I'm buying an HDTV and a PS3 sometime in the near future.
The HDTV would def have HDMI, as would the PS3 obviously.

Another thing I definitely will be doing is hooking up my Dell XPS-M1330 to the HDTV. The laptop comes with HDMI out, so no worries there.

I currently have the Logitech X-540 5.1 speakers hooked up to my laptop using the Creative Audigy 2NX USB sound card.

I looked into getting the X-540 to work with the PS3, and it just looks too complicated.

So...
i'm strongly considering getting the Logitech z5500 just cuz it has optical input, and it's a pretty awesome set of 5.1s

my questions for the z5500:

1. If I hook up the PS3 to it, will it be full 5.1 surround sound?

2. Can I hook up more than 1 device to the z5500 via optical? It says it supports up to 6 different devices, but the control panel thing only has 1 SPDIF input...

3. Can I just hook up the z5500 to the TV's optical out, and then use only the HDMI input of the PS3 and my Laptop to get full 5.1 surround on the z5500?



thanks

1) Yes, if those Logitech speakers have optical input then you will get true 5.1 surround sound. However, you wont be able to get Dolby TrueHD or PCM 5.1 from Blu-ray discs. Optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for those formats. You can only get the standard Dolby or DTS 5.1.

2) No, only one digital connection at a time. You will need to swap connections if you want more than one digital connection. I would be guessing that it means 6, as in 1 digital and 5 analog connections.

3) No, usually a TV's optical out is for the in-built DTV tuner. You can connect the optical out to get digital sound from the DTV tuner but not for other components connected to the TV.

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Optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for those formats. You can only get the standard Dolby or DTS 5.1.

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Standard Dolby? You mean Dolby Digital, right? ;) When I think standard Dolby, I think of Pro Logic, 2-channel stereo.

As Ryu said, toslink doesn't have the bandwidth capabilities to carry the new HD audio formats. Is there any way that you can use HDMI? I'd want to take full advantage of those new formats.

But then again, you probably won't be able to tell the difference unless you have an ultra high end stereo setup.

yea, my issue with this is that i don't have enough $ to buy a full TrueHD receiver.

as long as it has full 5.1 surround, it should probably be fine for me. it won't be true hd, but i know for a fact the z5500 makes everything sound amazing.

would i be able to do this:
hook up the ps3 to the z5500 and hook up the z5500 to my audigy 2nx via analog at the same time? this way, if i want to use the ps3, the audigy will be off(not used), and if i want to watch a movie from my laptop, i can just leave the optical from the ps3 plugged in while i use the audigy?

thanks

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would i be able to do this:
hook up the ps3 to the z5500 and hook up the z5500 to my audigy 2nx via analog at the same time? this way, if i want to use the ps3, the audigy will be off(not used), and if i want to watch a movie from my laptop, i can just leave the optical from the ps3 plugged in while i use the audigy?

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Yes, that should all work as long as they both aren't on at the same time.

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I looked into getting the X-540 to work with the PS3, and it just looks too complicated.

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This would only work if the PS3 had 5.1 analog outputs. You can still plug into this using the L and R stereo cables.

sweet!!! thanks a lot!

Originally posted by goodswipe:

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Originally posted by Ryu77:

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Optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for those formats. You can only get the standard Dolby or DTS 5.1.

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Standard Dolby? You mean Dolby Digital, right? ;) When I think standard Dolby, I think of Pro Logic, 2-channel stereo.

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Yes, I meant Dolby Digital. I did say Dolby 5.1... I assumed most people would know that 5.1 meant Dolby Digital. :-)

Actually, you said DTS 5.1 - LOL!

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You can only get the standard Dolby or DTS 5.1.

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You know I'm just given you a hard time my friend! C'ya round the forums. :)

So did everything work out for you ihaveabu?

Originally posted by goodswipe:

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Actually, you said DTS 5.1 - LOL!

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You can only get the standard Dolby or DTS 5.1.

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You know I'm just given you a hard time my friend! C'ya round the forums. :)

So did everything work out for you ihaveabu?

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I know you are playing around but I still want to clear up my apparent inadequacies in the English language.

That is the way you read it, not the way I meant it. I said Dolby or DTS 5.1. I should have been clearer... It's like saying which one is nicer the Red or Black Car?

yea it pretty much clears it up for me. i won't be getting this setup until sometime this summer

thanks for all the help

if i get something like this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...86&sku=O22-1010

would it sound better than the z5500?

Originally posted by ihaveabu:

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if i get something like this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...86&sku=O22-1010

would it sound better than the z5500?

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Onkyo makes excellent products. If it were me, I'd prolly roll with that Onkyo setup. You will have more options with that Onkyo as to what you can do with it. Just compare some of the specs between the two.

ihaveabu, I was going to suggest that to you earlier but I didn't want to put down something you were about to purchase. My personal opinion is that Logitech sound systems are over priced. For the same $$ you could get a much better set-up from the Home Theater branded equipment.

Honestly, that Onkyo system will annihilate the Logitech z5500.

1) The Onkyo system can handle video switching (including HDMI).
2) Logitech z5500 = 500w, Onkyo HTSR800 = 1000w.
3) Logitech z5500 = 1 x digital optical, 1 x digital coax, 1 x analog 5.1, 3 x analog 2 channel (this can be switched to another analog 5.1 input). I can't seem to find the input specs on the Onkyo system but I can see on the photo (rear)... Onkyo HTSR800 = 2 x digital optical, 2 x digital coax, 1 x analog 5.1, 4 x analog 2 channel.

As you can see the Onkyo is better in every department.

i'm kinda looking at this from a price standpoint.

i'll be buying this whole setup sometime this summer (july or so)

the whole home theater setup does sound appealing. it's also almost twice as much. that said, if it's significantly better, i'll probably get it.

if i get the home theater setup, would that support the TrueHD or w/e it's called that the z5500 doesn't support?

Originally posted by ihaveabu:

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i'm kinda looking at this from a price standpoint.

i'll be buying this whole setup sometime this summer (july or so)

the whole home theater setup does sound appealing. it's also almost twice as much. that said, if it's significantly better, i'll probably get it.

if i get the home theater setup, would that support the TrueHD or w/e it's called that the z5500 doesn't support?

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They both will support Dolby TrueHD via the analog 5.1 inputs. The player would need to have an on board TrueHD decoder (like the PS3 does) and send the audio via 5.1 analog output. However, the PS3 only has analog stereo out so this wouldn't be an option with the PS3. To get TrueHD from the PS3, you would need to send it via HDMI. To get a TrueHD (HDMI v1.3) capable AV receiver would cost at least $2000+. With that said, you wouldn't notice it with those size speakers anyway. You would need high end speakers before you could hear the difference between standard Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD.

ah ok. so this little $400 receiver thing doesn't even support that huh?

Originally posted by ihaveabu:

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ah ok. so this little $400 receiver thing doesn't even support that huh?

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Didn't I just say you can get Dolby TrueHD via the analog 5.1 inputs?

It is the PS3 that doesn't have analog 5.1. So the only option is to send it via the HDMI cable (optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for TrueHD) to a HDMI v1.3 equipped AV receiver. These are quite expensive ($2000+).

I think you may have to read my post again. :-D

yea, i was kinda agreeing w/ you there. sorry it wasn't clear.

i'll look into it more when the summer rolls around.

thanks for all the replies guys. def helped a lot