How to hook up Equipment.

[Rook]

Okay, I need a little help to setup my equipment. Here is what I have:

32" JVC HDTV (HDMI; Cpnt; Svid; Digaudio and 3 RCA)
Pioneer surround sound/DVD (NON progressive, only has RCA and Svid)
E* HDTV 811. (I think DVI; Svid; Cpnt; RCA; Digaudio)
Xbox (non 360)

I currently have the DVD/SS Svid going to the TV along with RCA audio, and RCA audio outs from the TC going back to the DVD/SS. Then, the copponent videos from the 811 go to the TV along with RCA audio. And the X-box going to the TV.

First, my problem is that when I use the surround sound for watching TV the center channel mutes and instead only comes out of the TV. The other four channels and bass work fine, but I'd like to use the center channel.

Second, I'm sure the sound could be better if I somehow hook up the digital audio lead from the 811 to the TV, but I'm not sure how. I believe the 811 digital audio out has a square peg while the TV digital video in has a pair of RCA style jacks.

Third, I'm not using the HDMI jack on the TV. Isn't HDMI the better method over the copponent videos? However, I would have to have a DVI - HDMI cable. Do you lose anything in quality with one of those?

Finally, I'd like to have the X-box play in HD quality, will this work if I hook the X-box to the 811? If so, do I simply change to a specific channel to play the X-Box?

 

[ats7627]

My thoughts,

811 to TV via DVI-HDMI cable. You will not lose any quality.
XBOX to TV via Component. You need a XBOX component adapter.
DVD to TV via S-Video.

Does your Pioneer surround sound receiver have a digital audio input?
If it does, then you can hook up the 811 audio that way.

Hope that helps.

 

[charper1]

I would upgrade to a true A/V switching DTS/DD receiver.

 

[Rook]

I would upgrade to a true A/V switching DTS/DD receiver.

What is that for those of us less attuned to the lingo?

 

[Rook]

My thoughts,
811 to TV via DVI-HDMI cable. You will not lose any quality.
XBOX to TV via Component. You need a XBOX component adapter.
DVD to TV via S-Video.
Does your Pioneer surround sound receiver have a digital audio input?
If it does, then you can hook up the 811 audio that way.
Hope that helps.

Not XBOX to 811? In order to have XBOX in HD quality (for those games in that format) don't I need to run it through the receiver?

Is the DVI-HDMI going to give me a better picture than using the Compenent cables for 811-TV connection? Is it a noticible difference?

I'll have to see if the SS has a digital audio input. Its a few years old so??

Also, I just last night hooked up a silver sensor OTA indoor antenna. Works rather well. I get all the channels in at between 70-80%. But, it came with standard coaxial cable. Is there a better cable I should use?

 

[Rook]

Also, to add to this;

One problem is that, like I said, when I run the TV through the SS (ie. not for DVD's) the center channel does not play, but instead comes through the TV speaker.

A possible reason for this is that the TV has four inputs. 1, 2, 3 and digital (compenent plus RCA digital audio). Input one has S-video and RCA plus audio, 2 and 3 are just RCA plus audio. The TV also has the HDMI.

So, I have the 811, via components running to the digital video input and the input 1 audio. Its the only way to get sound?? If I hook the RCA audio to the digital audio inputs there is no sound. I assume because the 811's RCA audio is analog while the digital has that square peg line. If I switch to a DVI-HDMI I'll still have to use the input 1 RCA analog audio inputs.

First, is there a way to run the digital audio between the 811 and the TV or SS? Or, how should all the audio be hooked up?

Second, would it be better for any reason to run the DVD player S-video to the 811?

 

[ats7627]

Not XBOX to 811? In order to have XBOX in HD quality (for those games in that format) don't I need to run it through the receiver?
Is the DVI-HDMI going to give me a better picture than using the Compenent cables for 811-TV connection? Is it a noticible difference?
I'll have to see if the SS has a digital audio input. Its a few years old so??
Also, I just last night hooked up a silver sensor OTA indoor antenna. Works rather well. I get all the channels in at between 70-80%. But, it came with standard coaxial cable. Is there a better cable I should use?

XBOX: The only way to run your XBOX through the 811 is via composite video. This will not give you HD. XBOX has a HD adaptor that will allow you to connect via component thus giving you HD with any HD capable game.

811: You will not see much of a difference between the DVI and the component outputs. They both look equally as good. Since you only have 1 component input on your TV, which will be occupied with the XBOX connection, use the DVI input for your 811.

OTA: A good quality coax cable is all you need for you antenna input on your TV.

 

[ats7627]

Also, to add to this;
One problem is that, like I said, when I run the TV through the SS (ie. not for DVD's) the center channel does not play, but instead comes through the TV speaker.
A possible reason for this is that the TV has four inputs. 1, 2, 3 and digital (compenent plus RCA digital audio). Input one has S-video and RCA plus audio, 2 and 3 are just RCA plus audio. The TV also has the HDMI.
So, I have the 811, via components running to the digital video input and the input 1 audio. Its the only way to get sound?? If I hook the RCA audio to the digital audio inputs there is no sound. I assume because the 811's RCA audio is analog while the digital has that square peg line. If I switch to a DVI-HDMI I'll still have to use the input 1 RCA analog audio inputs.
First, is there a way to run the digital audio between the 811 and the TV or SS? Or, how should all the audio be hooked up?
Second, would it be better for any reason to run the DVD player S-video to the 811?

1:The RCA audio outputs on the 811 are analog only. If you want digital audio from the 811, the only way to get there is via the digital audio output. The 811 uses the toslink connector (square peg line). If your TV or SS does not have this connector, you will not get digital audio unless you purchase a digital audio adapter.

2: S-video will always give you a better picture than composite.

 

[monsterHDfreak]

My thoughts,
811 to TV via DVI-HDMI cable. You will not lose any quality.
XBOX to TV via Component. You need a XBOX component adapter.
DVD to TV via S-Video.
Does your Pioneer surround sound receiver have a digital audio input?
If it does, then you can hook up the 811 audio that way.
Hope that helps.

If I may add to this, if your Pioneer surround sound system as "Optical Digital" input then you need to go to best buy and get an "Optical" cable. It's a single cable with a single connector that uses light to transfer digital sound codes. There isn't really a way to "improve" light transfer so any level of optical cable will do. They will probably try to sell you Monster cable, and my recommendation is to get it because it is sturdier, although not much higher quality than Acoustic Research PRO. You should do this for all of your external components except for the XBOX because there is no true digital audio output on an XBOX so no need to even worry about it.

Look on the back of your surround sound receiver to see how many digital audio inputs it has. If it has two optical, you can link your dvd player and your 811 to it. if your dvd player has only coaxial digital output (shown by either black or orange connector) then check your pioneer to see if it has that input. It will say "Coaxial" and it most probably is orange. You can get the same thing at best buy. With that I highly suggest monster cable for the best quality and durability because coaxial still uses copper/silver wiring and shielding so you can get interference on the line. Monster cable is the best at breaking that down and lasts the longest. If you have more questions, I suggest looking on the back of your components, drawing diagrams of the connection ports and then going to best buy and asking the sales associate to help you find the right cables for you. Also, if you hook all the video straight to your tv and route all the audio through the receiver then you definitely need those cables. If you use HDMI-HDMI from your components to your tv only then that's all you need as it carries both audio and video.

HDMI-DVI carries only video so you would still need the audio cabling. With stereo RCA audio cables you cannot get the Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS decoding across so you will never get true surround sound. I had the same problem before I started working at best buy and I learned a lot in the three months since I've been there. With the right digital audio cabling your problems should disappear.

On a more concise note, where the "Digital RCA" connector is on your tv (or receiver), that's referring to the Coaxial Digital cable. It has the same basic connector as an RCA cable but with different wiring and shielding because it's transferring different signals. The "Square Peg" insert on the back of your 811 is for the Optical digital cable which if you do what I suggested and go to best buy or circuit city or wherever, they will get you the right cables for your system. Again, be sure all your components have matching outputs and inputs as far as digital audio is concerned, because there are no adaptors for optical-coaxial because it's not possible. You can't connect light to copper wiring. Remember to draw a diagram of the connection panel on the back of your tv and take that with you as well. Be sure to label every connection port.

To fix the center channel-being-your-tv problem, you need to make sure that all your speakers are wired correctly into the receiver and then route ALL audio through the receiver instead of through the tv! If you have a long enough RCA audio for your XBOX then you should route those into it as well. You won't get true surround sound but it will definitely sound better than it does coming just out of the tv. Most of the newer hdtvs aren't built with the speakers that the old CRT monitors had. The reason is that the industry is pushing "Home Theatre" as in- the whole experience, with surround sound systems and big screens and the whole 10 yards. So they effort and money is being spent on the picture quality and less on the audio output of a tv, because they figure people are going to want to hook up everything to surround sound anyway, which is becoming true. If all your speakers are wired correctly into the receiver and all your audio cabling is being routed to the receiver instead of the tv, that will take care of that problem.

Hope that helps.

 

[charper1]

What is that for those of us less attuned to the lingo?

A/V = audio & video

DTS = Digital Theater Sound

DD = Dolby Digital