Connecting PC to 5.1 surround

[zehd]

I've been wanting to do this for a long while but never really knew what I was going to do.

My PC has built in sound, where I can switch the mic and line ports to be surround, sub woofer and center speaker... so I in effect have several discreet line outs..

I could get a game speaker system that has the different 1/8" jacks, but most of what I've seen is a little whimpy for a medium sized living room...

I'm thinking I will hold off getting a new fancy spdiff/optical thingy. Until I have a PC that has optical out...I'm not sure if I have spdiff with coaxial(rca), though...maybe...

anyway, I might grab a second hand system. but I'm not sure what to look for, using older tech...

And once I have the physical, what do I need to do to make sure my ac3/5.1 files play on all the speakers...?

And if I remember correctly, there was a config for having ffdshow take a stereo or 4.0 sound and average out audio for a center speaker...

[stustunz]

you can convert the 1/8 jacksX3 to the rcaX6 plugs for 5.1 its the same signal just a smaller plug (lets the pc do the decoding)
or you use the digital (pass through) amp does the decoding (once you have a reasonable amp this sounds alot better i found)
if using pass through the amp decides what sound goes where
if using the computer then ffdshow or nvidia are good choices for decoding
and yes the settings are in ffdshow not hard to work out

[whurlston]

If you have Coax or Optical out and an AVR that accepts them, that is the easiest. Otherwise, you will need an AVR with multichannel inputs or separate amps. Once you have the hardware, use download AC3Filter and use it as your audio decoder.

[psycik]

If you've got a good receiver then I'd recommend the SPDIF > amplifier way to go, make that fancy amplifier you bought do the decoding, not the $2 chip on your motherboard.

Then you can also send 3.5mm headphone jack to the stereo output on your tv, cos you probably don't want your amp on all the time.

Then I use AC3Filter to manage the sending of audio to both. I think you can use ffdshow as well.

[zehd]

Thanks. At the risk of derailing my own thread:

On my MVP I have a orange RCA connector. That's the spif right?

And with the default dongle, I could only get 2 ch audio via spdif?

And with the mvpmc dongle, can I get ac3 IN gbpvr?

Thanks

[zehd]

If you have Coax or Optical out and an AVR that accepts them, that is the easiest. Otherwise, you will need an AVR with multichannel inputs or separate amps. Once you have the hardware, use download AC3Filter and use it as your audio decoder.

So you like AC3Filter over ffdshow?

[psycik]

Thanks. At the risk of derailing my own thread:

On my MVP I have a orange RCA connector. That's the spif right?

And with the default dongle, I could only get 2 ch audio via spdif?

And with the mvpmc dongle, can I get ac3 IN gbpvr?

Thanks

Not sure about the mvp, I had an old one that didn't have the digital coax out so never looked at it. So it only had the Composite (yellow) left/right (white/red) and then the svideo plug.

[psycik]

So you like AC3Filter over ffdshow?

I prefer ac3filter cos ffdshow does everything potentially, whereas ac3filter only concerns itself with sound. Safer in my opinion.

[Satori]

FFDShow or AC3filter are not used if you are watching web video like Hulu (correct me if I am wrong here). That means you will get no sound if the TV is connected to the center channel and you are watching web video.

If I have my TV connected to the L/R outputs on my sound card (to fix the problem above) I will lose most of the voice volume when watching HD in the US, which uses 5.1 channel sound. The voices are mostly on the center channel. I noticed this while trying to watch some HD channels here. The surround volume is so loud I can barely hear the people speaking.

One alternative is to route everything to the receiver and have it remix everything to 5.1 and connect the TV to the center channel on the receiver. The issue is you have to turn on the receiver to hear the TV. Given the TV is turned on and off about 500 times a day in my house (I have a 4 year old son) I didn't want to have my receiver turned on and off that much (I really can't afford one right now). Not to mention the electricity and lack of WAF.

My solution was to get a sound card that could up mix to 5.1:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6829102006

I actually bought it used for $20. It remixes everything to 5.1 regardless of whether it comes from a DVD, the web, or GBPVR. I use the analog outs on the sound card and have all 6 channels go to the receiver's 6 channel analog in for DVDs and split the center channel with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6882123072

to go to the TV and the receiver. The cable actually cost me $1. Now the TV always has nice audio (and the correct voice volume) and I only have to turn on the receiver if I want to hear all 5.1 channels for a movie. This also avoids DVD DRM issues with S/PDIF out (which can be disabled in certain circumstances).

[zehd]

My solution was to get a sound card that could up mix to 5.1:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6829102006

I actually bought it used for $20. It remixes everything to 5.1 regardless of whether it comes from a DVD, the web, or GBPVR. I use the analog outs on the sound card and have all 6 channels go to the receiver's 6 channel analog in for DVDs and split the center channel with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6882123072

to go to the TV and the receiver. The cable actually cost me $1. Now the TV always has nice audio (and the correct voice volume) and I only have to turn on the receiver if I want to hear all 5.1 channels for a movie. This also avoids DVD DRM issues with S/PDIF out (which can be disabled in certain circumstances).

So you also have several 1/8" jacks on your sound card that can be swicthed over to other parts of a 5.1 (I see your card does 7.1)?

And your amp has analog 6 inputs for left/right/center/sub/rearL/rearR ? That's what I'm looking for?

I really like the idea of only switching on the amp for movies or other 5.1 content...