XPS 15 to Onkyo HTS3405 surround sound

fazza82 · 3 August 2011 at 10:21AM

Could anyone tell me what lead would be necessary to get 5.1 through my new Onkyo HTS3405 SS from my laptop (Dell XPS15).

Would it work just through a HDMI connection, or do I need to connect the 'S/PDIF' lead to the system too.
If, so what the hell is the S/PDIF lead? I've tried an optical but it doesn't fit.

Help would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

S0litaire · 3 August 2011 at 10:29AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF

The connector might be Coaxial rather than Fibre.

HDMI should carry audio as well as video.

Does the laptop have Nvidia grpahics?
If so make sure you have installed the "HD Audio" drivers and have it selected rather than "Analogue Stereo" 5.1 Audio.

fazza82 · 3 August 2011 at 12:35PM

Yes, its got the nvidia geforce graphics card.
I'll double check about the HD audio drivers.

So all I would need to connect to get 5.1 would be the hdmi?
And is the HD audio driver necessary to get it?

As in, I have hdmi leads galore so if I could get the same quality out of a hdmi than the s/pdif connection then that would be ideal!

Thanks for your help

S0litaire · 3 August 2011 at 4:13PM

Yup! You NEED the HD Audio drivers to tell the laptop to use the audio component of the HDMI port.

Once installed, select "HD Audio" on sound properties make sure it's not on "mute" and connect using HDMI cable.

S0litaire · 3 August 2011 at 4:16PM

Does your Sound system have a HDMI out?

Just thinking, are you using the laptop to play videos on a external Screen or just for music??

If it's for music then you might have to use the S/PDIF to the sound system (you still use HD Audio)
and the HDMI cable to the Screen.

fazza82 · 3 August 2011 at 6:40PM

Yep, the surround sound system has everythin.
We watch movies off the laptop on the tv through hdmi already, so I just wanted to know how to connect the laptop to it when we get the SS tomorrow.

So hdmi into the SS, with the HD audio drivers on. Then the HDMI out to TV from the the SS?
Seems easy enough

fazza82 · 3 August 2011 at 8:40PM

Just got back home, checked the drivers.
The XPS 15 has a Realtek HD Audio Manager which has an option for a 5.1 speaker setup

...

Just to make sure...
I will get 5.1 sound out of my surround sound system (Movies and Films) and the picture through the TV (Films) if I use the following setup:

Laptop >HDMI> Surround Sound AV Reciever >HDMI> TV
Or do i NEED a S/PDIF lead connected too?

S0litaire · 3 August 2011 at 8:43PM

Nope! HDMI *should* do everything!

fazza82 · 4 August 2011 at 8:54PM

Well, got the SS set up and the hdmi works great!

Got an issue with my xbox though

the setup I wanted doesn't work:
Xbox >component video + optical audio> AV receiver >hdmi> TV

The xbox is the original one, hence the component output.
Audio comes through fine but no picture

...
Had to connect the component to the tv and leave the optical in the AV receiver in order for it to work.

BUT, I did want to have music playing through the SS from my laptop (which has to be plugged into the TV because it doesn't work in the AV receiver for some reason

(keeps flickering on and off), whilst playing some games on the xbox (FIFA etc)...
But I can't get the configuration right

almillar · 5 August 2011 at 1:20PM

OK. XBox bit is probably easy - AV amps boast of doing lots of switching up and down of resolutions for output to your TV - I'll bet it can't switch from Component to HDMI. You've connected correctly, putting the component straight into TV (and setting the XBox to 1080 of course!).
Laptop flickering. Hmm. 1st thing to do is try different resolutions or refresh rates. Your AV amp's instructions will tell you about compatibility. Are you trying to play music from laptop thru amp whilst playing the XBox?

XPS 15 to Onkyo HTS3405 surround sound

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