I give up.

[lewtz]

Am I missing something or can you not get a standard SPDIF output on any creative card? And if not, how does the little RCA to SPDIF hookwork work? If the source is in ac3 or encoded in some sort of 5.1 or 7.1 setup, will my reciever give me the full dolby digital?

I am currently just using my onboard realtek SPDIF out to my reciever, but it sucks for games.

My setup is

Computer (realtek onboard)-> Denon 2805 reciever (dvd,xbox,xbo360,satellite, all also plugged into reciever)-> Polk Rti10 fronts, Csi5 center, Fxi5 surrounds, and a 12" Velodyne Sub.

I used to just use my Senn 650 headphones for computer gaming, but now since I'm hooking my computer to a new Tv, I'm trying to take full advantage of my surround sound setup.

 

[phide]

There are two main output types for S/PDIF: optical and coaxial. Creative uses coaxial on the cards themselves, and support optical via the breakout boxes. You need a custom cable, or, a mono 3.5mm/mini male to RCA female adaptor to a 75 ohm coaxial cable, terminated with RCA male connectors at both ends.

Yes, you'll be able to pass Dolby Digital and DTS encoded streams via the digital out in this way. You won't, however, get surround while gaming or with multi-channel DVD-Audio or other multi-channel formats via the digital out. For that, you need to stick with the analog six channel out.

 

[lewtz]

hmm,do receivers accept 6 channel analog ins? If so how can I tell? I don't see anything on mine that indicate that unless its the pre-outs which I thought was an output channel to other things like a dedicated amp then to speakers.

Wait, I think it does.. would this be the Ext In? You can look on page 6 of the owners manual here... http://usa.denon.com/AVR2805_DFU_ownersmanual.pdf

 

[phide]

Some receivers do, yes. These inputs are typically specifically marked as "multi-channel inputs" or "six channel inputs" or some variation of that. In any case, it should be a group of six RCA inputs (or seven or eight, depending on the capabilities of the unit).

You can buy external encoders, but I'd personally steer clear of them.

 

[lewtz]

yeh these look like the right connections, 8 connections back there for the 7.1.

1 last question, what kind of cables would I been looking for to connect my computer to this? I have an creative audigy 2 zs also.. think that might work, if I get these cables. Thanks again.

edit
AH HAH http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cs_id=1021804&p_id=665&seq=1&format=2&style=

those look like the ticket, just need 3 of them. thanks for your help

 

[defiant007]

There are two main output types for S/PDIF: optical and coaxial. Creative uses coaxial on the cards themselves, and support optical via the breakout boxes. You need a custom cable, or, a mono 3.5mm/mini male to RCA female adaptor to a 75 ohm coaxial cable, terminated with RCA male connectors at both ends.

Yes, you'll be able to pass Dolby Digital and DTS encoded streams via the digital out in this way. You won't, however, get surround while gaming or with multi-channel DVD-Audio or other multi-channel formats via the digital out. For that, you need to stick with the analog six channel out.

I have actually meaning to make a post about the lack of optical s/pdif out on creative xi-fi cards. I see that there is something available from creative called the Creative Digital I/O Module which adds optical outputs. See link below:

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=1780

Has anyone actually used this before and is it any good?

If not, are there any decent add-in sound cards with optical s/pdif out?

 

[phide]

There's no strong advantage to optical over coaxial for transmission via S/PDIF, so it's not particularly Earth-shattering that Creative decided to opt out of an optical output. I don't like the look of the little I/O device, either. It probably works fine, but I just don't care for that type of device.

The Sondigo Inferno 7.1, one of the cheapest of the C-Media Oxygen HD 8788-based cards, has an optical out, an optical in, and does encoding via Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. This means you can encode any unprotected internal multi-channel signal to Dolby Digital or DTS for transmission via S/PDIF. There are other cards that have an optical out, but the Inferno, the Bluegears b-Enspirer and the Auzentech X-Meridian are the cards you'll want to narrow your focus to (though the X-Plosion and X-Mystique are also adequate).

And from what it seems, it's totally possible to use both an X-Fi and one of these Oxygen HD cards in tandem to some extent. Pretty damn nice if you ask me.

 

[pfunkman]

There's no strong advantage to optical over coaxial for transmission via S/PDIF, so it's not particularly Earth-shattering that Creative decided to opt out of an optical output. I don't like the look of the little I/O device, either. It probably works fine, but I just don't care for that type of device.

The Sondigo Inferno 7.1, one of the cheapest of the C-Media Oxygen HD 8788-based cards, has an optical out, an optical in, and does encoding via Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. This means you can encode any unprotected internal multi-channel signal to Dolby Digital or DTS for transmission via S/PDIF. There are other cards that have an optical out, but the Inferno, the Bluegears b-Enspirer and the Auzentech X-Meridian are the cards you'll want to narrow your focus to (though the X-Plosion and X-Mystique are also adequate).

And from what it seems, it's totally possible to use both an X-Fi and one of these Oxygen HD cards in tandem to some extent. Pretty damn nice if you ask me.

I/O device still hooks up to the same minijack connection so i would imagine it would be slightly less quality to go through the module (Too much stuff involved) and use optical than just hooking it right up to the digital minijack via a mono mini to RCA cable.

I have the platinum and have tried the optical output on the front and the minijack on the back and i can tell absolutely no difference at all.