dumping Virginmedia and using Sky+HD with seperate speaker solution?

[custard]

okay,so i have never had Sky
hell i only got cable in 2001

so right now i have a VM V+ box connected via HDMI
I have an ongoing issue with out of syn audio on HDMI channels
many others do to and i reported it to VM 9 months ago
all they have managed is platitudes and promises of a fix being worked on(inbetween blaming it on everyones equipment but theirs)

so i got hacked off with this and looked at Sky
however it seems with Sky you cant output surround sound over HDMI and have to do it over optical? (what the hell were Sky thinking?)
problem is im unsure if my speaker system with allow me to use the optical for audio while outputting video over HDMI

so if this is an issue,I have the option of out of sync HDMI audio with VM or possible stereo only with Sky but in sync and with far more choice than VM

at this point i plan to keep VM for the broadband but i may ditch that if the Sky TV works out

anyone got input?

 

[arc]

what AV amp do you use, there's normally an option to map audio to video channels ( I can even do that on my ye olde toshiba CRT)

 

[custard]

what AV amp do you use, there's normally an option to map audio to video channels ( I can even do that on my ye olde toshiba CRT)

problem is its not an amp as such

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/SC-HTR210/Manuals/6247235/index.html?trackInfo=true

so im not sure if i can do it looking at the manual or what options the sky box would offer

 

[Focus Owner]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/lofiversion/index.php/t26734.html

to me all boxes have auxilaries..
ie one upstairs and one down and grandads.
might erm even have front and rear splitter

take the risk

 

[neeny09]

I have my sky box to my TV then my TV to my amp so that the sound comes straight from the TV rather than the sky box!

Would you be able to do that?

 

[custard]

I have my sky box to my TV then my TV to my amp so that the sound comes straight from the TV rather than the sky box!

Would you be able to do that?

i think the TV outputs in stereo
I tried that with the 360 when i was hooking up the new PC via HDMI and the 360 sounded terrible

 

[neeny09]

http://www.whathifi.com/review/sky-hd

Hope that maybe helps

 

[arc]

check page 33 in the manual, also look at page 31 re adjusting sync

 

[custard]

check page 33 in the manual, also look at page 31 re adjusting sync

you think page 33 will cover it with the Sky set up?
as for altering the sync for VM,its no good
the sync varies and can extend while watching a program
then it would need reset for SD content or any other input

 

[arc]

it sounds like it might do it, do you have anything with an optical output you could try - if you can get the sound from that to come on when connected via HDMI from the VM box then that'll prove the route for the sky hd setup

 

[custard]

it sounds like it might do it, do you have anything with an optical output you could try - if you can get the sound from that to come on when connected via HDMI from the VM box then that'll prove the route for the sky hd setup

hmm,theres a PS3 with optical
so might have a dig around tomorrow and see if i can get it to do something
another issue could be that we run 3 HDMI units through a switch and into the amps single HDMI?

 

[arc]

well that's shafted that plan then,you'd need to swtich the audio source everytime you switched the HDMI..

..just buy a proper av amp - that's a 'virtual 3.1' system anyway

 

[custard]

well that's shafted that plan then,you'd need to swtich the audio source everytime you switched the HDMI..

..just buy a proper av amp - that's a 'virtual 3.1' system anyway

I would then be running an amp with only 2 speakers
no room for proper surround

 

[soap_dodger]

I have my sky box to my TV then my TV to my amp so that the sound comes straight from the TV rather than the sky box!

Would you be able to do that?

Exact way I have mine too! Have no probs with it, did have to do some fiddling with the TV settings though, but apart from that.

 

[mzhussein]

there could be a solution to out of sync ness.....

But need to do a test first, is the audio out of sync when the V+ is plugged directly into the TV (ie no amp)?

if so then there is a simple solution, dont mess around with amps and there HDMI pass thoughs generally, they are poo and best avoided unless you have some seriously pricey/high end kit.

the best way to do it is; all your devices into your HDMI distribution box, then one HDMI to your TV, from your TV take an optical out straight to the amp...assuming your TV has optical out (have a look you might be surprised)....this is how i got round numerous sync issues and have repeated this at a few friends houses, resultign in problem solved...

 

[custard]

there could be a solution to out of sync ness.....

But need to do a test first, is the audio out of sync when the V+ is plugged directly into the TV (ie no amp)?

if so then there is a simple solution, dont mess around with amps and there HDMI pass thoughs generally, they are poo and best avoided unless you have some seriously pricey/high end kit.

the best way to do it is; all your devices into your HDMI distribution box, then one HDMI to your TV, from your TV take an optical out straight to the amp...assuming your TV has optical out (have a look you might be surprised)....this is how i got round numerous sync issues and have repeated this at a few friends houses, resultign in problem solved...

sorry but thats not a solution.
whats the point of 5.1 sound on HD broadcasts and HDMI eqipped boxes if the systems cant handle it?
every other HDMI source i have works perfectly with no issues
VM have brought out Tivo @ £150+ and guess what.no sound sync issues
people are also having issues using optical from the VM box and getting lip sync issues and sound drop outs.
VM have simply moved onto the Tivo and arent interested in wasting time on the V+ boxes

 

[mzhussein]

I agree, but just because its optical doesn't mean its not "up to scratch" a toslink is perfectly capable of carrying DTS encoded 5.1 surround sound and nero 6 and Dolby any any other format, it has been doing it long before HDMI came along.

It will sound just as good unless there is another fault. as its a digital transmission the data either gets there or it doesn't. it cant "degrade" so regardless of the transmission channel, the sound will sound the same as long as you keep it digitally encoded from source to destination....

is it out of sync if you use the speakers on your TV? that is the important Q....

and i said nothing about taking optical from the VM box....the optical needs to come from the TV (VM boxes aren't the only things with sync problems, this method fixes allot of them whilst still retaining 100% of the original sound information)

 

[custard]

I agree, but just because its optical doesn't mean its not "up to scratch" a toslink is perfectly capable of carrying DTS encoded 5.1 surround sound and nero 6 and Dolby any any other format, it has been doing it long before HDMI came along.

It will sound just as good unless there is another fault. as its a digital transmission the data either gets there or it doesn't. it cant "degrade" so regardless of the transmission channel, the sound will sound the same as long as you keep it digitally encoded from source to destination....

is it out of sync if you use the speakers on your TV? that is the important Q....

and i said nothing about taking optical from the VM box....the optical needs to come from the TV (VM boxes aren't the only things with sync problems, this method fixes allot of them whilst still retaining 100% of the original sound information)

well Ive gone through loads of variations with VM
Ive pretty much tried all the variations(its been months) and its an ongoing fault for many people with various set ups
the core is if you use the TV speakers its fine
the minute anything else comes into the equation its a problem

 

[mzhussein]

then that proves the V+ box is operating correctly (not meaning to be a pain here btw)

essentially all it does is produce a "data stream" if its fine on the TV (which is displaying it straight with little or no demodulation and decoding) then this proves the HDMI output from the V+ box is not at fault....it may however be in an unfriendly format, that doesn't take kindly to being chopped up and passed through (you may liken it to video compression software, use the wrong program or codec set and the end result can be out of sync, even though the original was fine)....so allowing the TV to decode it (as this seems to always work) then letting the TV output its own audio stream via toslink straight to the amp should solve the problem you have (even if you are not inclined to keep the V+, id be intrigued to know if it also works for you)...

 

[custard]

well I'm done anyway
VM cancelled and Sky orderd for a couple of days before my notice period is up