5.1 sound only with DVD?

[jennydee]

Hi All,

I recently built a system using an Abit AI7 mobo with onboard Realtek AC7 sound. The onboard sound has both analog & spdif outputs, and I'm using the spdif connector to plug the PC into my stereo receiver. I have a 5.1 speaker configuration connected to the receiver. Now, when I play DVDs on the PC, the receiver indicates that it is receiving 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, and plays everything find. When I am using any application other than a DVD player, the receiver only recognizes a stereo signal. I have the speakers set to 5.1 in the Sound control panel, but that doesn't seem to make any difference, and the Abit driver seems to think that only the analog connectors can produce 6-channel sound, which doesn't make much sense to me. Is there a setting I'm missing? Looked on the Realtek site for an updated driver, but the only one I saw was older than the one I got with the motherboard. Any help getting this to function so I don't need to buy another sound card is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Jen

[WeHa]

yep, ur onboard soundcard doesn't have the capability or feature to encoding stereo sources/input to 5.1 output. you need some card like terratec, audigy 2 or like mine turtle beach santa cruz that have capability to encoding stereo sources to what i can say matrixed 5.1 for the example my sc, santz cruz, have a feature called Virtual 5.1. so when i listen to stereo music, it created the matrixed the other 4 channel(center, LFE, surround left & surround right).

[jennydee]

Well, I'm not so concerned with making stereo sources "surround", but I'd like games that should take advantage of 5.1 sound to do so, and I need it to be via an SPDIF output. I saw a Turtle Beach "Catalina" card that looks alright, would that do the trick?

[WeHa]

hmm. i haven't tried on Catalina, but from the specs it seems that it'll do the trick.

[jennydee]

Have you had any experience with your card & surround sound gaming? Do you know for sure that I'd be getting game surround out the the SPDIF output? These are my biggest concerns, as my onboard setup does have a viable surround option, just not using a connection compatible with my receiver, which is why getting non-DVD 5.1 over SPDIF is the key to any purchase I'd make.

[WeHa]

yap, mine works very well. have u had a look on either m-audio and terratec soundcard? they provides all connectors to receiver like urs may be

[jennydee]

Haven't checked those others out, but Turtle Beach was highly recommended by a friend, and there's a good deal at newegg on them right now. I'll check out the other brands quickly before I make my purchase though, thanks. Also, I saw that your card doesn't have SPDIF out, and how that kind of connection performs is still my biggest concern.

[WeHa]

no, it isn't true. my card has really s/pdif output. you can check this on ww.turtlebeach.com. it has a jack called vice versa that is multi-fuctional includes to be s/pdif jack.

[jennydee]

But that jack won't connect to a regular stereo receiver. Its the combination of digital output to receiver, and its ability to deliver surround sound from non-DVD sources that's the concern. Even the Turtle Beach manuals I've downloaded off the net don't quite alleviate my concerns about this kind of setup. The manuals read like there are some kinds of surround output you can't get through the SPDIF (fiber optic) output as it feeds to a stereo receiver. As I have no space for computer speakers in addition to my home theater speakers, I have to be sure I can get game surround before I can make a purchase.

[WeHa]

i c, u're looking for a s/pdif jack that fit your reciever. hmm then u need soundcard like audigy 2zs platinum or terratec aeuronspace than give u some external drive that provide many type of connectors you may connect.