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Help setting up my 5.1 setup?

I

iCrap

n00b
Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
6
This is a bit of and odd issue here... and i'm at a loss.
I have a Yamaha RX-V465 receiver, which is outputting to my 5.1 setup. The available inputs are HDMI, Coaxial, and Optical.
Now the issue is that i cannot properly get the computer to output full 5.1 audio through Coaxial and Optical. After some research i have found that coax and optical lack the bandwidth needed for full uncompressed 5.1, and that only DTS or Dolby will work, as they are compressed. So i end up only getting 2 channels, and the rear speakers will not work in games (but DO work in movies with dolby)
I can get full uncompressed 5.1 through HDMI from my graphics card, but then this won't work for me because i need that port for my other monitor, and this is also causing issues with my graphics card and makes my other screens randomly flicker on and off (it thinks the receiver is a monitor).

So what are my options here? is there a sound card that can encode 5.1 on the fly and send it to my receiver through optical?
 
I'll give it a try. Is there any alternative to using HDMI though? like any way to get the full uncompressed signal over optical?
 
iCrap said:
I'll give it a try. Is there any alternative to using HDMI though? like any way to get the full uncompressed signal over optical?
Click to expand...

Toslink caps out at 1.5Mbits/sec or so, aka: the usual compressed DTS bitrate.
 
As you have found out, HDMI is the only port with the bandwidth needed for uncompressed audio.
 
Damn... so no alternatives? The HDMI is causing so many problems with other things.
 
I think there are some soundcards that can output real 5.1 sound through optical. I'm pretty sure that my xonar dx can do it but I hear it can only do it at 48 KHz, however you can find a soundcard that is suited better for carrying optical audio. You'll also want to look for a card that can support Dolby Digital Live and EAX 5.0.
 
Well you can always get a soundcard that does DTS Interactive or Dolby Digital Live encoding. Those get you 5.1 channels, compressed, over optical (or coax). Now that really isn't a big deal, DTSi is done at the full 1.5mbps which ends up being very little compression. I'd be real surprised if you can hear the difference between a DTS compressed audio signal and uncompressed in a blind test.

However if you wish to have uncompressed multi-channel audio, then HDMI or analogue are the only consumer options. In terms of HDMI you can get an HDMI soundcard, if you like. The Asus Xonar HDAV and Auzentech HTHD are two I'm aware of. The issue is that neither is made any more, near as I can tell. So you have to track one down used. Also, they need a video input signal to get clock, so you have to have something like a DVD player feed them an HDMI in if you don't want to use a video out on the GPU.

MOTU does make an all-in-one solution that does HDMI out, the HD Express, but it is professional and costs $500 (it is a video capture solution, not just HDMI audio card). Maxtor has a similar pro solution for a similar price.

Sadly, there is just really fuck-all in this arena. The answer seems to be "Ummm, just use your video card!" There is just no assumption of high end home theater setup connected to a PC (which is precisely how I do things).

So your basic options are:

1) Get a soundcard with DTS Interactive and go optical. This is cheap, and easy. The ASUS Xonar D1 can do it, most of the X-Fi's can do it (XtremeGamer, XtremeMusic, Platinum, Elite Pro, Fatality, Titanium) provided you buy a little $5 addon pack. The new Creative Z series can all do it, and include the necessary licenses, no extra purchase needed. Other Asus cards may too, just check on their site to verify before you buy.

2) Do it via HDMI. You can buy a second graphics card, perhaps, if needing the output in the first one is an issue. You do have to have the GPU in your system and set up as a monitor out, but you don't have to use the monitor. It does work, I've done it before. I mirrored a display in my case.

3) Get a new receiver that supports multi-channel analogue inputs. That is an options I don't like for a number of reasons, but it is one you can do. You go analogue from the soundcard to the receiver, basically just use the thing as a power amp.

4) Get an HDMI audio card. This would have been what I would have recommended more strongly before, but given that it is hard to find anything that isn't pro, it is more problematic. It'll work well but cost you a lot probably.

5) Ditch the receiver and go with powered monitor speakers instead.

I'd probably just to the DTS route. Ya it is compressed, but I doubt you'd notice.
 
I guess i should probably go the DTS route. Which soundcard do you suggest that can do that?
 
As I said, any of the X-Fis will do it, as will the Z series. If it were my money, I'd probably get a Creative Z series since I find Creative does a better job supporting their cards than Asus (neither does a wonderful job).
 
As I misread the OP yesterday, I will just point out that DTS and DD5.1 are compressed and both can be used over digital optical/coaxial.

The only "uncompressed" audio streams, are the HD versions of DTS and Dolby used on Blu-Ray discs.

So assuming you are referring to HD uncompressed audio streams, then yes, a card that can encode DTS/DD5.1 should work. Whether or not you can tell the difference will depend on your Receiver and speakers. For those that have a decent home theater setup, there is a noticeable difference between the compressed and uncompressed audio streams (from a Blu-Ray disc).
 
Well, this is just my PC setup, not my theatre setup so quality of the audio is not super high priority.... the main concern is i want all the channels. So encoding to DTS or DD will work then?

Which soundcards do you guys suggest? I'm going to have a look at the creative Z series the previous poster suggested.
 
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