pc sound output home theatre

[jaymar13]

hi DW, i'd like a bit of advice on a few options to get sound from pc to home theatre... but to allow you to understand my problem i'll let you know what set up ive got at the moment...

i have a samsung 40'' lcd which is connected to sky hd, wii, xbox, pc and dvd 5.1 home theatre kit. by using an optical cable i get my sound for the wii, sky, and xbox from the home theatre kit. but for the pc sound i use a crappy logitech 5.1 set with awful awful shielding(dont ever buy them, logi x.530) they connect by a green, brown and black 3.5mm jacks.

my pc tower does have an optical output on it however, and i have an optical cable available to use, yet my issue is getting that sound to the tv correctly(because once it's there, just like all the other connected devices it would run the sound through the home theatre)
as i looked behind the tv i noticed a jack input 'audio in' unforunately it isn't an optical but i thought a 3.5 to 3.5 jack would do the job. i used the green 3.5 output on the pc guessing this was the one to use(?)
but i didn't have any luck.
i noticed that either side of this audio input on the tv is a vga connection and the other side an hdmi entitled 'hdmi(dvi/pc)'. i use a different hdmi connection with a hdmi to dvi lead to connect to the computer so i thought this 3.5 audio input connection must be paired with pc video inputs for the tv, so i made sure i switched to using that hdmi connection along with the 3.5 audio in= no luck

so bascially as far as i see it my options are to; a) get a new pc speaker set, (ideally optical) however probably the most priciest option. b) get a new graphics card with an hdmi connection OR am i doing something wrong/is there another option?

 

[little_pob]

From the 3 and 4 series Samsung LCD TVs I've played with, the 3.5mm on the TV will be for the VGA port only. To use the TV speakers with a PC connecting via HDMI there shoud a pair of RCA/stereo sockets (one red, one white). Obviously stereo is 2.0 and you are not going to true 5.1 (though some systems are better than others with replicating this from a stereo source).

I'm assuming the amp only has a single optical input and the TV is connected to this? If so, the 2 most practical options I can think of are:

• optical switch
• graphics card with HDMI out and SPDIF pass though.

If the amp has multiple optical inputs, but all are taken. I'd route the sound out of one of the devices via the TV's optical lead (my preference would be the Wii).

If the amp has the ability to take a 5.1 phono feed then three 3.5mm to RCA stereo leads should allow you to connect via analogue.

 

[jaymar13]

okay, i'll have a good look behind there and hope my cable draw will be sufficient!
i did consider an optical swicth but was worried about the quality and price so if i do have to go for an alternative option i'll probably upgrade the graphics because my card needs upgrading a bit anyway
i'll report back if i don't get caught in the cable bird nest behind my tv, oh and yes it's a series 4. thanks for your help

 

[jaymar13]

unfortunately i didn't have any other inputs available in my home theatre kit so im gona have to go down the new graphics card route i reckon

cheers for you help, rep added!