Decent Sound From Sky digital

SouperComputer · 24-03-2003 5:42pm #1

K, so plugged in a set of speakers into the "digibox" a while back and the sound I got was pure crap

bad SN ratio to boot.

Has anyone successfully gotten good sound out of one of these, or better still, is there better alternative to the box or even a PCI card that will decode the sattilite signal?

daveg · 24-03-2003 5:55pm

K, so plugged in a set of speakers into the "digibox" a while back and the sound I got was pure crap bad SN ratio to boot.

I don't know how you managed to do this ? Do decoders come with speakers o/p's ?

Anyway what I did was feed to audio output (2 pin phono) to my AV amp and then listen to sky through my amplifier. Is this any good 2 you ?

BTW what were the terminals you plugged the speakers into ? What make decoder do you have ?

Korg · 25-03-2003 12:41am

The sound out of your average digibox isn't pure audiophile stuff however it's by no means crap either, nowhere near it. Either you've a dodgy digibox, were watching TCM or most likely the problem lay with the speaker setup you were using. daveg's setup is the way to go.

SouperComputer · 25-03-2003 1:52am

all i can remember is that it is a pace, model I cant tell and im 5,500 miles away from it.

I ran the audio out into a set of combridge soundworks 4.1's. The S\N was really bad. I was wondering if there was an alterative.

pclancy · 25-03-2003 2:04am

I've got a pace digibox and i ran it thru an philips hifi for a while before i got a surround sound system. The sound was very distorted at first but all i had to do was turn the sound volume down to minimun in the system audio setup menu on the digibox and the sound was fine. Any stereo with an aux input should work, just make sure and turn down the output on the digibox and let the stereo take care of the amplification.

SouperComputer · 25-03-2003 6:31am

is there gain control on the box? I didnt think there was.

dmeehan · 25-03-2003 10:45am

i had no problems with mine
just hooked up the L+R outputs from the digibox to my philips surround system

had to turn down the sound on the digibox though as it was a bit loud for watching eastenders:D

pclancy · 25-03-2003 12:03pm

you can adjust the sound output levels in system setup, audio setup on the pace digibox. Give it a go.

Krusty_Clown · 25-03-2003 4:18pm

Mine is piped through my AV receiver, and I can't say I've noticed any problems (except as Korg said: while watching poor quality channels)..

Sky+ should be out sometime between April and next February. This will feature DD5.1 out, for those few channels (specifically the Sky Movies channels) which support it... This may also enhance your non DD5.1 sound, as i presume you would also get your mono/stereo/surround through the same connection (although not in 5.1 format).. May be wrong here, but that's the way it works for Audio from my PS2....

KdjaCL · 28-03-2003 11:17am

I also have it tru an Av receiver and i think the sound is cack on all the channels.
Ie for a service called Digital 2 channel L and R is about as good as it gets unless you use the Pseudo surround which is even worse.

kdjac

ferret · 11-04-2003 12:58am

I have more than one digibox with a quad LNB. I picked up some secondhand digiboxs and free to air cards.

I am using a Sony 760 decoder and an optical connection to a surround amp on the primary sky subscription.
There is very little transmitted in dolby 5.1, mainly movies and it is output as PCM48. It cannot even compare with DVD playback. This should be equivalent to the Sky+ box.:D

Thumper Long · 13-04-2003 12:54am

to get the best sound you need to run your sound with either an optical cable or digital coax (preferred) cos the 2phono connection will only ever give you a prologicII pseudosurround at best. you can get dd5.1 & dts decoders fairly reasonable sub €300.......................

Krusty_Clown · 15-04-2003 4:01pm

Thumper Long: run your sound with either an optical cable or digital coax

Unfortunately, the only way you can use an optical or digital cable, is to either:
a) As ferret mentioned, use a Sony Sky box, which aren't too common - Ferret - Do you get 5.1 with this setup, or is it just Dolby Surround over the digital connection?

b) Wait for Sky+ to become available in Ireland.. Watching the Satellite forum, it may (or may not!!) be real soon now!

But as mentioned, very few channels and programs (read:films) are broadcast in 5.1. ATM: It's only the Sky Movies Channels..

byte · 15-04-2003 9:30pm

Originally posted by Krusty_Clown

a) As ferret mentioned, use a Sony Sky box, which aren't too common - Ferret - Do you get 5.1 with this setup, or is it just Dolby Surround over the digital connection?

This sadly does not have Digital 5.1 output. Shame really though IIRC, Sony have stopped producing Sky digiboxes.

MrPudding · 22-04-2003 1:47pm

Originally posted by ferret
I have more than one digibox with a quad LNB. I picked up some secondhand digiboxs and free to air cards.

I am using a Sony 760 decoder and an optical connection to a surround amp on the primary sky subscription.
There is very little transmitted in dolby 5.1, mainly movies and it is output as PCM48. It cannot even compare with DVD playback. This should be equivalent to the Sky+ box.:D

I have this box myself. It came with a note telling me that the digital audio out was disabled, at the request of Sky apparently, are you saying that it is not disabled? I haven't even tried it.

Decent Sound From Sky digital

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