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View Full Version : Dolby Surround and all that tech stuff. PLEASE HELP ME OUT.



TRIGGAH
12-27-2001, 01:24 AM
What's up fellow XBOX men.

I got a question for all the Tech Experts here.

I bought the XBOX on its release date and well let's just say that I got sick and tired of playing XBOX on my MONO 1986 19inch Sony Trinitron. So I went out today Boxing Day shopping. Now my budget was tight so I can't afford all the really big expensive toys plus I live in a small condo so I cant crank my system.

Anyways I purchased a 27 inch Sony WEGA and a Sony 5.1 Dolby Digital DTS Surround DREAM system (180 watts, I know, I know but when you live in a small condo you don't have the joy of cranking your system.

Unfortunately I have not received my TV yet but its on its way. So I set up my 5.1 Surround and listened to a few CD's and it definitely sounds sweet.

Ok so my first question is this, first of all I purchased the XBOX with no extra adapters, so I ask what extra adapters do I need to purchase??? Do I need the Advanced AV pack? or the S video optical one?

Question 2, should I purchase better speaker wires? Or are the ones I have now will do just fine. It does sound sweet.

Question 3, where do I hook everything up to? Do I hook up the Xbox to the receiver or to the tv?

Well that's about it for now.

Oh and if you guys can give me your own personal opinions on what you think of my setup? I know this is nothing special but once again I live in a condo so I couldn't buy bigger and louder. What do you guys think of Sony for tv's and receiver and speakers? The only reason I stuck with Sony, well that little 19 inch tv I bought 15 years ago still runs perfect to this day. So if something is good i stick with it.

Anyways thanks for any replies on helping me out.

Peace out y'all.

LynxFX
12-27-2001, 01:51 AM
Welcome to the world of digital sound. :D

I know what you mean about living in a place where you can't crank it because of neighbors. It sounds like you did pretty well on a budget.

Now on to your questions.

1) You will need to get the HD AV kit ($20). You will be connection to the component input on your tv with this. It comes with all the necessary cables for video. Then purchase a toslink optical cable. You can get a very decent RCA one from Target for $12.

2) I set up my mom with a Sony all in one package and the cables, although fairly cheap weren't too bad. They also had proprietary connectors on the ends for the receiver so I couldn't swap them. With that low of wattage though you should be fine with the cables that they came with. If you do feel inclined to upgrade you can get some 100' of 16 gauge wire from Wal-Mart which would be plenty (gauge wise) for your system. I honestly don't think you will need to upgrade though, at least not yet. :)

3) You will hook up your xbox to the HD AV Pack. It has a seperate box at the end of it. From there you will connect the component video cables (red, gree, blue) to the HD AV Pack and run it to the back of your tv. The optical cable will then connect to the HD AV Pack and run to your optical in on your receiver. When you setup your xbox go to the dashboard and change the sound to Dolby Digital and select DTS support as well. Go to your video and select 480p support. Select no to 720p and 1080i. Keep the aspect ratio as normal (instead of widescreen or letterbox).

That should be it.

Sony is a great brand for tv's and their Vega line is superb. The audio system you got is on the low end but it is a good start. You probably won't be dissappointed. Now set it up, turn off the lights and put in Halo. :D

TRIGGAH
12-27-2001, 02:38 AM
Cool thanks for the help, I was actually just looking at your tread on page 4 with the actual picture for connecting the XBOX. That kind of helped me out.
Ok so basically I don't have nothing to do with the S Video right? Cuz I was just looking at my receiver and there is only one S video input and 1 optical input as well. Is that alright?
So I purchase the HD pack? I thought that was only for HD tv's? I don't think my WEGA is an HDTV. Or is it? Really doubt it.
So HD pack from the XBOX to the TV and the separate toslink optical cable from the HD pack to the receiver? That sounds pretty simple. Well hopefully it will work fine. Ill let you know on Friday when I hook it up.
So is the XBOX DTS compatible? I didnt' think it was. Why should I select 480p insead of the others. (Oh by the way I am not doubting your advice, it's just that I am completely clueless to these things, but you gotta learn someday).

Yeah the WEGA Tv is beautiful, even though it's only 27inches, but I live in a small room so that's ok. Personally I plan to purchase a plasma tv in a few years, so this will definitely do for now. I know that the Sony receiver was on the lower end. But I got it for a really good deal. 500$ Canadian, so Im not complaining. At full blast in my room it pumps, but if it was in a bigger space than i would at least need 500 watts.

Hey if you have time to write why don't you share some of your expertise and rate the top five brands for tv's, speakers, receivers, dvd players? I was just curious on to what are the best brands out there. How about BOSE and NAD and NAKAMICHI are they worth the dough?

PEACE OUT BRO.

LynxFX
12-27-2001, 03:24 AM
No problem.

Yes, scrap any ideas about S-video since with your tv you will not need it. The xbox will pass a DTS signal to your receiver for movies only. So far no games have DTS support. That might change since SSX Tricky on the PS2 actually has DTS support. But DD is great for now.

Hopefully this won't add to the confusion but I'll give you a little history on the HD AV pack and HDTV in general.

First off, calling it an HD AV pack couldn't be more confusing and misleading. tsk tsk Microsoft. It is true that you will need it for when we get true HD games (1080i) and to display it on an HDTV. But right now no games support that. Every game, however, does support the digital format of 480p. This is where the HD stuff gets confusing. To experience that you DO need the HD AV pack but you DO NOT need an HDTV to get it. You DO need a digital tv. HDTV's are also digital so you can add them to the list but not all digital tv's are HDTV's or even HD ready. You do get a better image though when you run component video to a digital set, like your Vega.

So try and get the HDTV combined with xbox stuff out of your head since right now the xbox has nothing that actually supports HD and nothing has even been announced.

As for advice I'm not too up-to-date on most CRT or projection tvs. There are other fellows on this board that know more about that like Hugh_Jass and Frostberg. I'm more into front projection. As for speakers....let's see.

First off, stay away from Bose. "No highs, No lows, Get Bose" Infact your simple system now probably sounds just as good if not better than an Acoustimass system by Bose which costs quite a bit more. The only reason Bose gets by is by good marketing and brainwashed sales people. Go to a Bose store and ask a sales rep for specs on their speakers. You will get a speech that starts with "When Doctor Bose was in college..." They are a joke and not worth the dough.

NAKAMICHI do make some very nice receivers.

Never heard of NAD electronics though so can't give any advice on those.

As for speakers I would really like a Home Theatre based around some Martin Logan speakers powered with Krell amps. Add an SVS sub or two and I would never leave the house. :D

Other great speaker 'brands' would be Polk, Definitive, Infinity, Boston Accoustics, Klipsch, Mission.

Receivers, the Pioneer Elite line are awesome and their VSX line on the lower end, Denon, Technics (actually are a great budget line) Sony, Yamaha.

Rear Projection tvs, favorite that I have personally seen would be the Pioneer Elite line as well. Mitsubishi are very nice as well. Both benefit greatly from calibration out of the box and then again after 100 hours of usage.

CRT tv's I would sudgest Sony Vega and probably Panasonic. Those are the two that stick out the most in my mind. But others should be able to give you some better info on those.

Of course there is some very high end audiophile brands that I am neglecting to mention because I figure that those are out of the reach of most if not all of us. :) Or should that be a :(

Curious as to what others will add...or subtract. :)

DBXNY
12-27-2001, 02:54 PM
Bros,

All Sony Wegas are Direct View TV's, but NOT ALL Wegas are Digital TV's. Also, all the digital Wegas are HDTV-Ready (1080i) as well.

Trigga,

As far as I know, Sony doesn't make any Wega digital (HDTV-Ready, that is) sets smaller than 36". Your TV is most definitely not a digital set. Thus, you will not be able to display 480p as previously mentioned (only regular 480i). When setting up your X-Box, you should say "no" for 480p, as well as 720p and 1080i.

DB:)

LynxFX
12-27-2001, 03:36 PM
DXBNY,

My bad, just checked out the specs again. The 27" does accept component but does not support progressive scan. Only the Hi-scan and XBR models do. Their XBR models start at 32".

Still go with the HD AV pack but like DXBNY said select no for 480p support.

xBoXGaMeR2002
12-27-2001, 03:49 PM
im gettin a 53" HDTV with DTS 5.1 Surround Sound.

I'll prolly get my dad to hook it up for me.

Danny1
01-11-2004, 09:03 AM
So Lynx FX (or anyone else for that matter), I also have a 27 inch Sony Wega TV that can do the 16x9 enhanced TV squeeze. What video aspect ratio should I select on the XBOX? Letterbox or Widescreen? What is the real difference between these two?

Thanks,