How should I connect desktop to receiver?

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peanut

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Oct 2, 2011
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Hi all! Newbie question here. I currently have my TV and gaming consoles connected to an Onkyo HT-S3300 home theatre system, and I'd like to be able to play audio from my computer through this system as well. Right now I don't have a separate sound card, so the only audio output is through the onboard ports on my Asus P6T Deluxe.

What's the best way to connect these together? I know I can run a cable from the green headphone out jack on the computer to the aux in jack on the front of the Onkyo receiver, but I have a feeling that's not taking advantage of all the available audio channels. There are two types of "digital in" ports on the Onkyo, which I think are optical and coaxial; would those be better? Do I need to add a discrete sound card to my computer to take advantage of these?

Thanks!
 
ripken204 said:
do you have a video card with HDMI out?
Click to expand...
This. HDMI is the easiest most straightforward option, the way it should been for a long time.

Barring using HDMI, OP we have to have a chat about "what constitutes better?" as well as what you're using this system for in terms of audio (gaming/movies, music etc)...Because coaxial and optical SPDIF are kinda neat but very limited, due to the MPAA not wanting to deprecate connectors 20 years ago.
 
Alright, I'll tinker with HDMI. Thanks! So far it seems like I can't configure the video card to send just audio over the HDMI connection without it also trying to extend my desktop across that connection as well, but that's a video problem, not an audio one :)

What's the right way to test that I'm getting the right audio signal through the HDMI connector? I know I can just fire up a movie on my desktop and listen for different sound coming out of the front vs. rear speakers, but is there some sort of program that will play a tone to each speaker one at a time to make it even more obvious that things are working?
 
peanut said:
Alright, I'll tinker with HDMI. Thanks! So far it seems like I can't configure the video card to send just audio over the HDMI connection without it also trying to extend my desktop across that connection as well, but that's a video problem, not an audio one :)

What's the right way to test that I'm getting the right audio signal through the HDMI connector? I know I can just fire up a movie on my desktop and listen for different sound coming out of the front vs. rear speakers, but is there some sort of program that will play a tone to each speaker one at a time to make it even more obvious that things are working?
Click to expand...

just open up the sound panel in windows, right click your audio device, click configure speakers, then click on a speaker and it will play a sound in that speaker
 
Just use the optical or coaxial digital out on the MOBO to Op/Co in on the A/VR. Your MOBO on-board soundboard should have the options to set it up.
 
ninjaturtle said:
Just use the optical or coaxial digital out on the MOBO to Op/Co in on the A/VR. Your MOBO on-board soundboard should have the options to set it up.
Click to expand...

This is what I ended up doing since I couldn't find a way to get the HDMI connection to send only audio without also trying to extend/mirror my desktop as well. Seems to be working fine so far with the coax connection.

Skripka, what did you mean when you said this connector is very limited due to the MPAA?
 
peanut said:
This is what I ended up doing since I couldn't find a way to get the HDMI connection to send only audio without also trying to extend/mirror my desktop as well. Seems to be working fine so far with the coax connection.

Skripka, what did you mean when you said this connector is very limited due to the MPAA?
Click to expand...

History lesson time :) !

-SPDIF/TOSLINK date back to the mid 1980s. Now back then this whole surround sound thing didn't exist for intents and purposes. Thus, SPDIF connectors/protocol were created to digitally send lossless 2-channel audio at CD bitrate. Eventually the connectors made their way into consumer hardware.

Now comes the problem. Eventually this whole surround sound fad of multi-channel speaker setups came to be and started filtering past only commercial theatres and into consumer gear....the problem being the only digital lossless interface, SPDIF, was made to send 44/48kHz stereo signals only, the bandwidth the bus was designed for was stereo and not much more...Now the MPAA and RIAA could have done LOTS of things. What they *chose* to do was maintain backwards compatibility of hardware...thus we still have SPDIF to this day. A bandwidth bottlenecked connector, that can only send 2-channel CD-quality lossless audio.

So, how did they take an interface designed from the ground up to be 2-channel lossless audio only and get it to "kind of" support 3/4/5/7/9.x speaker setups? They use lossy audio compression. Why is this a problem? Because Windows has, since forever, processed audio in lossless PCM format...and any not pre-bitstreamed as Dolby is sent digitally is sent as lossless PCM format. The problem being, you need to make sure all your gear supports the right lossy "Dolby" compression codecs like DTS or DDL. So what does all of this tech gobldy-gook mean?

It means that when connecting via SPDIF or TOSLINK, you need to be careful:
1) If you're only watching movies (pre-bitstreamed audio) or listening to stereo music (lossless PCM), you don't need to lose sleep.

2) If you're wanting to *game*, many games support surround sound, BUT almost all games I know of generate PCM audio. So if connected via SPDIF/TOSLINK all you'll get is 2-channel stereo, *unless* your hardware on both ends supports lossy codecs like DTS or DDL then you need to configure your gear right to use it.

This post is as long-winded as it is, and home theatre audio is as complicated as it is...because the MPAA didn't do the right thing and deprecate SPDIF 10 years ago. Audio HDMI should have taken over a long time ago.
 
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One thing to add to everything above is that unless you are using HDMI on your video card for BOTH audio AND video you will end up with Windows thinking you have two monitors hooked up (one monitor for the DVI/VGA to your monitor and one monitor for the HDMI audio).

Theres no way I've been able to find that will allow ONLY audio through the video cards HDMI.

Just be aware of this as I've had windows and applications open up on the 2nd monitor which is a pain considering I don't PHYSICALLY have a second monitor.

Hope this makes sense, maybe someone can go into more detail...
 
Set the second monitor to mirror the first and your problems are solved. If your receiver has an HDMI passthrough mode, enable that to prevent screen flicker when you turn the receiver off.
 
peanut said:
This is what I ended up doing since I couldn't find a way to get the HDMI connection to send only audio without also trying to extend/mirror my desktop as well. Seems to be working fine so far with the coax connection.
Click to expand...


Can't you just disable to HDMI display?

In Windows 7

  • Right click desktop
    Select "Screen Resolution"
    Select the HDMI monitor Then under "Multiple displays" Select "Disconnect this display"
 
Chrisroman said:
Can't you just disable to HDMI display?

In Windows 7

  • Right click desktop
    Select "Screen Resolution"
    Select the HDMI monitor Then under "Multiple displays" Select "Disconnect this display"
Click to expand...

Well yes, but then his audio will stop. HDMI audio and video go hand-in-hand you can't just send audio over HDMI.

I have never really had a problem with using HDMI and having a second monitor. There are many options.

You could connect your GPU to your receiver and then your receiver's HDMI-out to your monitor. This is actually how the receiver was meant to be used.

Or you could have your receiver show up as a secondary monitor. Just move it in the windows display properties to the corner of your main monitor and you shouldnt evre accidentially move your mouse or any windows to it.

No new windows should open on your secondary monitor unless they have been previously closed on it and saved their last position. If this is really a problem still, there are applications to move all your windows to a selected monitor. Or you can use the built in Windows hotkey. Select the window in your taskbar and WinKey+Arrow keys to move it across monitors.

Or as someone suggested you could clone the displays.
 
SirMaster said:
Or you could have your receiver show up as a secondary monitor. Just move it in the windows display properties to the corner of your main monitor and you shouldnt evre accidentially move your mouse or any windows to it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's a clever trick. I'll give that a try.

SirMaster said:
Or as someone suggested you could clone the displays.
Click to expand...

I tried this but it wouldn't let me set the resolution to 2560x1600 (the native resolution of my primary monitor), presumably because HDMI doesn't support resolutions this high?
 
peanut said:
I tried this but it wouldn't let me set the resolution to 2560x1600 (the native resolution of my primary monitor), presumably because HDMI doesn't support resolutions this high?
Click to expand...

Yes, this one pretty much only works on 1080p and lower.
 
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