Surround Sound & scart.

[Dan_Robinson]

Hi there,

I have a feeling this/these questions have been asked already in some form or other; so apologies in advance.

I have:

A Cambridge Audio Azur Amp,

Tannoy SFX5.1 Surround sound speaker system.

Bush LCD2 27" TV,

Laptop plugged into the amp (stereo 3.5mm jack to phono) and TV (VGA lead)

Virgin (was Ntl) Samsung smt-2100c cable box with the XL TV package.


The speakers are connected to the Amp correctly and I get 2 channel stereo through all speakers (apparently).

Does Virgin transmit in 5.1?
How can I get this to the speakers? ( I can't find anything constructive about the TV's capabilities and the wife through out the manual)
Do I have to get V+?

I am looking for a cheap USB sound card with an optical output for the laptop sound - I am assuming my Divx collection and MP3's will have the appropriate coding encoding for that to work; but is only a temporary measure until I get a bookshelf PC with a little more grunt.


Anyway your help will be gratefully received!!

[Kymmy]

I believe the V+ only does 5.1, best you'll get with a normal V box is Dolby Prologic...

[Dan_Robinson]

Thanks kymmy,

So is V+ actually worth having? Is there and audio output on the V+ box?

EDIT

Spoken to VM and could not get a clear answer about the sound output - "third party sound is not supported" was all I got in a rather broken English - which is V annoying by the way!

[chickendippers]

Try ringing during office hours to speak to England ;)

[Stuart]

Thanks kymmy,

So is V+ actually worth having? Is there and audio output on the V+ box?

EDIT

Spoken to VM and could not get a clear answer about the sound output - "third party sound is not supported" was all I got in a rather broken English - which is V annoying by the way!

Yes, there is an optical out for DD 5.1 and phono for prologic.

However, the only channnel I know of that carries 5.1 sound is BBC HD (and that's variable). Not sure if the movie channels do. I know that the Ondemand stuff has 5.1 sound though.

[Dan_Robinson]

Thanks for all the advise - I think I'll wait a while and just upgrade the sound card on the laptop - it might help speed up I tunes a little too.