Real Noob Advice

[thaitrasher]

I've searched thro' the threads and can't find anything so I'm hoping someone can help with my simple problem.

I've just upgraded my PC and now have 7.1 surround sound.
I also have a phillips DVD with 5.1 speakers.
It does not have an optical input.
If I use the red and white (RCA?) cables to connect the PC to the DVD player I am only getting basic stereo as far as I can tell.
Is there any way i can connect the speakers directly to the PC without the need for the DVD player?
the speakers are passive from what i can see as they have no power input.
the other issue is that they use bare wire connectors not RCA plugs.

I have presumed i would possibly need an amp but can't find an internal PC amp.

as you probably guessed i'm clutching at straws to get the best sound from my pc without having to use my redundant DVD player.


Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[jinjuku]

No straws,

You will need a receiver. What computer (if a brand name) or if you built it yourself what mainboard make and model?

 

[thaitrasher]

No straws,

You will need a receiver. What computer (if a brand name) or if you built it yourself what mainboard make and model?

Thanks for getting back to me jinjuku.

it's my first self build.
in fact my first PC!
done away with the laptop now.

the motherboard is a Gigabyte EP43T-UD3L
with an radeon HD 5770 graphics card
4gb ddr3 ram
processor is liquid cooled 2.6ghz quad core can't remember the details as it was given to me.

hope this helps

I've been searching for internal pc receivers but i can't find any. ideally if i could find a small external unit with an optical input and outputs for speakers without rca connectors i'd be happy.

Thanks again in advance for any advice you can give

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

"I also have a phillips DVD with 5.1 speakers."
Are the speakers connected directly to "dvd player" ? I think what you have is HTIB. If so - Provide model number, otherwise - like jinjuku said - you'll need a receiver.

 

[thaitrasher]

don't know the model number of the HT system but the speakers do plug into the back of it.
If I need an external receiver then i'm probably just as well sticking with connecting directly to the DVD player and looking for a set of 7.1 PC speakers.
It would seem a waste to buy a receiver to replace the DVD.
I'd be suprised if there are no internal receivers for PCs

 

[s162216]

A receiver will give a much better (and louder) output than the DVD player which is part of a HTIB which are known to be O.K for general off the shelf HT stuff but next to useless for things like this or serous systems. There are no internal PC receivers as receivers have to be big for the cooling for the amps etc you can't just stick one on a pci board. Plus there would be very limited space for any connections on the back. If there are any then they are likely to be seriously underpowered.

Can I just ask something though? How are you going to 7.1 from your PC is your using optical? Optical only supports up to 5.1 in its standard state. All 'proper' non HTIB receiver come with connections for just bare wire for the speakers, its only cheaper HTIB style ones that use RCA plugs to make it easier. Receivers can be got fairly cheap through Ebay, as your only using optical you can get some older, cheaper gear but I personally would try and be futureproof and get at least one with a HDMI port.

You do know though don't you that you will only get stuff encoded in Dolby Digital, DTS or PCM in surround through the optical as every other format/media/codec has to be downconverted to 2 channel PCM. To get around this you can get a soundcard like a Creative Soundblaster and buy a special driver pack that allows encoding of all audio to Dolby Digital or DTS so that it can be then sent in surround if it was originally encoded as surround like in games for instance.

http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativelabsstore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?page=product_detail&category=Software&pid=F2222DDN6Z2H2ADDEZD

Any of the cards listed there can be used with the drivers linked to to buy.

Hope this helps.

 

[thaitrasher]

It looks like the *****s in the shop i bought the soundcard from knew i was a noob and relieved me of some cash. they said the optical output could support 7.1, it's not such a big deal though as the speakers aren't exactly pro standard.
you guys are a great help, i'm off to get a replacement soundcard today and order a decent receiver (with HDMI). the next step will be to read thro' the rest of the forum to find which speakers to buy, i feel an upgrade coming on.
my wife thinks i'm crazy, especially as i'm completely deaf on one side and can't get the full benefit of stereo, nevermind surround sound!! but what the hell, ever since i watched Alien on a cine reel projector with the sound output hooked up to my dad's old B&O stereo i've wanted the best sound i can get. eventually after 30 years i might just get it!

 

[Affejunge]

I am sorry I saw this thread so late...

Assuming you are getting an outboard receiver, your video cards does 7.1 out.
From the amd website:

Integrated HD audio controller
Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats

so, you actually do not need a sound card at all if you are going to a receiver.

For now, with your HTIB, I would use the the onboard audio on your motherboard to do stereo to the dvd player. Then, when you have a reciever, let it decode the audio from the hdmi from your video card.

No sound card needed!

 

[Seth=L]

To anyone that cares, 7.1 can be carried over optical.

 

[Ares]

To anyone that cares, 7.1 can be carried over optical.

I care, when did that happen? Most of the conventional wisdom that's out there always say's that 5.1 is the most that optical can handle.

 

[s162216]

It can technically as TOSLINK Optical or Coax SPDIF can support much more bandwidth than 5.1 at 48Khz, its just that the receivers themselves don't support it via their SPDIF inputs. TOSLINK is used a lot in the communications industry, which my dad has worked in for years and from what he describes its a lot more than just 1.5mb DTS needs. It can actually support up to 125mb in bandwidth now.

 

[Seth=L]

Since no DVD that I'm aware of has DTS-ES 7.1 I can't confirm that it will, but it was always indicated that it could. I know for a fact that I've used toslink for DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 with no problems, true 7.1 was uncommon, unfortunately Blu-ray doesn't strip down DTS-MA 7.1 down to DTS-ES, it strips it down to 5.1 DTS when using an optical connection.

 

[Ares]

So it is possible but has yet to proven due to the lack of formats that would allow this to happen if I understand you correctly. Could this be something that might happen down the line or will HDMI make this unnecessary to even attempt?

Thanks Seth.

 

[Seth=L]

So it is possible but has yet to proven due to the lack of formats that would allow this to happen if I understand you correctly. Could this be something that might happen down the line or will HDMI make this unnecessary to even attempt?

Thanks Seth.

Toslink and Coaxial SPDIF are well within their means to carry the amount of data required for HD audio including SACD, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray audio. The problem that SPDIF has is its limited ability to monitored and controled by HDCP.

The only reason you never hear of anyone getting 7.1 DTS over optical or coaxial SPDIF is because there's not much if any true 7.1 software available. Dolby Digital never extended past 5.1 discrete for DVD (Dolby Digital EX is 6.1 with the surround back channel matrixed from the surround channels). DTS-ES was a format capable of 7.1 discrete surround sound and home audio receivers and processors were ready to decode them, however it seems this was never truly realized and DTS-ES 6.1 discrete is just about all you'll ever see.

 

[yepimonfire]

i had a 7.1 dvd at one time, forget the title and it was back before i had a receiver, but it sure did have 7.1 in the audio options menu (dts i think)