hooking up a 5.1 surround system

[slightlyhuman]

ok, my rents gave me their old sony surround sound system.

here's what i want to do. i have an apex tv(it was free), a sony dvd player and soon an xbox. i also have the receiver/amplifier thing, it's a Sony STR-D715. i also have 5 speakers for 5.1 surround sound i want to hook up.

i am looking on advice on how to hook it up. i tried my logic last night for a few hours and got nothing. i figured i hook up the Sony receiver to the tv then the dvd player to the video 1 and the xbox to video 2 and bam, it would work.

can someone PLEASE help me get this going? i don't know anything about this kind of stuff. also need help getting an understanding on the in/out stuff. i'm thinking the receiver/amplifier plugs into the OUT rca jacks in the tv and the dvd player/xbox plug into the IN on the receiver/amp?

just looking for info how to hook this stuff up and to see if i have everything i need to just run 5.1 surround sound while watching movies and playing games. i don't really care if the xbox is surround but it would be sweet to crank the speakers up while playing, even if it's 2.1

thanks.

 

[iamwiz82]

TV Audio Out to Receiver TV Audio In
DVD Player Audio Out to Receiver DVD Audio In
DVD Video Out to TV Video 1 In
Xbox Audio Out to receiver Video Audio In
Xbox Video Out to TV Video 2 In

 

[slightlyhuman]

yellow is video and white is audio, correct?

 

[purbeast0]

well if you want the 5.1 sound on your xbox, you need to get the xbox HD cable pack (or the S-Video pack) because thats the only way you can get the optical cable running to your receiver.

you cannot get 5.1 sound from your xbox unless you get one of those packs. if you just hook the red/white cables, from your normal xbox av adapter, to your receiver, you will only get 2.0 sound.

you cannot get 5.1 sound from your TV as well, you will only get 2.0 w/the red/white audio cables from your audio out to your audio in on your receiver. same goes w/your dvd player. if you want the 5.1 sound, you need the optical cable. if you just hook the red/white audio cables from your dvd player to your receiver, you will only get 2.0 sound.

so you best go out and buy some parts if you want surround sound

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
well if you want the 5.1 sound on your xbox, you need to get the xbox HD cable pack (or the S-Video pack) because thats the only way you can get the optical cable running to your receiver.

you cannot get 5.1 sound from your xbox unless you get one of those packs. if you just hook the red/white cables, from your normal xbox av adapter, to your receiver, you will only get 2.0 sound.

you cannot get 5.1 sound from your TV as well, you will only get 2.0 w/the red/white audio cables from your audio out to your audio in on your receiver. same goes w/your dvd player. if you want the 5.1 sound, you need the optical cable. if you just hook the red/white audio cables from your dvd player to your receiver, you will only get 2.0 sound.

so you best go out and buy some parts if you want surround sound

ok, tell me what parts i need.

i have the receiver and a fw sets of rca cables what else?

 

[purbeast0]

well what kind of video inputs does your TV have?

Composite (normal yellow)
S-Video
Component

?


EDIT: you are probably going to throw away your RCA's heh

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
well what kind of video inputs does your TV have?

Composite (normal yellow)
S-Video
Component

?


EDIT: you are probably going to throw away your RCA's heh

the yellow/white/red jacks and s-video.

i don't really care to have surround sound on my xbox, 2.0 as long as sound is coming through all the speakers will be fine, but i'd like to have 5.0 for movies.

 

[slightlyhuman]

also, can you educate me on the IN and OUT, what does what?

 

[purbeast0]

trust me, you want 5.1 for your xbox, it is much better than 2.0 on xbox

well get an svideo cable + optical audio cable for your dvd player. Run the svideo to your TV input and the optical audio cable to your receiver.

since you have a current RCA cable, use the red and white wires from that to run the audio out from your TV to one of the red/white jacks on your receiver's audio in ports. that way you can hear your TV sound on your receiver as well. you might have to go into a settings menu on your TV and make your TV use the audio out as its output when using this feature though, I had to do that w/my old sony wega. it turns off the TV speakers and outputs the sound through the audio output jacks instead.

and if you get an xbox, get the advanced AV pack for it, which will let you hook your xbox up with svideo, and also get another optical audio cable so you can hook your advanged av pack to your receiver with it. the advanced AV pack does not come with an optical cable.

that should do it for you.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: DP
also, can you educate me on the IN and OUT, what does what?

lol don't tell that spanish chick you ever asked this question ...

it does just what it says ... take the DVD player for instance ...

you hook the cable into the dvd player audio OUT (because thats where the sound is coming OUT of) and run it to your receivers audio IN (because thats where the sound is coming INto from its old location, the dvd player).

its the same thing with all your equipment. when you hook a dvd player to your TV, you are running the dvd player OUT to your tv IN because the source is coming from your DVD player to your TV (out to in).

just like when you want sound coming out of your receiver, you have to hook it from your tv audio OUT to your receiver IN (because the source is coming OUT of the tv INto the receiver).

get it?

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: DP
also, can you educate me on the IN and OUT, what does what?

lol don't tell that spanish chick you ever asked this question ...

it does just what it says ... take the DVD player for instance ...

you hook the cable into the dvd player audio OUT (because thats where the sound is coming OUT of) and run it to your receivers audio IN (because thats where the sound is coming INto from its old location, the dvd player).

its the same thing with all your equipment. when you hook a dvd player to your TV, you are running the dvd player OUT to your tv IN because the source is coming from your DVD player to your TV (out to in).

just like when you want sound coming out of your receiver, you have to hook it from your tv audio OUT to your receiver IN (because the source is coming OUT of the tv INto the receiver).

get it?

you bastard! but yes i get it

well we might have a problem... my dvd player only has one set of yellow/white/red jacks.

it has some green/orange/another colors for something else....

it doens't have a set of IN and OUT rca plugs, just one set.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: DP

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: DP
also, can you educate me on the IN and OUT, what does what?

lol don't tell that spanish chick you ever asked this question ...

it does just what it says ... take the DVD player for instance ...

you hook the cable into the dvd player audio OUT (because thats where the sound is coming OUT of) and run it to your receivers audio IN (because thats where the sound is coming INto from its old location, the dvd player).

its the same thing with all your equipment. when you hook a dvd player to your TV, you are running the dvd player OUT to your tv IN because the source is coming from your DVD player to your TV (out to in).

just like when you want sound coming out of your receiver, you have to hook it from your tv audio OUT to your receiver IN (because the source is coming OUT of the tv INto the receiver).

get it?

you bastard! but yes i get it

well we might have a problem... my dvd player only has one set of yellow/white/red jacks.

it has some green/orange/another colors for something else....

it doens't have a set of IN and OUT rca plugs, just one set.

heh, there are no IN and OUT plugs, just one set of plugs, that have male ends on both sides of them. the side you plug the male ends into on your equipment will be labeled IN or OUT, not the actual cables.

your dvd player SHOULD also have this wierd little hole for optical output. It will look like a black square, and then will have a little "door" on it that opens as you plug the optical cable into it.

 

[spacejamz]

In order to get 5.1 sound, you need to use a digital connection.

you need to find out how many and what type of digital inputs you have on your receiver and also what kind of digital output you have on your dvd player.

they will be either coax (has a RCA connection and usually has a orange colored jack) or optical.

sounds like your DVD player has an orange one, so that should be digital coax. You can get a digital coax cable at Walmart, best buy, etc for under $10...(and assuming your receiver has a digital coax input - if doesn't, you will be out of luck)...

not sure if the xbox uses coax or optical (i would guess optical though)...

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

In order to get 5.1 sound, you need to use a digital connection.

you need to find out how many and what type of digital inputs you have on your receiver and also what kind of digital output you have on your dvd player.

they will be either coax (has a RCA connection and usually has a orange colored jack) or optical.

sounds like your DVD player has an orange one, so that should be digital coax. You can get a digital coax cable at Walmart, best buy, etc for under $10...(and assuming your receiver has a digital coax input - if doesn't, you will be out of luck)...

not sure if the xbox uses coax or optical (i would guess optical though)...

it's pretty old. they got it 5-10 years ago