Question Surround Sound gaming

[jimscreechy]

What are your thoughts on surround sound systems being used in gaming rigs. I I've got a 2.1 channel setup and though quality is great, I'm considering getting an AV receiver for 5.1 Not sure if it is worth it since its not always easy to tell if games in general support it properly.

Anyone have such a setup and can comment on the experience. I don't necessarily want to go down the route if its poorly supported or adds nothing to the gaming experience.

 

[Delvey]

Nearly all games have a minimum of 5.1 nowadays. Simply because consoles have it. It adds to the experience. Obliviously more prominent on shooters

 

[alphaomega16]

I got my PC going through my receiver, its great.

Even if they do not support 5.1 naturally multi channel stereo can be nice and the audio is a lot beefier ofc because its not PC speakers.

I used to think the 5.1 creative pc speakers were great til I hooked my PC up to my receiver, I had a splitter going to receiver an the one time I switched back to the PC 5.1 speakers I went straight back and put the 5.1 speakers for PC in a box and never looked back lol.

Connecting via optical output.

I used to have a Sony STR DB-895D now got a Denon X2600H (Display was all but faded on my 10+ year old Sony)

 

[maverick177uk]

Do you get feed back if using your receiver and mic?

 

[Grangey.]

Do you get feed back if using your receiver and mic?

Depends on the type, quality, position of the mic I’d have thought.

 

[richardb70]

If you're wanting to get 5.1 out of your PC to a receiver then there's a bunch of info on other threads. Bear in mind that lossy formats (like consoles use) are not nearly as supported as "full fat" PCM, but PCM doesn't work well with optical formats. You generally need HDMI or 6 phono cables.

 

[alphaomega16]

Do you get feed back if using your receiver and mic?

Unfortunate I do not have a mic I am afraid but I used to have a crappy headset one with a cheapie one attached to it that didn't have any problems.

 

[alphaomega16]

If you're wanting to get 5.1 out of your PC to a receiver then there's a bunch of info on other threads. Bear in mind that lossy formats (like consoles use) are not nearly as supported as "full fat" PCM, but PCM doesn't work well with optical formats. You generally need HDMI or 6 phono cables.

I am only doing optical as I am not outputting video to TV, I couldn't find a way to do audio only to receiver by anything other than optical and I found it a lot less messy than 3 separate phono cables.

Still sounds WAY better than PC specific speakers though.

 

[richardb70]

What connections do you have on your receiver?

 

[jimscreechy]

Thanks for all the posts. I've done a fair bit of reading on the subject and its a bit of a mine field really, and as @richardb70 points out quite correctly, there are issues with PCM and optical which I encountered. There is a lot of information on the subject and not all of it correct, or helpful either, but I did eventually get to have 5.1 through the optical with one of the more helpful solutions I found.

I've found his really is more of a Windows 10 issue than anything else. I understand this has been deliberately done for issues with copyright, licensing and compliance rather than a meaningless restriction on functionality. The receiver I got doesn't have HDMI which is unfortunate since just using an HDMI cable would have been an easy fix. I can't use the separate cables solution through audio jacks even though the receiver does have discrete channel inputs, because this messes with the setup for my DJ kit and Virtual DJ which I really took ages to refine, and have them how I like them. Not to mention its a messy solution which even the likes of Fred Flintstone would flinch at.

Having gone through all that trouble, I'm not actually sure it was entirely worth it. Films on my PC are certainly better, but I rarely watch films on it and when I do its more of a background thing. Music has no benefit, and even gaming improvement is... meh. I'll give it a bit longer and probably leave it in place now its there, but personally, I'm not initially blown away by the results.

 

[alphaomega16]

What connections do you have on your receiver?

 

[Grangey.]

View attachment 1372814

Go HDMI in then back out to your monitor. Simples.

 

[alphaomega16]

Go HDMI in then back out to your monitor. Simples.

Would be if hdmi port on monitor wasn't naff, always has been. Got a quite old G2420HD BenQ, it started off with the pre windows booting being green fuzzy lines everywhere then being fine when booting into windows then it went on to going on and off with the green fuzzyness mixed in.

Been like it with 2 separate GPU's and they both worked fine when fed to the TV, currently using DVI for PC on monitor.

But as I said still sounds really great and comes out of all speakers when playing games and such.

 

[Grangey.]

Would be if hdmi port on monitor wasn't naff, always has been. Got a quite old G2420HD BenQ, it started off with the pre windows booting being green fuzzy lines everywhere then being fine when booting into windows then it went on to going on and off with the green fuzzyness mixed in.

Been like it with 2 separate GPU's and they both worked fine when fed to the TV, currently using DVI for PC on monitor.

But as I said still sounds really great and comes out of all speakers when playing games and such.

Same still applies. HDMI to AVR, HDMI to Dvr cable to monitor, or HDMI to DisplayPort, whichever.