Help needed - Setup questions (HDMI/Optical inputs & Outputs)

[MitchW12]

Hi All,

Firstly apologies if any of the questions below fall into the 'stupid' category, my naivety may well shine through here! Secondly, thanks in advance to those who kindly share their knowledge and advice!

Current components:

TV - 3D LG 47LW650T
Blu-Ray- 3D BD660
Sky+ HD
XBox 360
Receiver - Yamaha RX-V590RDS
Speakers - Centre and Fronts = Mordaunt Short MS302
Speakers - Rears = Mission 771

I recently purchased the TV and Blu-Ray player mentioned above and am happy with these (thankfully the TV is a good one, apparently there are a few dogs out there suffering from poor build quality and light bleed). The one issue I have is the lag I'm encountering with the sound...

The Yamaha receiver and speakers are hand downs, hence the mixed speaker sets. The receiver must be getting on for 10 years old and due to this doesn't have the ideal connectivity nor the delay functionality to correct the lag im experiencing.

I'm therefore looking to replace the Receiver and trying to do so for £200 - £300. Before I ask for suggestions I would like to add one point...

The LG 650T forum posts strongly suggest that Xbox's should be connected with an Input labelled as PC and that the AV mode be set as 'Game'. My concern is that if all my components are connected to the Receiver via HDMI and the one HDMI out goes to the TV, then I will have to amend the settings each time I switch from Sky/Blu Ray to the Xbox. Am I correct in this assumption?

Would the above be worked around by HDMI from the XBox to the TV and Optical cable from the TV to the Receiver, allowing for a dedicated HDMI TV input? Will the sound be taken to the receiver?

I also understand that it would be best to HDMI the Sky box straight to the TV and Optical Out from Sky to the Receiver (Apparently HDMI from the SKY Box will not carry 5.1/HD sound).

One receiver that seems to fit my requirements is the Onkyo TXNR 509 (Onkyo TXNR509 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds) as it has two optical inputs. Are there any suggestions that fit the criteria and are within budget. I'm happy to settle with 5.1 for the foreseeable future.

Finally - speakers: I need to purchase a Sub! The question is, is it worth buying a speaker package and replacing the speakers I'm currently using? If so I'll have to find some money from somewhere but I don't think it'll be mcuh at all!

Sorry for the length of this! Any advice will be gratefully recieved!

Thanks

James

 

[davepuma]

The LG 650T forum posts strongly suggest that Xbox's should be connected with an Input labelled as PC and that the AV mode be set as 'Game'. My concern is that if all my components are connected to the Receiver via HDMI and the one HDMI out goes to the TV, then I will have to amend the settings each time I switch from Sky/Blu Ray to the Xbox. Am I correct in this assumption?

This is one of the downsides of using a single HDMI input as you have to compromise and have one set of picture settings for all inputs.

Would the above be worked around by HDMI from the XBox to the TV and Optical cable from the TV to the Receiver, allowing for a dedicated HDMI TV input? Will the sound be taken to the receiver?

Yes, this would work. Unlike, Bluray/PS3, the Xbox 360 doesn't have to be connected to the receiver via HDMI. It is only capable of SD audio (Dolby Digital) so connecting via optical is acceptable.

I also understand that it would be best to HDMI the Sky box straight to the TV and Optical Out from Sky to the Receiver (Apparently HDMI from the SKY Box will not carry 5.1/HD sound).

One receiver that seems to fit my requirements is the Onkyo TXNR 509 (Onkyo TXNR509 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds) as it has two optical inputs. Are there any suggestions that fit the criteria and are within budget. I'm happy to settle with 5.1 for the foreseeable future.

Take a look at Richer Sounds. The Sony 820 is only £250 at the minute and would be a good budget buy.

Finally - speakers: I need to purchase a Sub! The question is, is it worth buying a speaker package and replacing the speakers I'm currently using? If so I'll have to find some money from somewhere but I don't think it'll be mcuh at all!

Decent quality separate subwoofers cost money. I would be looking at £200 plus for a good quality one. Therefore have a look at older models and second. Wharfedale and Mordaunt Short are often mentioned when it comes to cheap subs. If you can afford it, the BK range offer a lot of rumble for your buck.

 

[dante01]

The XBox has no ability to output HD audio so you could do as you suggest and connect the HDMI directly to the TV while sending the audio via optical to an AV amp.

SKY boxes lack the ability to send Dolby Digital 5.1 via HDMI so an optical audio connection from the box to an AV amp is required in order to access DD 5.1.

You need the Blu-ray to be connected directly to the amp via HDMI in order to access HD audio formats found on Blu-ray titles. These formats cannot be sent vis optical or digi coax.

Audio is best sent directly to an AV amp because many audio formats cannot be passed through a TV. For example, DTS and the HD formats aren't supported by TVs and must be output directly to an amp or decoder that has the ability to decode them.

I'd suggest you keep your existing speakers for now, buy an active sub and then replace your speakers as you can afford them. Start with the purchase of better front stereo speakers plus a matching centre. The rears aren't as important and can be purchased further down the line as funds allow. Doing it in stages will probably afford you more money to spend in instalments and better speakers in comparison to going and buying a package.

 

[MitchW12]

The XBox has no ability to output HD audio so you could do as you suggest and connect the HDMI directly to the TV while sending the audio via optical to an AV amp.

Thanks for the quick reply! Just to confirm, the Optical out would be from the TV to the AV amp. Will this 'push' the audio to the amp succesfully?

 

[dante01]

Thanks for the quick reply! Just to confirm, the Optical out would be from the TV to the AV amp. Will this 'push' the audio to the amp succesfully?

I'm one of those of the opinion that it is better to send audio directly to the amp rather than passing it through the TV. One good reason for this is that TVs can't deal will multichannel audio unless encoded as Dolby Digital. Multichannel DTS and LPCM wouldn't be output by the TV. The DTS audio would result in nothing and multichannel LPCM would be mixed down to just 2 channels. I'm not very familiar with XBox games or the console's use of DTS, but if multichannel DTS or LPCM are of importance to you then you'll need to make a direct audio connections to the amp.

As far as the XBox and the SKY box are concerned, you can still connect them to your TV via HDMI for the video while using their optical outputs for the audio to the amp.

 

[MitchW12]

I agree, and I will run the visual from Sky box via HDMI to the TV and the audio by Optical lead from the Sky box to the amp.

It's just with the Xbox there's only an HDMI out - If this runs direct to the TV (for AV setup purposes I want this as a dedicated input) then I don't see how else I can get the Audio to the amp without going through the TV.

Sorry if I'm asking the same question over and over again, just need to be sure as any money I put towards this has to be spent as wisely as possible. It was hard enough convincing my other half that the 47 wasn't too big!

 

[MitchW12]

Sorry - think I've been confusing matters - My XBox is the older 'Elite' version. This doesnt have an Optical out like the more recent version. Pretty sure the girlfriend would leave if I told her that I needed to update my Xbox as well!

 

[davepuma]

If your xbox 360 doesn't have an optical connection, you can buy an adaptor. Read the sticky post on HDMI/optical in the xbox 360 forum.

Can your TV pass dolby digital over optical? If it can, you should be okay but I have heard about horrible lip sync issues with LG sets of late.

 

[MitchW12]

Thanks for the advise guys!

I have now managed to get the XBox in sync and have sourced a Mordaunt Short Alumni 9 sub.

I'm not going to be able to purchase the new receiver until the New Year, (will be going for the Sony 820 unless there's some very good sale offers about). This means that I'm still experiencing really bad Lip-Sync issues when watching Sky.

The Video is being carried via HDMI to the TV and the Audio is by the Red and White (RCA) cables - there's no optical or HDMI inputs on this one!

There is also no Audio delay function on the receiver, however there appears to be on the Sky box and the TV itself.

It may be worth pointing out that the Audio is being played from the receiver prior to the display of the image on the tv.

Sky box - under settings - 'Digital Audio Output delay'. Will this even have any effect on the sound/picture with my current setup? The range is 0ms to 200ms

TV - AV Sync - SPDIF - This has a range of -5 to +15. I have no idea what this is and also changing it will even have any effect with the current setup.

Sorry for more questions - however I have friends and family over for Christmas and it's embarrasing having to play the audio through the TV Speakers.

Thanks in advance!

James

 

[MitchW12]

Hi guys, anyone able to help out on this?