Simple optical digital question

[theskintman]

Hello,

Probably a stupid question, but I just want to make 110% sure before parting with my cash... anything beyond monophone confuses the heck out of me

I'm looking at getting an amp/receiver for my home cinema system - I'm looking at a 5.1 system from the optical digital of my Audigy card on my PC. I know the Audigy optical out says it's 5.1, so my question is - can I assume that any digital optical input on an amp/receiver will support 5.1 as well?

 

[Deleted member 30535]

As long as it is an AV amp with 5 channel amplification, then yes you are correct. The ".1" refers to the LFE channel present (subwoofer) in source material, but you are unlikely to find an amp with Subwoofer amplification. You need an "active" subwoofer. If you do not have a sub, an AV Amp will "mix" the LFE information into your main speakers. Whether you will notice any difference or not depends on the capabilities of your speakers!

HTH

 

[Andy98765]

You do not state what AV amp you are going for?
Via optical the Audigy will only give 5.1 from the DVD drive in your PC, set your DVD software to ac3 pass through. Games will be in glorious stereo as the Audigy does not have AC3 encoding to give 5.1 or better. To get 5.1 from ALL sources on your PC you need to connect the 3.5mm jacks on the Audigy to a discrete (Direct) 5.1 input on a AV reciever.

 

[theskintman]

Right - that's useful information. I'm mainly concerned with 5.1 for films, but I had assumed my games would be in 5.1 too. I haven't seen any amps that take those three plugs - I thought they were a proprietary Creative thing.

I purchased the Sony STR-DE475, because it was £85 on eBay, takes digital in, and got a nice review here:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/wvreviews/Amplifiers/Sony/SonySTR-DE475.php

Basically, I could almost do what I need to do with the Creative sub, as five speakers can plug into it via phono, but the PC speakers that came with the sub are tiddlers compared to the Acoustic Energy Aegis floorstanders,surrounds and centre speaker I want to connect now. So now I'm thinking I'll use the Creative sub to take the three leads from the PC, then take the speaker phonos on the sub to the five inputs on the back of the amp.

I figure if I notice a significant improvement with digital, I can still use that when watching DVDs...

Is this sensible, or am I shooting myself in the foot?

 

[Andy98765]

First things first the Sony STR-DE475 takes 5.1 in via RCA connectors. See manual http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4233503133.pdf check page 9 multi channel in. You will need a creative cable http://uk.europe.creative.com/shop/product.asp?category=14&subcategory=0&product=1076& which will work with Home cinema AV amps up to 7.1 as the description states. Change the output of your sound card to 6 channel/5.1 (same thing). I suggest downloading the latest software available for your sound card http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/downloads/softwareupdate.asp as you usually end up with more toys to play with like surround sound fields for stereo sources, and other dynamic types of output to suit the environment.

 

[theskintman]

First things first the Sony STR-DE475 takes 5.1 in via RCA connectors. See manual http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4233503133.pdf check page 9 multi channel in. You will need a creative cable http://uk.europe.creative.com/shop/product.asp?category=14&subcategory=0&product=1076& which will work with Home cinema AV amps up to 7.1 as the description states. Change the output of your sound card to 6 channel/5.1 (same thing). I suggest downloading the latest software available for your sound card http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/downloads/softwareupdate.asp as you usually end up with more toys to play with like surround sound fields for stereo sources, and other dynamic types of output to suit the environment.

Thanks for all this - it's a great help. I'll go that route, so I can get my games in 5.1 too. Appreciate the assistance.