Current Events > Confused about my surround setup.

(+) Yeah! (+)

What is the best way for setup?

Right now my Xbox one and PS4 wire to my tv via hdmi and I have an optical cable going from my tv to my receiver/amp to input the sound.

Should I get optical cables for my Xbox and ps4 and wire directly to the receiver? Or even connect the hdmi cables directly to the receiver and use the video pass through mode on the receiver to the tv?

Depends on your receiver of course, but optical can't do higher quality codecs like DTS Master HD. I suggest plugging your consoles into your receiver via HDMI, then HDMI from the receiver to the tv.

I only use optical if I'm playing Rock Band and want as little latency as possible.

MagnusX posted...

Depends on your receiver of course, but optical can't do higher quality codecs like DTS Master HD. I suggest plugging your consoles into your receiver via HDMI, then HDMI from the receiver to the tv.

I only use optical if I'm playing Rock Band and want as little latency as possible.

The method Im using right now of the tv feeding audio via optical to the receiver is causing sound lag of about a half second. Would hdmi directly from the consoles not fix this?

The Samsung 2.1 surround bar I had before this never had this delay when it was setup via this method

Any idea why my subwoofer wont wub wub during gunfire while playing fortnite? It works in codern warfare with no issues on the same console

L0Z posted...

The method Im using right now of the tv feeding audio via optical to the receiver is causing sound lag of about a half second. Would hdmi directly from the consoles not fix this?

HDMI to receiver should have less lag than console -> TV optical -> receiver

Makes no sense to not use the HDMI passthrough in this situation. Even if you were going to use an optical cable, it should be straight to the receiver and not the TV.
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Buzz Killjoy posted...

Makes no sense to not use the HDMI passthrough in this situation. Even if you were going to use an optical cable, it should be straight to the receiver and not the TV.

It was nicer to not have to switch input on the receiver constantly. Before it was done on the tv and each input was labeled. And for some reason my Sony receiver doesnt seem to have a way to rename the inputs like my tv can. Ps4 is plugged into game hdmi and xbone is plugged into dvd/bluray. Any guests who try to operate my setup will be confused as fuck.

Switching to pure hdmi did fix the input lag

L0Z posted...

Switching to pure hdmi did fix the input lag

Awesome!

L0Z posted...

Any idea why my subwoofer wont wub wub during gunfire while playing fortnite? It works in codern warfare with no issues on the same console

If I had to guess, the frequency that Fortnite outputs isn't low enough to cross over to the sub. Most subs have a range of 100-200 Hz, meaning they won't kick in unless the output sound hits that window.

My Sony sa-cs9 does 28-200Hz according to the product page

https://www.rewards.sony.com/sony-sa-cs9---subwoofer/11646150.html

Not sure how gunfire wouldnt have low enough sound frequency. Spotify also wont output to more than front left and front right but if I stream Apple Music from my phone via bluetooth I get the full 5.1 range

L0Z posted...

Not sure how gunfire wouldnt have low enough sound frequency.

All depends on how the sound was programmed in-game. I can't imagine audio devs not making sure the frequency would hit a sub, but the game is also made for tons of devices including mobile so ya never know. That's just my guess.

Spotify also wont output to more than front left and front right but if I stream Apple Music from my phone via bluetooth I get the full 5.1 range

Most music is only mastered for stereo/mono and most streaming services therefore usually only offer 2.1. Apple is probably passing the music through a codec to upscale to 5.1. There are toggles on your receiver to force specific outputs; switch to a setting called something like "all channel stereo" to get sound from all your speakers.

Fortnite started working in 5.1 and the sub worked too after I changed front speaker size to small instead of large. Idk why that would have fixed it though. As soon as I change it back I only get my two two speakers with sound. I feel like tower speakers should have large setting not small

Im guess switching to small just shuts off the towers bass?

L0Z posted...

Fortnite started working in 5.1 and the sub worked too after I changed front speaker size setting on the map to small instead of large. Idk why that would have fixed it though. As soon as I change it back I only get my two two speakers with sound. I feel like tower speakers should have large setting not small

Im guess switching to small just shuts off the towers bass?

Large vs small speakers doesn't equate to physical size but rather frequency capability. A large speaker will output the full ~20-20k Hz range whereas a small speaker will send the sub-200 Hz signal to the sub. You should be able to set the speakers to large or small regardless of capability, with the caveat that a speaker set to large that can't output a low enough frequency simply won't. You can generally manually set a crossover range yourself as well.

I don't know why it restricts you to stereo instead of surround with large speakers... probably a setting somewhere. Receivers have a ton of options for good reason. You can probably force it to output to all channel stereo.