HTPC - 7.1 or 5.1 Sound Card

[Reorx]

I have a laptop that I am using as a HTPC (no Blu-ray in it). It has HDMI, but it is older and only outputs 2 channel PCM. So I have resorted to using a USB sound card. I had been using a Creative Labs XiFi 5.1. Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro - Sound Blaster - Creative Labs (United States of America) But with my recent speaker upgrade to a 7.1. I found the rear channels not really used. I purchased and installed a Asus Xonar 7.1 USB card. Sound Cards and Digital-to-Analog Converters - Xonar U7 and didn't hear much difference. My stereo is 10yrs old, and I know I need to replace it. Denon x4000 in July. My question is: Since most of my sources are 5.1, and the new stereo will take that 5.1 and make it 7.1; do I even need to worry about having a 7.1 sound card? Thanks.

 

[rojo]

It depends on the content you play (whether it actually has 7.1 channels of audio) and whether you intend to use a virtual surround mode (Dolby PL IIz, Audyssey what is it called, DSX? or similar) or native (AC3, DTS, etc). You'll gain some authenticity in your playback by passing the full 7.1 to your receiver, but it's really up to you whether splitting the rear channel of a 5.1 source via a virtual surround mode is undesirable, whether the authenticity of a native 7.1 stream justifies the use of that Asus Xonar, and whether you actually use your laptop as a source often enough that any of this matters at all.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

It's not how many channels your new and (excellent btw) X4000 could take - it's how many good quality speakers you have?
2 good speakers is better than 8 mediocre ones
Also not sure if changed the "sub" but SP222 is not a sub by far

 

[Reorx]

It's not how many channels your new and (excellent btw) X4000 could take - it's how many good quality speakers you have?
2 good speakers is better than 8 mediocre ones
Also not sure if changed the "sub" but SP222 is not a sub by far

Yes, I agree.
The SP222 is not a sub. But it does a good job pressurizing a 7500-8000 cubic foot room, plus the rest of the house. Until I can afford to buy multiple SVS subs.

Same with my front 3. They are for much larger rooms. Auditoriums, med-large classrooms, churches, etc. But upon searching and multiple listening tests, proper replacements would be $2400, Ascend Sierra 2's is what I currently have in mind. That may change as I get closer to buying them.

The Denon I will be purchasing this July, 2014. Sorry that I was not more clear. To me, this is my current weakest link. My Yamaha is like 10yrs old.

 

[Reorx]

It depends on the content you play (whether it actually has 7.1 channels of audio) and whether you intend to use a virtual surround mode (Dolby PL IIz, Audyssey what is it called, DSX? or similar) or native (AC3, DTS, etc). You'll gain some authenticity in your playback by passing the full 7.1 to your receiver, but it's really up to you whether splitting the rear channel of a 5.1 source via a virtual surround mode is undesirable, whether the authenticity of a native 7.1 stream justifies the use of that Asus Xonar, and whether you actually use your laptop as a source often enough that any of this matters at all.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

I play 75% of my content through the laptop, and the other 25% through Netflix. I have a blu-ray player in my other laptop, and rip movies, and store them on my NAS.

I am assuming the actual 7.1 authentic stream is going to sound better than the virtual 7.1. but I have not seen to many Blu-ray disks that have a full 7.1 track. So it would seem that on many disks, the virtual 7.1 would be used anyways.

Thanks.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yes, I agree.
The SP222 is not a sub. But it does a good job pressurizing a 7500-8000 cubic foot room, plus the rest of the house. Until I can afford to buy multiple SVS subs.

Same with my front 3. They are for much larger rooms. Auditoriums, med-large classrooms, churches, etc. But upon searching and multiple listening tests, proper replacements would be $2400, Ascend Sierra 2's is what I currently have in mind. That may change as I get closer to buying them.

The Denon I will be purchasing this July, 2014. Sorry that I was not more clear. To me, this is my current weakest link. My Yamaha is like 10yrs old.

Ok, I looked at your current AVR and xonar card - how did you connected them? I hope you've used a digital coax cable. As Rojo had mentioned - are you certain that your file sources have 5.1 soundtracks?

About sub: Yes, I can imagine using a large venue fullrange speaker as a mid-bass could supplement higher-bass to a degree, but you're still missing out a long of content below 40hz

 

[Reorx]

The digital coax put a hiss into the sub, so I switched to toslink.
I use media player classic and vlc, and it shows the sources in 5.1. I haven't checked to see if it says 7.1 with my 7.1 media. I will try that tonight.

I thought that about the sub as well, but I heard different. When I ran it through bass sweeps I can start hearing the roll off around 40hz, but there still is significant bass down to 25hz. Enough to shake the room.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Adam]

Hi. As far as I know, that Xonar U7 sound card will only output 7.1 if you use the four analog outputs. The digital coax won't transfer 7.1 lossless audio, regardless of your receiver. Your Yamaha has multichannel analog inputs and can utilize the 7.1 processing from the Xonar, but the Denon X4000 doesn't have those.

 

[rojo]

Reorx, just curious. If you plug the Xonar device into your laptop and conect the optical cable to your receiver, then right-click on your systray speaker icon, go to Playback Devices, highlight the Xonar's S/PDIF interface, and click "Configure", do you have 7.1 as an option?

 

[Reorx]

Reorx, just curious. If you plug the Xonar device into your laptop and conect the optical cable to your receiver, then right-click on your systray speaker icon, go to Playback Devices, highlight the Xonar's S/PDIF interface, and click "Configure", do you have 7.1 as an option?

Configure is gray'd out. I did find the analog part of the soundcard where it would allow me to test 7.1. But the U7 did not come with any cables other than power and a USB.

 

[Reorx]

Hi. As far as I know, that Xonar U7 sound card will only output 7.1 if you use the four analog outputs. The digital coax won't transfer 7.1 lossless audio, regardless of your receiver. Your Yamaha has multichannel analog inputs and can utilize the 7.1 processing from the Xonar, but the Denon X4000 doesn't have those.

Pulled from the manual. Sound Cards and Digital-to-Analog Converters - Xonar U7

11.​ ​ ​

S/PDIF Out port

[FONT=Helvetica,Helvetica]Coaxial digital output port. Connects to an external digital decoder or digital speaker systems, Home Theater systems, AV receivers for outputting digital audio including PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS, etc. Connects [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica,Helvetica]to the surround channel input on 4/5.1/7.1 powered analog speakers. Through S/PDIF-Out it will deliver [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica,Helvetica]stereo PCM and use DDL for 5.1 channel.[/FONT]

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Looks like I am going to try the coax digital again with a better cable, and dig around for some analog cables to try as well.

Do you know of any alternative USB 7.1 sound cards for ~$100?

 

[Reorx]

I connected everything through analog.
My side speakers worked, but the rears did not. I switched the cables around, to verify it wasn't a bad cable.
The rear speakers worked but not the sides.

Still had the annoying hiss going to the sub. I didn't have a chance to try to get rid of that.
I am going to return the 7.1 sound card, and re-architect the solution.

Thank you all for the help.