Newbie needs help setting up Denon 1910 Receiver

[Reinier]

Hi guys, I recently purchased a Denon 1910 and paired them up with some JBL CS480BG 5.1 Speakers. Right now I have my Playstation 3 and TV hooked up to it but I want to add my PC to it also which I have running to the TV via a DVI to HDMI cable but that doesnt transfer audio (only video) so I would need to use an optical cable for audio.

My questions are (sorry If their newbie this is my first time owning a surround sound system & receiver):

1) What is the proper way to connect the receiver on the back panel of my Samsung LCD TV? Right now I have it hooked up from "Monitor Out" on the receiver to HDMI 1 on the back of my TV with an HDMI cable.

2) How can I get my TV channels to play on my surround sound speakers?

when I have the receiver turned on the built in speakers on the TV turn off but no sound plays from the speakers when I have the "Source" on the TV set to TV. If I change the "Source" on the TV remote to HDMI 1 which is where I have the receiver plugged in and press "TV" on the receiver control I will get a black screen with no auido. I tried to see if maybe I have the speakers connected wrong or something but the speakers sound fine when I have the receiver changed to HDCP which is where I have my PS3 connected with an HDMI cable.

3) Is it possible to use the receiver to watch tv channels without a cable box, VCR, DVR, or Satellite receiver?

4) How would I go about connecting my PC to my Denon 1910 if I have my PC hooked up to my TV with a DVI to HDMI cable that doesnt have audio? I have a couple of optical cables laying around and an optical port on my motherboard.

thank you for your help

Sincerely
- Reinier

 

[AVRat]

For audio from the TV, you need either a digital audio coax/optical or stereo analog connection from the TV to the receiver depending on your TV’s capability. I’d suggest using the Sat/Cbl input as your TV control since there are no actual TV stereo analog inputs. However, if you only use digital, the TV control is fine since the digital inputs can be reassigned. More than likely you’ll only receive 2-ch audio so you’ll need to engage Dolby PLII surround mode to get sound to the other speakers.

For the PC you need the digital optical connection as well.

 

[Reinier]

thank you, one other question I have is how hard are you soposed to push digital optical cables in?

I have tried two different brands of optical cables and it seems like they all stay loose on the socket. I see the little red light at the other end but it feels like it will pop out of the socket just by passing near it.

 

[jostenmeat]

thank you, one other question I have is how hard are you soposed to push digital optical cables in?

I have tried two different brands of optical cables and it seems like they all stay loose on the socket. I see the little red light at the other end but it feels like it will pop out of the socket just by passing near it.

Some ports seem to be better designed than others. Also, some optical cables seem to fit more snugly than others. There is also the outside chance that you or someone else loosened up the port by trying to force the cable in, but not oriented correctly.

Make sure to take off the protective plastic cap at the end, if there is one.

As aforementioned, you can always just use the dig coax instead, if that's available to you.