Virgin V+HD to stereo amp???

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I have a problem where I am unable to connect my Virgin V+HD box to my stereo amp (Cambridge Audio 740A)

The V+HD box doesn't have phono outputs for stereo sound, it only has an optical output for connecting to an AV amp

I have tried connecting it using the optical out on the V+HD box to my Cambridge CD player (740C) as it has a DAC

This works for SD channels, but not HD channels as the 740C is unable to handle surround sound conversion to stereo so I get a distorted sound when on HD channels

I have also tried using a scart to phono adapter in the V+HD box to get sound to my amp, but I get no sound at all through the amp when connected in this way...

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get my amp connected to my V+HD box other than what I have already tried? Do I need to buy a DAC that can handle surround sound to stereo conversion? Is there any other way of doing this? I am reluctant to spend too much money on this as I would buy an AV amp if I had the money...

Cheers in advance for any help!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

dougolada:
Hi all,

I have a problem where I am unable to connect my Virgin V+HD box to my stereo amp (Cambridge Audio 740A)

The V+HD box doesn't have phono outputs for stereo sound, it only has an optical output for connecting to an AV amp

I have tried connecting it using the optical out on the V+HD box to my Cambridge CD player (740C) as it has a DAC

This works for SD channels, but not HD channels as the 740C is unable to handle surround sound conversion to stereo so I get a distorted sound when on HD channels

I have also tried using a scart to phono adapter in the V+HD box to get sound to my amp, but I get no sound at all through the amp when connected in this way...

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get my amp connected to my V+HD box other than what I have already tried? Do I need to buy a DAC that can handle surround sound to stereo conversion? Is there any other way of doing this? I am reluctant to spend too much money on this as I would buy an AV amp if I had the money...

Cheers in advance for any help!

No DAC's will be able to convert a 5.1 sound to analogue. In your audio settings on the Virgin box, try setting the audio to stereo. This should help.

 

[Anonymous]

Ahh, I did wonder if a DAC would be able to handle surround sound, that answers that then...

I have had a look in the V+HD settings for stereo only output, but I can't find any such setting...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

dougolada:
Ahh, I did wonder if a DAC would be able to handle surround sound, that answers that then...

I have had a look in the V+HD settings for stereo only output, but I can't find any such setting...

I've not got the Virgin box but there must be an option for audio to be digital for 5.1 or analogue - well on the Sky box there is.

 

[Anonymous]

I am familiar with those settings on the Sky box, but I can't find it on the Virgin box. There is a section for "Change Display & Audio Settings" and there is nothing in there for changing from surround sound to stereo...

I would have thought they would have made the box more versatile than it is...

 

[Messiah]

On my V+ box the standard left and right phono outputs are to the left of the scart sockets (when viewing the rear).

 

[Anonymous]

On the new Samsung V+HD box, there are no phono outputs

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry if this is is a silly comment but can you not use the audio outs on your TV?

 

[Anonymous]

Not a silly question at all. I would do, but my TV seems to be lacking in any outputs, it's all just inputs on the back which I thought was a bit strange when I was looking at it earlier...

 

[Anonymous]

What TV is it. I missed the outputs on mine due to really confusing labelling. Im sure youre not as daft as me but worth a double check just incase.

 

[Messiah]

Is this the box?? There is an analogue audio output next to the HDMI connector.

 

[Anonymous]

It's a LG 32LG5020

I've had a good look on the back and all the sockets say "in" next to them apart from the optical which is an output, but that's no good as I need phono... The scart sockets look like they are 2 way as they have 2 arrows going in opposite directions, but I have just tried connecting a scart to phono adapter to one of them and the phono to my amp and nothing. I also tried the phono sockets in the back of the TV as I will try anything, but still nothing I'm afraid...

 

[Anonymous]

The box certainly looks like that one, but there is no analogue audio out. To one side of the HDMI I have 2 scart sockets and to the other side I have the optical output, a USB socket & an RJ45 socket. There are definitely no analogue audio outputs

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah:Is this the box?? There is an analogue audio output next to the HDMI connector.

I have this box and there is definately no audio out on mine. Do some of them have it?

 

[Messiah]

OK, hopefully this will work.

Connect the Optical output from the TV to the input on the CD player. It should then work for both SD and HD as I think the TV optical output will only output stereo.

Otherwise some sort of adapter may be required.

 

[Anonymous]

I assume some of them must have it... How old is your box Messiah? I only got mine about 2 weeks ago, so I wonder if it's the older ones that have the phono connections...

The only solution I have found so far is to use an old AV amp with the optical cable going in and a phono cable going into the headphone jack. The problem with this is I simply don't have the space for my AV amp on my rack and being that it's doing such a minor job, it seems crazy to be using such a large piece of kit!

Still looking for a solution if anyone has any suggestions...

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah, you are a genius! It works You are right, the optical out on the TV seems to only output stereo sound as there is now no distortion when on HD channels as there was before...

I hope other people find this post useful as the lack of connections on the V+HD box has caused me a lot of frustration!

Solution:

V+HD to TV via HDMI for sound and audio

TV to CD DAC via optical cable

CD DAC to stereo amp via phono cable

Thanks again Messiah!

 

[Messiah]

Your welcome!

(I have an older box)

 

[bezza79]

Hi,

I've gone and checked my sound settings as I also have a V+ HD box which is connected via the Optical Out to my Dac magic and onto my stereo amp as I recall having the same problem.

When you go into the Change Display and Audio Settings menu you need to change HDMI audio override to off, I don't fully understand why but having played around with it tonight, when that setting is set to on, some HD channels work others don't. When it is set to off the sound on all HD channels work fine.

I have quite an early Samsung 1080P TV and when I tried Optical Out straight from the TV it didn't sound as good as from the V+ box, I think that's why I started playing around with the settings when HD wasn't working for me.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Bezza79,

That does help, I've just had a little play with it myself and I get the distortion with HDMI override set to on but it's fine when it's set to off. I don't know whether it's because the V+HD box only outputs stereo sound via HDMI so when you tell it you are using HDMI (even when you aren't) it only sends 2 channel sound down the optical cable,,, It's a bit of a funny one, which in the end has been so very easy to solve, but the path to solving it has not been the most transparent!

Thanks again for your help Bezza