Surround Sound Advice

[anephric]

You can buy optical to coaxial convertors.

[charlesr]

Or as Superkully says, go to richersounds and ask for:
"Cheapest AV Receiver you have please and cheapest surround speaker package you have please that works with it. AV receiver needs coax and optical inputs please"
Ta daaaa

[charlesr]

anephric - yeah, but where's the coax inputs on that thing? How does it work with anything?

[HaHaUK]

i emailed the seller that was selling this unit on ebay and he said that it would support RCA using an adapter.

what would happen if i used the phono leads on the consoles on it? how will the sound be projected?

[anephric]

i emailed the seller that was selling this unit on ebay and he said that it would support RCA using an adapter.

what would happen if i used the phono leads on the consoles on it? how will the sound be projected?

Whatwhat on the heynow?

[MartyG]

If you just want something for consoles, and you're not bothered about expanding or high end sound or having dozens of inputs (this has 2 dig, 1 phono), something like this will be perfectly fine.

Also, optical does not automatically equal decent DD sound, in fact your better off using cheap coax cables than cheap TOSLinks.

[mid]

Its 1s. And 0s. As long as you're not getting so much loss that the error correction can't cope (something I've never experienced), either digital option is fine.

And Hasanhadi - If I were handed that speaker package, I'd probably ebay/bin it, tbfh. Listen to the people saying that you need something more.

[MartyG]

Cheap TOSLinks can suffer from stutter, it's not quite as simple as 0 and 1s, though you're right so long as there is a big enough buffer and adequate error correction you shouldn't notice a difference between the two.

[charlesr]

Good find Marty. That gameplay one looks like the cheapest solution.

[mid]

Cheap TOSLinks can suffer from stutter, it's not quite as simple as 0 and 1s, though you're right so long as there is a big enough buffer and adequate error correction you shouldn't notice a difference between the two.

Fundamentally, though, that's because the cheap TOSLink is so bad that you're losing bits left, right and centre. So we're both right, really.

Mind you, I'm still stuck in the mindset that anything less than about ?25 is 'cheap' for an optical cable, so I've never even tried those nasty ?4 jobs. All my coax and optical options are full on my amp - coax in and optical out for the minidisc, optical and RF in for the laser, optical in for the consoles (who have to switch cable - as you can imagine, this is a hefty lead), and coax for the DVD player.

[Super Stu]

Hmm, I had a 6 quid TOSlink off Charlser and it's faultless.

[anephric]

I've got ?4 toslinks (and a ?50 coax) and not had any probs: can't tell the difference between the two when I switch sources etc.

Of course, I have the ears of a sow.

[Len]

Ok I'm tempted, very tempted by that Sony system. Been meaning to get myself a ss system, promised I would for Halo 2 and so missed that but things may be about to change and would appreciate some advice as well. Also at that price, after shelling out for a new 'puter and other things surely it's too good to miss...? I don't have oodles of mula to splash.

Ok so I've got this tele:

http://www.av-land.co.uk/panasonic/tx47pt1/ - (and yes mine has that bird on it as well!)

Sorry 'bout the page but it was the quickest I could find with the specs as Panasonic don't list it anymore but I digress.

I'm assuming buying the Sony setup (http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/Conten...ode=SON-HTSL60) will all be good to work together...?

As for connections I've been using the official s-video connection for my US box which has a digital audio socket on it, again weird as I can't seem to see it on the Xbox site, have they stopped making it...?

I assume the advanced av scart lead will give me a better pic, fair enough, so is it worth buying one of those as well...?

Also I know I'm gonna need some extra leads, optical cable(?) and am quite happy to pay a slight premium for better quality etc so if anyone would like to recommend I'd appreciate it.

As well as my US box there will be a Jap ps2 and a Panny Q to get involved!

That's about it, sorry for slightly hijacking the thread, all info much appreciated...

[HaHaUK]

len, are rear projection tvs good for games, also doesnt it burn the screen as it says in the game manuals?

[Len]

Um yes and no tbh. Looks great from where I'm sitting but obviously if you want/can afford to spend some more you'd go for a plasma but I don't have a problem with it at all. And as for screen burn, been using it for 2yrs+ and never had a problem with it, obviously you don't want to leave a menu up for 12hrs but who does that with a normal tele..? Works fine...