Running TV sound through my PC 5.1 speakers...

[Simeon]

Is it possible to hook up my Megaworks 550 5.1 speakers to my TV and/or DVD player?

I have an Audigy 2 zs soundcard - not sure if that might help - line in etc...

Ideally I want to be able to have them connected to both my tv and my pc so that I can use them for gaming or music on my pc and then use them for the football on tv.

I have looked high and low for a solution to no avail.

Any help or insight would be great.
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P4 2.8ghz OC @ 3ghz 800fsb
2GB ram OCZ pc3200
ATi X1950 Pro (AGP)
WD 74GB Raptor
WD 1TB
Creative Audigy 2
Creative Megaworks 5.1
Thermaltake Xaser 3 case
Thermaltake 550w psu

[Google]

[ToggleHead]

Do you have a surround capable tv/dvd player??

if so....audio splitter box?
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[Simeon]

Well I'm pretty sure the dvd player is surround sound capable, but not sure about the tv. What sort of connection is needed from a tv for it to be surround sound capable?

Does the TV even need to be capable? I thought that the speakers aren't actually true surround sound - I thought it was kind of artificial - in the sense that it re-creates a 'surround' sound fom whatever sound is played through them - including analogue sound???

More than anything I was concerned as to the connections that the speakers allow for. The sub has connections (and comes with the cables) for a PC conection - i.e. to your sound card - so it's the green orange and black jacks. I was wondering if it is possible to connect these to the tv - or to connect the tv to the sub/speakers?

Alternatively, can the tv be plugged into my sound card (line-in) and have it pass the sound through to the speakers?

Perhaps this splitter box is the answer to my questions above? If it is, please let me know and I'll look into that.

Just to clarify - I know nothing other than that about sound/audio - so I've no idea as to what is actually possible to do here!
_________________
P4 2.8ghz OC @ 3ghz 800fsb
2GB ram OCZ pc3200
ATi X1950 Pro (AGP)
WD 74GB Raptor
WD 1TB
Creative Audigy 2
Creative Megaworks 5.1
Thermaltake Xaser 3 case
Thermaltake 550w psu

[fussnfeathers]

To get surround sound from your TV and DVD, you're going to need a few things.

First is an external decoder of some sort. Most likely you have a pair of RCA jacks on each unit for left./right sound, but no onboard surround decoding. The TV may be capable of it, but it's highly unlikely unless it's a high end model. And, even IF the TV is surround capable, the broadcast would have to be in Dolby Surround, and around here, football games are not in surround, only stereo.

Secondly, you'd need a switch-box to switch between your TV and your PC. I'm not aware of any ready-made solutions for this, but you could buy a home theater switching unit and adapt the 1/8" jacks your speakers and soundcard use to the audio standard RCA jacks.

There's no really easy way to do this, without spending some cash. And no, surround sound isn't an "artificial" thing. The signal is compressed to two channels, and a decoder of some sort splits those two channels into the 6 or 8 used by Dolby Surround. In a home theater, the reciever does the work, in a PC, the soundcard has the decoder built in.

And before you ask, no, the line-in jack on a PC soundcard will not decode Dolby, it's a strictly stereo input. If that's all you need, then yes, an inexpensive switch box and a cable to hook the box to your PC line in will do the job. It just won't be in surround sound.
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