Is this possible using only the TV?

[coldmeat]

I just want to know if it is possible to have a cable box, my pc, and my xbox 360 all hooked up to the pn42a450 that I will be getting in a few weeks with only one set of speakers that I already own. (x-530s, don't have the money to buy anything better) I want to do this without having to get up to switch the cables. Do I need to buy something extra to do this? I've never owned a tv before, or used computers speakers with a tv.

 

[g8wayrebel]

Not sure of the connections for your TV , but an AV receiver will do that easily.

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: g8wayrebel
Not sure of the connections for your TV , but an AV receiver will do that easily.

It would be nice if I could buy one, but they seem way too expensive.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, should work.

The x-530s will only operate in 2.1 though unless you get an adapter to do stereo surround (vs. true surround). It might have come with the set already and be called a game adapter or something (takes a stereo analog signal and sends it out to all the speakers so they all play, but it's not really true surround).

Looks like your PM42A450 has stereo analog output which is what you'd need to use for the x-530s.

So I assume you'll want to have it hooked up for 5.1 sound from the PC, eh?

That means that you're either going to have to get an audio switch (if you don't keep your computer on all the time), or you'll want to keep the speakers plugged directly into the computer and then run audio from the audio out of the TV to the "line-in" on your soundcard. This is assuming that your soundcard or integrated sound has line-in capability while in 5.1 mode.

I can't check your rig since the link is broken.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...y=y&keyword1=rig+links

I'm in the process of downloading the manual for the TV, but I would hope it has the ability to take audio off HDMI and then spit out analog for you to use.

If not, worst case is you'd have to use component for the cable box or something.

EDIT: I looked at the manual. I got the impression that hooking up via HDMI will work for you (didn't see a not in the area of hooking up an external system via analog audio meant not getting sound from HDMI audio inputs). I'm not sure if your cable box can output audio over HDMI though since I'm not very familiar with the different models out there. If it has HDMI for the video but not audio, then you can hook up to HDMI 2 and use analog for the audio.

 

[coldmeat]

Ok, I fixed my rig link, thanks.

I just want it hooked up to the PC for movies, but I will use my 2.1 speakers for PC games and everything else which I use my monitor for.

I'm not sure about my cable box, because I don't even have my cable installed yet. It will be Rogers, I just haven't moved into my house at school yet.

As long as I am at home, my computer is on, so that wouldn't be a problem.

I'm sure that once I get everything together, I should be able to figure it out, it's just that I want to have everything ready for when I move.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So you want to have a 2.1 set connected at your monitor and the 5.1 set hooked up at the TV location?

Is the sound hardware on your computer capable of doing 5.1 output, line-in, and another output at the same time?

 

[coldmeat]

I suppose not. I'm looking at the manual right now and it says one is center/subwoofer, one is rear speaker, another is "line out" which is the green one I use for my 2.1 speakers but it also says it can be for the front speaker, and one is side speaker (but apparently only for 8-channel configurations).

Would the best way to do it be to buy a cheap soundcard or would that just make it sound worse?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How many jacks are there total? 4? 5?

What does the manual say regarding line-in?

Do you have it set up so that you can plug in headphones to the front of your case by any chance?

 

[coldmeat]

6 but one is for microphones. And ya there is a headphone jack in the front of my case, its an Antec 900.

line-in doesn't say much other than "connects cd, dvd, or other audio sources"

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Ok how about this?

5.1 hooked up to green/orange/black like usual

hook up line-in to the analog audio output of your TV

hook up your 2.1 speakers to the headphone jack at the front of your case

 

[coldmeat]

Ok that sounds like it would work.

So the audio output is the same for all sources, like my xbox and cable box?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, you'll hook up both of those to the TV and then when you select the input on your TV, the audio for that source will be sent out the "audio out" from the TV. This will run to the line-in on your computer.

So

XBOX
--> HDMI (audio + video) to TV

Cable
--> HDMI (audio + video) to TV
(or some other connection if HDMI isn't a possibility)

TV
--> 2xRCA to stereo 3.5mm running from audio out to computer Line-In

Computer (Rear)
--> 5.1 analog connection to x-530

Computer (Front)
--> 2.1 speakers connected



If you do it this way, you'll only get 2.1 operation from the x-530s when using the XBOX or Cable. You'll get 5.1 from the x-530s when using the computer as your source (as long as it's a surround source like a movie or game).

I don't know what all your options are for the front panel connection based on your integrated sound hardware and software. You may be able to select when you're outputting to the rear panel vs. the front panel or it may be auto-sensing and give you options etc.

You will have issues if you're trying to do more than one thing at a time though. For example, if you have the TV on and are also using the computer, whatever speakers you have on will be playing sounds from both sources. You'll have some control over this by muting inputs but I don't think there's a way to set this up for 2.1 for the comptuer and x-530s playing back the TV sounds independently for example. You could do something like that if you had more than one soundcard though. If you were going to put any money into this though, I'd recommend doing something different though since this is probably going to be rather messy.

 

[coldmeat]

alright, thanks for the help. It hadn't occurred to me that I might run into trouble trying to use my computer's 2.1 speakers for a game and watch tv at the same time.

What are my options if I wanted to play two different sources on separate speakers? What if I was to find a very cheap 5.1 sound card? Say like $15 or so? Would the fact that it's a cheap sound card result in lower audio quality? As long as it works, I don't care too much about mess.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you have two soundcards, you're able to associate programs to work with certain devices afaik. I haven't tried it so I don't have any experience actually doing it. From what I understand though, that would mean that you could have a game associated with the card hooked up to the 2.1 system and the soundcard hooked up to the x-530s would function independently. I don't know if that would really work though or if there are any issues about doing two audio streams at once.

Rather than spending money on another soundcard (and having to deal with a lot of software and settings), it would probably make more sense to just get an input switch and then have control over what source is using the x-530s.

This would eliminate the need to run to the line-in on the soundcard.

For example if you got a 2 input audio switch, you could have

Input 1 = audio output from TV
Input 2 = FL/FR audio output from computer

Output goes to FL/FR connection on x-530s (center/sub and SL/SR would stay connected directly to the computer)

You'd switch to input 1 when you want to use the x-530s with the cable box / xbox
You'd switch to input 2 when you want to use the x-530s with the computer

In either case, you'd be able to have the 2.1 set connected through the headphone jack on the front of the case.

 

[coldmeat]

Ok, if I did this, then wouldn't the center/sub and rear right and left speakers always be playing what is on the pc?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Does your integrated sound have the option to mute rear output when the front panel audio connection is being used?

 

[coldmeat]

Ok, ya I can using the Soundmax control center, it just takes a few clicks. Sorry for all the questions, but if I had it set up like that then my xbox and cable box wouldn't use the 5.1, only the 2 front speakers. right?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah. There's no easy way around that really. Since you need to hook up via analog, your cable box and xbox are only going to be giving you stereo anyway.

You could get fake surround from a game adapter and map stereo to all the speakers, but in order to avoid switching cables around, you'd need something that can switch 6 channel analog or get 3 stereo switches. At that point I'd recommend not sinking any more money into the existing equipment and get something that can actually get you true surround and make input switching easier (like Logitech z-5500s for $200-ish).

 

[coldmeat]

ok thanks for the help. The cheapest that I can get z-5500s for is $290 + tax here in Canada.