SPDIF Audio is Stereo Only?

[etihtsarom]

Hi,
So what happens when we use optical out to send audio to a receiver? Using this connection, when I test the 5.1 settings’ speakers, the surround channels are played on the front speakers. I’ve read that SPDIF is inherently 2 channels, but DTS movies still play as 5.1. Can some one explain this for me? Thanks

 

[ashmedai]

5.1 over S/PDIF is compressed.

 

[djoye]

It depends on what you're playing. On Sound Blaster cards you have to toggle an option to get 5.1 to work out of the SPDIF; whatever it is I rarely get it straight. If you want to play a movie in 5.1 then you'll have to check that software's configuration to see if it'll send through SPDIF and if you're trying to play a game in 5.1 through SPDIF then you'll need Dolby Digital Live or dts Connect to encode the stream as 5.1.

 

[keenan]

Hi,
So what happens when we use optical out to send audio to a receiver? Using this connection, when I test the 5.1 settings’ speakers, the surround channels are played on the front speakers. I’ve read that SPDIF is inherently 2 channels, but DTS movies still play as 5.1. Can some one explain this for me? Thanks

5.1 over S/PDIF packs a compressed AC3 or DTS stream into the same framing and format as stereo audio. Most sound cards can't create this compressed stream on the fly, so for general use it's effectively stereo. When you play a movie, the already-encoded DTS or AC3 stream is just pumped down the S/PDIF line to your receiver, which decodes it.

 

[obobski]

5.1 over S/PDIF packs a compressed AC3 or DTS stream into the same framing and format as stereo audio. Most sound cards can't create this compressed stream on the fly, so for general use it's effectively stereo. When you play a movie, the already-encoded DTS or AC3 stream is just pumped down the S/PDIF line to your receiver, which decodes it.

this

but: most? most multimedia boards of the last few years at least have DDL, if not DTS Connect (and an increasing number of integrated solutions)