Help!! Is it possible to get 5.1 HT audio through a PC sound card?

[soul_music]

Hi everyone,

My first post here. This is what's been troubling me the last couple days.

I have the following at my apartment:

1. Logitech 5.1 speakers
2. Motorola HDTV receiver (the one given by Comcast)
3. The Creative SoundBlaster Live! External 5.1 channel sound card.
4. An HD-ready LCD TV.

Ok, I know the sound card maybe unneccesary here, but is there any way I can connect my speakers through the sound card and the HD receiver to get the HD channels in 5.1 channel surround sound?

If not (which I suppose is unfortunately is the right answer), then will buying an AV receiver solve my problem? I s'pose I have all the necessary cables (1 optical, 1 composite video, and a bunch of others).

All I want is to get my TV sound through all 6 speakers! Is that asking too much.. huh?

Thanks!

 

[thoward4444]

What version of the 5.1 Logitech speakers do you have? The Z-5500 Digital have an optical input that you could run from the cable box to the speakers. However, it would probably be better if you had an AV Receiver handling the switching for you. That way you could use the speakers for both your computer and TV.

Another option is to get a sound card with digital inputs. Then you could run the audio from the cable box into the sound card and it would forward it to your speakers from its optical out. The only problem is that your computer would have to be on whenever you wanted to watch TV.

I am not a pro on home theater, but i am a computer guy, so maybe if a home theater expert chimed in he/she could recomend some more options.

 

[Hi Ho]

You need something with a Dolby Digital/DTS decoder if you want surround sound from HDTV. If your speakers have digital inputs then you're set. If not, you will probably want to go with a receiver. However, you would have a difficult time using your PC speakers with a receiver. They are not designed to work together.

 

[mustang_steve]

There is a few sound cards on the market that support "dolby digital live"...this will allow you to encode ANY multi-channel audio of ANY format to DD 5.1 on the fly in pure hardware. At that point, you can just run a digital out to your receiver, and balance will have been re-achieved within the hi-fi universe

If your motherboard has Nvidia "Soundstorm" (NForce2 MCP based motherboards only), you already have DDlive support through your onboard sound.

 

[bennyjamin]

Sound card upgrade

I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. It has all the i/o's any one person can handle (in most cases anyway). A little pricey, but the hardware is excellent. As usual for Creative though, the software is mediocre. HERE's A LINK for more info.