Need help connecting my TV/PS3/Surround Sound

The_Chopper

Hi Guys need some help - idiots in shop were no good,

I have the following and need help connecting them altogther so I can get the surround sound working from my PS3:

PS3
Sony DAV-DZ630
Sony Bravia KDL-40W2000

The guys in the shop suggested using an optical cable but there is nowhere to connect an optical cable too from the PS3.

Suggestions????

ongarite

You can't connect PS3 to that system as it doesn't have optical in.
The shop were obviously being stupid or knowing that it wouldn't work when they sold it to you.
You need an amp or more expensive surround sound system to get PS3 in 5.1.

Bring it back to the shop and get refund..

Hardly any of the Sony all in one packages have optical in.

This Panasonic system has optical (SPDIF) input.
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=334456

The_Chopper

Thanks for that info.

I've just called the guy in the shop and he says if I connect both via the HDMI cable then I will get sound from the PS3, can anyone confirm this

ongarite

Nope wont work. No HDMI input to the surround sound to pass video through to TV.
You need either PS3--optical/HMDI in---amp/ss--HDMI---TV

Edit: Could be wrong, calling all AV experts..

ongarite

Post from Playstation forums, same SS system, wont work
http://community.eu.playstation.com/showthread.php?t=117213

Bring back to shop..

whiterebel

I have an LG surround system with no optical or HDMI, yet I connected via AV cables from the PS3 to the LG and I definitely seem to be getting 5.1 on games and DVD/Bluray? AV From PS3 to Surround, and HDMI from PS3 to TV.....

ongarite

AV= 2 channels only.
What you are getting is 2 channel stereo broken up into 5/6 channels.
Its not surround sound at all (not Dolby/DTS 5.1)

The_Chopper

Thanks for the replies guys - sony have confirmed that it cannot be done and I'll be getting a different unit tomorrow

mrbig

whiterebel wrote: »

I have an LG surround system with no optical or HDMI, yet I connected via AV cables from the PS3 to the LG and I definitely seem to be getting 5.1 on games and DVD/Bluray? AV From PS3 to Surround, and HDMI from PS3 to TV.....

This most likley some kind of virtual suround sound effect,it is definitly not 5.1
The dolby website confirms this, the optical output also known as TOS has the 5.1 information,it may be possible to get some kind of TOS to Phono adapter but to be honest if your amp was any good to begin with it would have at least one TOS on it. Mirantz or yamaha do excellent souround amps sold as seperates so you could reuse your existing speakers and sub.

whiterebel

mrbig wrote: »

This most likley some kind of virtual suround sound effect,it is definitly not 5.1
The dolby website confirms this, the optical output also known as TOS has the 5.1 information,it may be possible to get some kind of TOS to Phono adapter but to be honest if your amp was any good to begin with it would have at least one TOS on it. Mirantz or yamaha do excellent souround amps sold as seperates so you could reuse your existing speakers and sub.

Its a strange one. I have Saving Private Ryan on VHS and DVD. I played the video and DVD at the same time, switching between the different formats on the DVD player. The sound is definitely way better on the video. perplexed, I put the DVD into the PS3 and got the same result as the VHS version, way better bass, much better "surround" effects i.e. bullets whizzing etc.

The DVD players is a 5.1 unit, but is definitely lacking the TOSlink port.

Warhawk absolutely blasts through all the speakers too.

Yours, officially confused:D

Whiterebel

japjap

You probably have to set the DVD player to output sound as 5.1. It's probably set up as stereo. Go to the audio settings and have a look.

whiterebel

japjap wrote: »

You probably have to set the DVD player to output sound as 5.1. It's probably set up as stereo. Go to the audio settings and have a look.

Nope, checked and its right.

jackal

Unless you have the AV device (i.e the PS3) connected with either an optical, or coax cable into your surround system then you are not getting Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1.

What you are getting is Dolby Pro-Logic II. This does a good job of reproducing a discrete 5.1 surround system in cases where the 2 channel sound signal (standard phono cables) is encoded in Dolby pro logic (as a lot of tv and games are). It works by putting certain sounds to the rear speakers in games/dvds. Its an applied effect - sometimes it works well, sometimes it works poorly. Its definitely better than stereo. GTA and Tourist Trophy on the PS2 both used it to good effect. Check it out on wikipedia or something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Pro_Logic

However I recently got a PS3, and hooked up the optical cable to that instead, and the in-game Dolby Digital 5.1 surround is stunning. The main difference is the directionality, the 5 discrete channels are used so the position of the sound on screen is accurately reproduced by the speakers.

whiterebel

jackal wrote: »

Unless you have the AV device (i.e the PS3) connected with either an optical, or coax cable into your surround system then you are not getting Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1.

What you are getting is Dolby Pro-Logic II. This does a good job of reproducing a discrete 5.1 surround system in cases where the 2 channel sound signal (standard phono cables) is encoded in Dolby pro logic (as a lot of tv and games are). It works by putting certain sounds to the rear speakers in games/dvds. Its an applied effect - sometimes it works well, sometimes it works poorly. Its definitely better than stereo. GTA and Tourist Trophy on the PS2 both used it to good effect. Check it out on wikipedia or something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Pro_Logic

However I recently got a PS3, and hooked up the optical cable to that instead, and the in-game Dolby Digital 5.1 surround is stunning. The main difference is the directionality, the 5 discrete channels are used so the position of the sound on screen is accurately reproduced by the speakers.

By Jove, I think he's got it!!! Sounds right anyway. I was contemplating one of those cheap HDMI DVD players from LIDL recently, using the existing speakers and connecting the PS3 to it via TOSlink. Bad idea?

jackal

whiterebel wrote: »

By Jove, I think he's got it!!! Sounds right anyway. I was contemplating one of those cheap HDMI DVD players from LIDL recently, using the existing speakers and connecting the PS3 to it via TOSlink. Bad idea?

The cheap HDMI dvd players are meant to be ok, but they are not an amplifier, and it gives you nothing you dont already have with the ps3, so im not sure why you would want one.

The cheap LG surround system no doubt included a dvd player. This has a built in amplifier, which is what is outputting the sound to the speakers. The Lidl dvd player is not an amplifier, and only provides outputs which are meant to be put into an amp.

Best bet would be to buy an a/v amp (harvey norman sell a yamaha one). They can be expensive though (500+).

The alternate is to simply chuck out/sell the LG system and get one that has an optical input. This used to be a big ask, but these days they are becoming more common on low end surround all-in-one systems, as people want to hook up their ps3's etc.

These all have optical in:
Samsung's HT-XQ100
panasonic SC-HT855
JVC TH-S66
LG LH-RH7506
Samsung HT-UP30

A lot of the sony all in one systems do too. NOTE: Some dont, so eyeball the product before parting with cash, as the sales guys are usually clueless about this stuff, and just want the sale.

whiterebel

The Lidl one has the speaker ports for a 5.1 system, just no speakers. I just wondered if swapping the DVD player for the LG one would do the job, but at the price, it seems not. At €500 ish, I think I'll stick with the "faux" surround for now. The LG was about €350 last January, but I never thought I'd need optical, indded HDMI equipped ones were non-existent.

jackal

whiterebel wrote: »

The Lidl one has the speaker ports for a 5.1 system, just no speakers. I just wondered if swapping the DVD player for the LG one would do the job, but at the price, it seems not. At €500 ish, I think I'll stick with the "faux" surround for now. The LG was about €350 last January, but I never thought I'd need optical, indded HDMI equipped ones were non-existent.

I think you will find that they are not speaker ports, but analogue 5.1 output connections. You can connect these to an amplifier, which in turn is connected to (and provides power to) speakers. I would not like to see the results if you plugged your speakers directly into them (though i doubt they are same type of connector anyway).

mrbig

whiterebel wrote: »

By Jove, I think he's got it!!! Sounds right anyway. I was contemplating one of those cheap HDMI DVD players from LIDL recently, using the existing speakers and connecting the PS3 to it via TOSlink. Bad idea?

I have an Xbox360 connected to a Mirantz amp with the TOS cable, when playing call of duty 4 you can tell which direction the hellicopter attack is comming from, the sound is fantastic, but the answer is still get a new amp;)