[5.1] Setting up a surround system for my computer. [ Looking for highly knowledgeable individual... - Page 2

The game just outputs 6 channels of PCM audio, its up to the sound hardware to deal with that.

You can either send it out over HDMI as raw PCM (assuming your video card supports it) or send it out as DD/DTS assuming your sound card supports Dolby Digital Live or DTS - Connect. The onboard Realtek sound chip on my 2009 motherboard supports this so I can't imagine you'll have an issue there.

LPCM is digital. You will be sending the analog signal over the RCA cables. The sound card would convert digital to analog, and send it with RCA to your amp or receiver (with multichannel analog inputs).

Why don't you post a link to one of the sound cards you are eyeing?

If you are going analog out of the soundcard, the only concern is that your receiver has multichannel inputs. When it leave the soundcard it will be analog, and at that point the receiver won't know or care what the source encoding was.

This will bitstream TrueHD etc to a receiver able to decode those formats. -- http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_HDAV13_Slim/

More reading on that card related to TrueHD - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1374946

For bluray, you'd need software that was able to access and deliver that audio track down the stream -- http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/support/cs/product-faq-content.do?id=8075&prodId=1&prodVerId=947

I'm happy to help you research this. But I can tell you that I'm just googling the stuff you are asking, and incorporating it with the information I and others have already provided in this thread. Hardforum would be a great place to research this and ask the questions. Or maybe the HTPC area of this forum - there must be folks who do theater and gaming with their HTPC's.

Here is more about gaming and lossless audio. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?281182-Dolby-True-HD-from-PC

Do you have some games in mind that support TrueHD? Or is TrueHD only a concern for the movies you will be watching?

With HDMI you can either A) Send the audio as a bitstream to a receiver, which then decodes the audio, then converts to analog. Or B) You can decode the audio with the software, and send LPCM to the receiver - which converts analog. There is no appreciable difference. The audio remains intact all the way to the D/A conversion at the receiver. Whether the receiver decodes the audio or the pc does, it matters not.

So, the question is can your games output either TrueHD bitstream OR LPCM? If yes to either, then fine. If not - if it is true that these games cannot, then we look at the analog-out of the soundcard.

Can the soundcard decode the HD audio? If yes, then fine. IF NOT - can the game present PCM to the soundcard? If yes, then that's fine, too.

Just curious....

What kind of PC are we talking about here that didn't have digital sound already built-in?

If it's an older PC, you may run into a lot of issues getting surround to work, even adding/replacing a sound card. Hope you don't spend money till this is sorted.

Incidentally, there are decently priced systems out there with both Receiver and Speakers. Usually cheaper than buying separately.

Last - Are you sharing living space with anyone else? I mean are you ever going to be able to turn this thing up, or are you going to get kicked out if you do?

I don't mean to be a wet-blanket.

They are tiny so power handling will be poor as will bass extension. Expect to have to use a sub crossover in the triple digits such as 120Hz or perhaps even 200Hz. You'd be better off with speakers that aren't entry level and are larger.
Edited by Theresa - 2/2/13 at 3:29am

Because if it does, you should be able to tap into the audio on a digital level via a minor adapter and not require a "sound card". Indeed, if the PC has an HDMI output, it may already put sound there too. Being in digital form already, this would mean that you would be best served by a Receiver (Surround Processor and amp) with HDMI inputs and a suitable set of speakers.

Well, if you could share the details, we could look up it's technical specs for you and see if it already has this capacity.
Fortunate. I have friends who were thinking along the same lines as you, but were renting an apartment. After spending a substantial sum on their gaming sound, they got kicked out for making too much noise and disturbing the neighbors. Bad scene all around.

That last set that's more like it - maybe a little small power-wise. There was no price and it's hard to judge value without it.. I guess we'll have to leave that to you.


Finally, you mentioned "Blu-Ray" in your initial post, but not since. Does your PC have a Blu-Ray player, or is this something you need to add? I wasn't clear on that. Were you going to add it to the PC or would you consider something like a PS3?

The manual for your Motherboard indicates it has an HDMI output, and that there is a BIOS setting to send SPDIF audio to it, or to the TosLink connector at the same locale.

1) You do not need a sound card.
2) You'll get the most flexibility if you send Digital audio to your Receiver via the HDMI output. [You will require an HDMI cable]
3) Since you're not going with an internal BD drive for the PC as your player, it will obviously be best to hook the BD Player to the Receiver. This will provide you with Surround Sound while playing videos on the BD Player. (Disk, USB FLash and Online sources)

Perhaps you should consider equipping the sound system for 7.1 rather than just 5.1? It would be better (and cheaper) to do now, than later.

Is the PC display also to be the TV or Entertainment monitor?









.

Yes, as we discussed (offline), you are going to get yourself a receiver and first try to use the GPU's HDMI out for your audio. As we discovered, people using your GPU have accomplished bitstreaming of TrueHD.

What we have is a proof of concept. That is a good place to start. And there are more:

Here
Here
Here

The last one starts off as a problem, but ends with a solution. The key was making sure the playback device was configured as 7.1. In your case, if I recall, the receiver you are looking at is 5.1 - so it may need to be 5.1.

Sorry to re-arrange your questions, but I think my answers will make the most sense like this...
Let's begin here... what resolution do you run your PC monitor at? If you run it at anything other than 1920x1080 it's unlikely that the Receiver can do anything with the video. It may confuse the Receiver hopelessly to try. Your best bet will be to use the HDMI cable from your motherboard to the receiver only for the audio.
What I meant was: Are you planning to watch blu-rays on the PC monitor, or do you have a TV also.
Ok, Obviously I misunderstood then. Frankly, I don't know anything about using a PC to play Blu-Rays from an internal Blu-Ray drive. Someone else will have to assist you with that - I'd only be guessing.
Well, I can only relate how I use my systems. Originally, I had a PS3 which I used as a Blu-Ray player, and occasionally to game on. Since then, I added another Blu-Ray player. It's better at playing online videos and it has 3D. [no... I don't keep the PS3 updated to the latest firmware)

My "Video" display is a 1920x1080p Video projector, and a 100" wall screen. I often put on a Video or Music-Video, or TV program on the projector and play online games simultaneously on my PC (separate display, higher resolution than HD Video). My PC has it's own Surround Sound. Of course, I can output the PC to the projector, but this isn't as cool an idea as I first thought. I like to leave my PC software load relatively stable so that Game play is optimized. If I had to duplex it as a video player, I'd be endlessly messing with settings to optimize both.

I really can't imagine being restricted to only the PC's display for both Videos and Games. It's just not my way.
Actually, I don't agree with that at all. A Surround Sound system can be used to make the room size feel like anything you want. It will give you the ability to "Acoustically Image" the sound from your various sources - a sense of 3D as if you were actually present in the game, to the degree that you can hear others coming up behind you or know what direction to look for shooters by the direction of the report of their weapons fire.

With 5.1 there is no speaker "behind you". Imaging of sound from that direction is vastly improved by the two extra speakers in 7.1 if you make them Rear speakers.

The cost difference between a 7.1 receiver and a 5.1 unit is minimal. You'll save a lot of money buying 7.1 now, rather than having to buy another whole receiver to add it later. If you have cost concerns, get the 7.1 receiver and run it as 5.1 until you can afford the two additional speakers.

Well, that's my humble opinion anyway. (BTW: Your Motherboard has 7.1 Audio)


I hope this has been of some help to you.
Edited by 50BMG - 2/4/13 at 9:58pm