no digital decoder in Promedia 5.1s?

[Delltron]

What exactly does this mean? Does it mean that i cannot play movies/games in superb surround, or does it only relate to plugging a dvd player or whatnot to my computer? Thanks

 

[Bugalaman]

it has 5.1 inputs, but no coax/optical input

 

[eyedol]

if you want surround sound get a 5.1 channel card

 

[SilverMK3]

It only relates to connecting DVD players, consoles, or other Dolby Digital/DTS products to your speakers.

If you have a device that outputs a Dolby Digital or DTS stream (such as a SoundStorm motherboard) then I recommend getting the Klipsch DD-5.1 external decoder

 

[IdiotInCharge]

It only relates to connecting DVD players, consoles, or other Dolby Digital/DTS products to your speakers.

If you have a device that outputs a Dolby Digital or DTS stream (such as a SoundStorm motherboard) then I recommend getting the Klipsch DD-5.1 external decoder

Well, that's only if Soundstorm is your SOLE audio source. If you have even an Audigy, you are better off using analog outs to the Klipsch- this is the BEST way to do it if you have a competent soundcard, it's how they were designed to work,

 

[xonik]

What exactly does this mean? Does it mean that i cannot play movies/games in superb surround, or does it only relate to plugging a dvd player or whatnot to my computer? Thanks

It means that any Dolby Digital or dts decoding must get done before it leaves the computer.

First, you must realize that no currently available games for the PC even take advantage of Dolby Digital or dts. You're not missing anything...yet. If games have their own surround sound schemes, that's up to you and the game manufacturer to take advantage of those on an individual basis. I'm talking about things like EAX, A3D, Sensaura, etc.

Secondly, if you have a soundcard that has 6-channel analog output or better, you're probably already taking advantage of Dolby Digital or dts decoding, whether you know it or not. Just make sure that the decoding is enabled in your software DVD player. When analog output is being used (as it would be with the ProMedia 5.1s), any applicable decoding would happen inside your computer, so there's nothing to worry about.

Lastly, I want to make sure you're clear on the whole surround sound thing. Until very recently, any audio coming out of your computer was decided mostly by the application that directed the sound to be played. Put another way, if you play some MP3s with your favorite program, it's only going to play it in stereo as the music intended. If you want to play a game, it's only going to use the speakers that it's designed to use. Your speakers won't magically convert sound into surround sound (with a few exceptions). Now, decoders get involved when you want to send out the audio in digital form. Dolby Digital and dts are examples of digital audio streams. They need to be decoded and converted to analog form before you can hear them. Once it's in analog, whether this happens in an external decoder or inside your PC, everything's done. That's when the ProMedias come in.

 

[Delltron]

hey thanks for the info, i think i understand now. I have an audidy 2 zs, so it supports the 5.1 setup, but I will only be taking advantage of the 3 other channels when the software/music/movie is encoded to support the 5.1. I think i might as well save up to get the 5.1s as opposed to the 2.1s, since I am getting back into gaming and it seems that new games are going this way. thanks.

 

[E4g1e]

What exactly does this mean? Does it mean that i cannot play movies/games in superb surround, or does it only relate to plugging a dvd player or whatnot to my computer? Thanks

As "no digital decoder" implies, in the case of the Promedia 5.1 Ultras, it simply means that the speaker set itself lacks digital-to-analog conversion internally. The Promedia 5.1 Ultras, like most other high-performance multimedia loudspeakers, accept only analog audio connections. A built-in DAC would have forced the manufacturer to cheap out on all of the other parts of the speakers, since quality DACs and quality loudspeaker innards are expensive.

 

[ehZn]

If you have a soundcard like an Audigy2, however, there is an option to "upmix" 2.1 stereo sound for a 5.1 system. It is NOT surround sound, as there is no surround effect. It just allows you to use all 5 satellites for music and such.