HDMI to Toslink to 5.1 Analog

Kjølen · 12-04-2008, 05:49 PM

Hello. Recently, I've been thinking about buying this Gateway XHD3000 30" Monitor for my computer, and plan using it like a standard HDTV, too (Yes, I realize this monitor doesn't have an HDTV tuner, I'll deal with that as I get to it). Is you can see from the specs and pictures, this LCD monitor has a crap ton of inputs and outputs to rival the best HDTVs. Now, I'd be hooking up a lot of things to this monitor (Xbox 360, Wii, Blu-Ray player, PC, etc) but I only want to use one set of speakers for the entire system. What I currently use for my PC is a Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System which connects all of the speakers to the woofer via three 3.5mm analog inputs.

The Questions:

If I were to hook up a Blu-Ray player to the monitor via HDMI, could I get the 5.1 surround sound from the HDMI cable to exit the Optical SPDIF (Toslink) output, buy a toslink to 5.1 analog cable and wire it into the Logitech X-540?
If my Xbox 360 and Wii sound inputs are 2-channel RCA (to the TV), will they still run the sound out of the toslink-analog to the speakers (albeit in 2-channel audio)?
Can you think of a better way to get 5.1 Surround sound from my devices out to my speakers?

yustr · 12-06-2008, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kjølen

Hello. Recently, I've been thinking about buying this Gateway XHD3000 30" Monitor for my computer, and plan using it like a standard HDTV, too (Yes, I realize this monitor doesn't have an HDTV tuner, I'll deal with that as I get to it). Is you can see from the specs and pictures, this LCD monitor has a crap ton of inputs and outputs to rival the best HDTVs. Now, I'd be hooking up a lot of things to this monitor (Xbox 360, Wii, Blu-Ray player, PC, etc) but I only want to use one set of speakers for the entire system. What I currently use for my PC is a Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System which connects all of the speakers to the woofer via three 3.5mm analog inputs.

The Questions:

If I were to hook up a Blu-Ray player to the monitor via HDMI, could I get the 5.1 surround sound from the HDMI cable to exit the Optical SPDIF (Toslink) output, (YES) buy a toslink to 5.1 analog cable (no such thing) and wire it into the Logitech X-540?
If my Xbox 360 and Wii sound inputs are 2-channel RCA (to the TV), will they still run the sound out of the toslink-analog to the speakers (albeit in 2-channel audio)? (Yes)
Can you think of a better way to get 5.1 Surround sound from my devices out to my speakers? (The weak link is the speakers. They'll only take a signal through the three 1/8th " plugs from the computer's sound card. There are no other inputs.)

Kjølen · 12-06-2008, 05:31 PM

Yes, I realize that there are no other inputs, but surely there's a way to convert the analog plugs to one of the surround sound capable outputs on the TV.

yustr · 12-07-2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kjølen

Yes, I realize that there are no other inputs, but surely there's a way to convert the analog plugs to one of the surround sound capable outputs on the TV.

r

The problem is not the plugs; it's the fact that the surround signal needs to be decoded into its various component parts. The TV will pass a signal through but you'll need something to do the decoding.

Your sound card does this. So does a HT receiver. But neither your TV nor speakers do.

12-04-2008, 05:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kjølen Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 49 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, Linux, Mac OS X Leopard My System	HDMI to Toslink to 5.1 Analog Hello. Recently, I've been thinking about buying this Gateway XHD3000 30" Monitor for my computer, and plan using it like a standard HDTV, too (Yes, I realize this monitor doesn't have an HDTV tuner, I'll deal with that as I get to it). Is you can see from the specs and pictures, this LCD monitor has a crap ton of inputs and outputs to rival the best HDTVs. Now, I'd be hooking up a lot of things to this monitor (Xbox 360, Wii, Blu-Ray player, PC, etc) but I only want to use one set of speakers for the entire system. What I currently use for my PC is a Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System which connects all of the speakers to the woofer via three 3.5mm analog inputs. The Questions: If I were to hook up a Blu-Ray player to the monitor via HDMI, could I get the 5.1 surround sound from the HDMI cable to exit the Optical SPDIF (Toslink) output, buy a toslink to 5.1 analog cable and wire it into the Logitech X-540? If my Xbox 360 and Wii sound inputs are 2-channel RCA (to the TV), will they still run the sound out of the toslink-analog to the speakers (albeit in 2-channel audio)? Can you think of a better way to get 5.1 Surround sound from my devices out to my speakers?

12-06-2008, 05:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
Kjølen Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 49 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, Linux, Mac OS X Leopard My System	Re: HDMI to Toslink to 5.1 Analog Yes, I realize that there are no other inputs, but surely there's a way to convert the analog plugs to one of the surround sound capable outputs on the TV.