

Good idea, I guess running the Xbox, PC, and TV audio lines directly to the surround sound would give the best audio quality, right?

The only thing was wether the system would have all those jacks on the back, I'm looking to spend under 200, maybe 300 for my system. Also, it would have to have some sort of "channel selector", which my current speakers dont.

I'm not sure what kind of options I have out there for a surround sound system for my price range. All the ones I've seen only have one input and no channel selector.

Also, what do the coaxial and optical digital cables look like? I've never heard of them, maybe that'd be a better solution.

[dyazdani]

A coaxial digital cable looks like a regular RCA cable (there are some other varieties, but you won't need them). An optical digital is a glass/plastic "conductor" with a special plug on the end.

I'll answer the rest in a minute, off to a meeting.

[Markmm]

How do you connect a hard drive via a VGA cable?

"I have the hard drive hooked up through the VGA input and the Xbox through the component input. Also, the hard drive has one single stereo cord to the TV and the XBox has a red/white stereo cord to the TV."

[dyazdani]

How do you connect a hard drive via a VGA cable?

"I have the hard drive hooked up through the VGA input and the Xbox through the component input. Also, the hard drive has one single stereo cord to the TV and the XBox has a red/white stereo cord to the TV."

I think he meant the computer in general, i.e. via the video card - not the actual HDD itself.

[dyazdani]

The only thing was wether the system would have all those jacks on the back, I'm looking to spend under 200, maybe 300 for my system.

You are not going to find much for $300 that is of decent quality. Your best bet for that money is to find an inexpensive, perhaps used receiver and a (one) pair of speakers. As money becomes available, you could then add additional speakers, a sub, etc.

[aud19]

Yup I second connecting the PC via a digital connection to an inexpensive receiver if your sound card has a digital output. I think you'll have to up your budget to closer to $500 or $600 though if you plan on getting anything that's not total crap in the way of a receiver and speaker pair. Your other option is to purchase a set of inexpensive powered surround speakers and use your PC as a pre/pro though you'll have limited input capability to connect your TV and XBox depending on your soundcard.

[mike88nf]

Ok, thx for the replys

So, regardless of price, what would I need to have my Xbox/PC/TV all individually digitally hooked up to a reciever with surround speakers? What are some you guys would reccomend? Any under $1000?

And what's the difference between coaxial and optical digital? Which one is better, or more expensive? Also, how can I tell if my PC, XBox or TV have a digital hookup?

Thx for the help

[dyazdani]

Ok, thx for the replys

So, regardless of price, what would I need to have my Xbox/PC/TV all individually digitally hooked up to a reciever with surround speakers? What are some you guys would reccomend? Any under $1000?

And what's the difference between coaxial and optical digital? Which one is better, or more expensive? Also, how can I tell if my PC, XBox or TV have a digital hookup?

Thx for the help

Basically, you just need a receiver with the appropriate number of inputs and some speakers. The quality of each will vary greatly with the amount of money you are able to spend. You should be able to get a receiver and a decent pair of mains for under $1000 to start.

I prefer coaxial digital connections, but there is always a big debate about this. Price varies, but I wouldn't say one is more expensive than the other.

Your Xbox 360 has an optical (Toslink) connection. If you use it to play DVDs as well, then the answer is simple, get a Toslink cable.

You'll have to check with your soundcard's manual to see what type of outputs it has.

You won't need to connect your TV's audio output to the receiver, assuming you have a satellite receiver/digital cable box. You would just hook the satellite receiver, etc to the surround receiver.

[Azeke]

Ok, thx for the replys

So, regardless of price, what would I need to have my Xbox/PC/TV all individually digitally hooked up to a reciever with surround speakers? What are some you guys would reccomend? Any under $1000?

And what's the difference between coaxial and optical digital? Which one is better, or more expensive? Also, how can I tell if my PC, XBox or TV have a digital hookup?

Thx for the help

Receivers <$1,000: Denon, Yamaha immediately come to mind.

Coaxial vs Optical: It's an endless debate.......If you have a long run, supposedly optical is better. Coaxial proponents will say that they're better because it goes digital directly from your source into your receiver without any 'alleged' conversion, but optical changes to light pulses, and then back to digital....etc. etc. etc. ....... The debate continues.......
It's probably the receiver that matters more than anything else, and of course from an economic standpoint Coaxial is less expensive.

Determining digital Hookup:

Xbox: Yes, check the back.
PC: Usually you will need to buy a sound card that supports digital outputs. Check your PC near the speaker cables and read the labels.
TV: Check you manual, that is the easiest way to determine, that, but if you use your receiver you won't have to if bother.

Hope this helps.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[mike88nf]

Now would I lose audio quality if I ran my Xbox and PC through my TV before running my TV out to my surround sound?

The reason I'm asking is, if I could do that, I would be able to sync up the visual and audio with the same remote, instead of having to change the audio channel on the reciever every time I switch the visual channel on the TV.

[dyazdani]

You might lose a little - may not matter to you, I'm more concerned with the type of outputs it has over the actual quality.

Do you have digital cable or satellite? If so, you shouldn't have to switch channels in two places. Just select the proper input on the receiver and when you change channels on the TV, it's good to go. Maybe I misunderstood the question.

[mike88nf]

I don't have either cable or satellite hooked up to this TV.

My Xbox would connect to my TV with a component cable for video and a red/white cable for audio, my PC would connect through a single stereo cable for audio and a VGA cable for video.

The TV has a red/white output, so I would run that out to the surround sound.

Based on this, do you think my Xbox or PC would lose sound quality
(ie bass, surround sound) by running them through the TV first instead of directly hooking them up to a reciever?


EX: If my Xbox game (madden 06) had surround sound and strong bass, and then I ran it through the red/white to my TV and then back out the red/white to my surround sound, would I lose the suround sound/bass?

Would it sound differently than if I had ran the Xbox directly to the surround sound?

Thx for the help

[aud19]

You would lose and Dolby Digital encoding from a digital source. Of course you could still use DPLII to get most of the surround/sub info back but it seems like a mickey-mouse way of doing it. Perhaps try for a receiver with programmable "macro" functions that would allow you to program the remote once and autmatically switch to the appropriate inputs for you

[PewterTA]

Yes, do NOT send your PC/Xbox through the TV first.

The Xbox 360 especially since it is Dolby Digital in game. You will connect the Xbox 360 via an optical cable to your receiver as one input. Then connect your PC with either the stereo analog cables (red/white) or if your sound car supports it, either an optical or coaxial connection (this will give you a better sound I would think, but it's something you have to try). Next I would run the sound from the TV to your receiver as a third input. This can be done with either the analog RCAs (red/white) or if there is a digital out from the TV use that. If you use a set top box (STB) that you got from your cable/satellite provider, it probably has a coaxial/optical connection. You would want to use that. Then I would also hook up your DVD player via the coaxial/optical connection.

Just make sure the receiver you get has enough connections for how you want to transmit the signal (ie. 3 coaxial/4 optical). With the price range you are probably looking at having about 4 to 5 connections, so I think you should be decent.

It's always best to go as far through the "chain" digitally as you can.

As far as what's better coaxial or optical...they are all pretty much the same. You'd have to get into the finer "little things" as to what's better.

But to be honest, and take no offense to this, but if you are spending $200 - $1000 (assuming that's including the speakers as well) then you really aren't going to notice much quality difference any route you go. The only thing you will notice is the surround sound/stereo if you connect your components analog (RCA white/red) vs. digital (coaxial/optical).

If you think you are going to be getting into home theaters, I suggest looking to put more money into a decent receiver and just TWO stereo speakers that are of higher quality, than going for a full surround sound. This will tend to lead towards a happy medium as you expand and grow your knowledge and what kind of "sound" you are looking for. Course along the other lines, you could get a cheaper receiver, full 5.1 surround speakers and slowly replace parts as you gain knowledge. You will notice "more" improvement in your sound as you replace things because you will be starting off lower in game.

Audio is very much an exponential thing (only backwards), audio quality goes up very quickly as you increase price, but once you start putting more and more (expensive) things into your setup, the 'amount' of quality increase slows down.

It's all about finding your happy medium.

[mike88nf]

I keep hearing about these "digital connections" but I have no idea what they look like? Anyone have any pictures of them and their jacks?

PewterTA--So you're saying that I WOULD notice a difference in quality if I use digital connection vs analog?

[aud19]

A coaxial digital cable looks like a regular RCA cable (there are some other varieties, but you won't need them). An optical digital is a glass/plastic "conductor" with a special plug on the end.

I'll answer the rest in a minute, off to a meeting.

Try "Googling" those names

(FYI, optical cables can also be known as "toslink" cables)