Will audio suffer from routing it via the TV?

[MeesL]

Hello dear TH Guru's!

I am purchasing a surround set in the near future, this particular set I have got my eyes on has a built in amplifier but it only has so many optical audio ports (not enough at least). I can solve this problem by plugging the sources into the tv and the tv into the amplifier.

Now the question is goes as follows:
Will the audio quality suffer from routing it via the tv?

Thanks in advance!
Mees

 

[ssddx]

were you thinking of buying a HTIB (home theater in a box) set or one with an actual receiver unit? the htib's tend to be very spartan on connectivity (some do not even support surround sound on optical input) while a receiver gives you many more options (connecting via hdmi is optimal).

generally "quality" is not going to go down by using your tv in the loop however you might lose out on 5.1 support in this way with some of your devices. 5.1 support over optical is hit or miss.... only compressed DD formats can be played over it (uncompressed is 2.0 only) and not all devices support this over optical.

 

[MeesL]

were you thinking of buying a HTIB (home theater in a box) set or one with an actual receiver unit? the htib's tend to be very spartan on connectivity (some do not even support surround sound on optical input) while a receiver gives you many more options (connecting via hdmi is optimal).

generally "quality" is not going to go down by using your tv in the loop however you might lose out on 5.1 support in this way with some of your devices. 5.1 support over optical is hit or miss.... only compressed DD formats can be played over it (uncompressed is 2.0 only) and not all devices support this over optical.

Thanks for the reply!

So what you're saying is that overall audio quality won't go down, but I might lose my 5.1 support. Does the last point have to do with the TV not outputting the right signal?

As far as the speakerset goes (I did not put it in the original post for some daft reason...), I have got my eyes on the Logitech z906 set. Would this be the right one to go with or would you recommend picking a different set or a set without a built in amplifier?

Kind regards,
Mees

P.s. The TV I will be using is the LG 42LF561V =]

 

[ssddx]

the main problem with expecting 5.1 over optical is this:

all signals over optical are 2.0 stereo uncompressed UNLESS all devices hooked up are capable of 5.1 DD compressed audio over optical.

this means that if you have...

device1(supported) -> z906 ... it would work
device1(unsupported) -> z906 ... stereo only
device1(supported) -> device2 (supported) -> z906 ... it would work
device1(supported) -> device2 (unsupported) -> z906 ... stereo only

for direct connections to the z906 or using another device such as a tv as a hub for connecting devices first. now, many televisions nowadays do support 5.1 on optical due to the advent of such soundbars however i would suggest you read your manual to verify this. also, you would need to verify the other sources support it. if you are planning on hooking up your pc to the tv then to z906 it will not work except stereo. when you hook up using a tv as the hub generally you will only see 2.0 as an option on your pc regardless of any settings you change. most other devices such as consoles work fine with passthrough if multi-channel over optical is supported.

read the manuals to see if they support 5.1 over optical. if yes i would say you wouldnt have any trouble except PC, you wont get that to work (but can use the 3.5mm connections for that).

the z906 set is fairly low end when talking about speakers in general. better than cheap pc speakers and not terrible sounding at all however they are outclassed by home theater speakers.

if you have the budget for it... i would suggest looking at either the energy 5.1 classic take set (or the cheaper knockoff monoprice 10565) and pairing it up with a real avr receiver

$359 z906
$300 energy 5.1 + purchase separate receiver
$221 monoprice 10565 + purchase separate receiver

receivers generally about $200 though you can find refurbished vsx-524's or similar on ebay for about $150 which would work if refurbished is okay with you.

a receiver would also allow you to route all of your signals to it and in HDMI no less which generally gives less trouble than optical and is higher quality as well. if your tv has arc support you could even use that with hdmi (receiver needs hdmi arc as well) instead of optical for sound from tv sources like smart apps or tuner.

just a thought..

 

[MeesL]

the main problem with expecting 5.1 over optical is this:

all signals over optical are 2.0 stereo uncompressed UNLESS all devices hooked up are capable of 5.1 DD compressed audio over optical.

this means that if you have...

device1(supported) -> z906 ... it would work
device1(unsupported) -> z906 ... stereo only
device1(supported) -> device2 (supported) -> z906 ... it would work
device1(supported) -> device2 (unsupported) -> z906 ... stereo only

for direct connections to the z906 or using another device such as a tv as a hub for connecting devices first. now, many televisions nowadays do support 5.1 on optical due to the advent of such soundbars however i would suggest you read your manual to verify this. also, you would need to verify the other sources support it. if you are planning on hooking up your pc to the tv then to z906 it will not work except stereo. when you hook up using a tv as the hub generally you will only see 2.0 as an option on your pc regardless of any settings you change. most other devices such as consoles work fine with passthrough if multi-channel over optical is supported.

read the manuals to see if they support 5.1 over optical. if yes i would say you wouldnt have any trouble except PC, you wont get that to work (but can use the 3.5mm connections for that).

the z906 set is fairly low end when talking about speakers in general. better than cheap pc speakers and not terrible sounding at all however they are outclassed by home theater speakers.

if you have the budget for it... i would suggest looking at either the energy 5.1 classic take set (or the cheaper knockoff monoprice 10565) and pairing it up with a real avr receiver

$359 z906
$300 energy 5.1 + purchase separate receiver
$221 monoprice 10565 + purchase separate receiver

receivers generally about $200 though you can find refurbished vsx-524's or similar on ebay for about $150 which would work if refurbished is okay with you.

a receiver would also allow you to route all of your signals to it and in HDMI no less which generally gives less trouble than optical and is higher quality as well. if your tv has arc support you could even use that with hdmi (receiver needs hdmi arc as well) instead of optical for sound from tv sources like smart apps or tuner.

just a thought..

I get it! Thanks a million!

I will look into the Energy 5.1 set with a separate reciever, thanks again =].

Mees