Conversion of Optical Output into 6 Channel Input

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vat_man

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Okay, so on top of the previously detailed serious sound system set-up I put in place at home, I picked up a cheap little surround system for the PS2 - very cheap, but so much better than TV speakers (especially with the sub-woofer!).

Problem is, the system is so cheap it only accepts 6 channel direct input. I have the RCA leads from the PS2 leading into the L & R channel inputs (which sounds pretty good by the way, especially the helicopter in GTA3 with the subwoofer - sounds real!).

So, anyone know a cheap way to convert optical output into 6 channel direct input? Best suggestion so far is a cheap DVD player that has an optical in/6 channel out - but I'd be interested in other people's thoughts.
 
Originally posted by LoudMusic
I've not seen/heard of six channel input. Is that like six sets of RCA audio jacks or something?

~LoudMusic
Click to expand...

Yeah, exactly - one for each channel - front left, front right, centre, subwoofer, rear left, rear right.
 
That's just crazy. That's way too many wires. We have optical for that. What manufacturer is your receiver?

~LoudMusic
 
Originally posted by LoudMusic
That's just crazy. That's way too many wires. We have optical for that. What manufacturer is your receiver?

~LoudMusic
Click to expand...

It's some piece of junk - Unimax or something. Like I said, it was very cheap, to the point that just having the subbie and the stereo speakers was worth it.

6 channel's not that rare - my Harmon Kardon amp can take 6 channel input (along with just about every other type of stereo or surround input known to mankind...).
 
Six channel isn't rare, but I don't know that I've seen any hardware with six RCA channel input. What I'm used to are optical devices that do six channels digitally.

~LoudMusic
 
Converting a two channel analog signal to a six channel signal for your system's input isn't really a feasible option. We're talking about two entirely different sound formats here... one being a converted digital signal, and another being simply a stereo output which isn't intended or encoded for any six channel formats.

Your best option IMO is to either bite the big one and fork over for a processor with a DSP and an optical digital input, or to simply find a cheap Pro Logic reciever to run your analog signal through. Now, a new digital processing reciever isn't necessarily expensive. I found one with all the necessary stuff that decoded DTS and Dolby Digital for under $300 a year or so ago. I'm thinking that I've seen the same thing recently for as little as $250... which is an amazing deal for that kind of processor. A Pro Logic reciever should be easy to find in a garage sale or pawn shop for cheap because of all the 'trade up for digital' people will have piles of left over equipment to get rid of, and I'd bet you can find a closeout or something unused for well under $200 anyway.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I just can't see screwing around with your sound in funky ways. Do it right if you're going to do it at all because there are more and more games that sound excellent through a BONE-A-FIED surround system, and it's more and more common to find games that produce a DTS digital bitstream, which is the best I've heard so far. NHL 2002, and SSX Tricky are the two I can name off the top of my head.
 
I looked around a bit, and couldn't find anything that would do what you wanted with the exception of a few recievers which doesn't really help you out.
Unfortunately for the DVD player idea, they generally don't come with any inputs as they aren't designed to process anything other than discs. Perhaps one of the phillips recorders (about 1000 USD)
Perhaps a set of graphic equalizers that I didn't see, but that's a longshot.
In reality, all PS2 games are only in ProLogic anyway except for a scant few that have 5.1 built into the FMV. You won't be missing anything from the PS2 games themselves with just normal RCA cables.
 
Originally posted by Tom McDonnell
I looked around a bit, and couldn't find anything that would do what you wanted with the exception of a few recievers which doesn't really help you out.
Unfortunately for the DVD player idea, they generally don't come with any inputs as they aren't designed to process anything other than discs. Perhaps one of the phillips recorders (about 1000 USD)
Click to expand...

Actually, it seems to be fairly common amongst some brands - the guys at the local Jaycar electronics referred to me on to another store which had cheap DVD players, and I was able to confirm both with staff and visually that this in fact the case.
 
got a link? I'm pretty curios as I've never seen a DVD player with an input (I've owned several, and tend to give them as wedding gifts and so on, so I've seen qiute a few...)
 

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