[ncumming]

I'm considering buying a laptop (probably a viao) to do double duty as a blu-ray player for my home theatre setup. only problem is that my onkyo reciever does not have HDMI - only optical/coax for 5.1 or analog 7.1, and most recent blu-ray laptops only output via HDMI or stereo analog.


question is, can i just add a fairly inexpensive usb sound card with optical output to stream digital audio (5.1 ch) to my receiver?


It looks like by the time i buy a USB sound card with analog 7.1 outputs i could have almost bought a standalone blu-ray player, so that's probably not an option. So i take it i'll be getting "dvd" quality sound instead of blu-ray quality sound, but other than that are there any big issues with this?

 

[James_stewart]

another option is to go to your TV via HDMI, and if your TV has a digital audio output (coax, optical) you can run that to your receiver. A friend did that for awhile until he put a new soundcard in his HTPC.

 

[ncumming]

I was wondering if that would work, because my tv does have a digital audio out. So it would just "pass through" the audio bitstream? I guess the only downside is that my TV would have to be on for it to work, correct (only would be an issue when listening to pandora, etc., not watching movies)?

 

[Favelle]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ncumming /forum/post/16837725


I'm considering buying a laptop (probably a viao) to do double duty as a blu-ray player for my home theatre setup. only problem is that my onkyo reciever does not have HDMI - only optical/coax for 5.1 or analog 7.1, and most recent blu-ray laptops only output via HDMI or stereo analog.


question is, can i just add a fairly inexpensive usb sound card with optical output to stream digital audio (5.1 ch) to my receiver?


It looks like by the time i buy a USB sound card with analog 7.1 outputs i could have almost bought a standalone blu-ray player, so that's probably not an option. So i take it i'll be getting "dvd" quality sound instead of blu-ray quality sound, but other than that are there any big issues with this?

USB dongles with optical SPDIF outputs are so cheap its not even funny. TurtleBeach makes a good one.

 

[renethx]

 Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro