5.1 in games via Optical

Confused

Confused

Confused

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,016
Hi all,

Currently got my PC hooked up to my AV receiver via an optical cable, which is great for DVD movies, but not so hot for games or 2.0 video files - where I have no surround sound!

I'm guessing I'll be needing something that will convert everything into Dolby Digital or DTS on-the-fly... is the Asus Xonar D2 a good card for this?

Also - will it output DD or DTS as 2.0 as well? My AV receiver (rather annoyingly) will only output proper DD/DTS when it's in it's Surround mode - which means my current PCM 2.0 output gets upmixed to 5.1 using ProLogic (and trying to teach the GF and her 5 year old son to keep changing the output mode won't be an easy task!) - which isn't particularly great for music or 2.0 videos/games.

If that card won't do the job, can someone recommend something (not too expensive!) that will - quality of the analog outputs isn't an issue - as I'll never be using them!


Thanks in advance!
 
I know of no way of getting games to output as DTS. Not 100% certain this card will do it. I simply "put up" with stereo in games 5.1 in films. Perhaps someone witht the card can confirm.
 
There is a technology that does exactly what your asking; upmixes stereo/5.1 into DD/DTS.

"Real-time DDL and DTS Connect encoders for amazing gaming and surround sounds over your Home Theater System" - Yep, the card supports them too.
 
I was mainly hoping that someone with the card would confirm as to whether it'll output in DD or DTS in 2 channel when presented with a stereo source, so my receiver would only output from the 2 speakers!
 
Are you using XP or vista? What is your onboard sound? Depending on what you're running this might work without a separate soundcard.

A Xonar D2 will certainly do the job. So will certain X-Fi cards. Xonar DX or D1 will do the job just as well as a D2 and are cheaper.

If you're running XP then a lot of soundcards and most onboard solutions with optical should work.
 
Uriel said:
Are you using XP or vista? What is your onboard sound? Depending on what you're running this might work without a separate soundcard.

A Xonar D2 will certainly do the job. So will certain X-Fi cards. Xonar DX or D1 will do the job just as well as a D2 and are cheaper.

If you're running XP then a lot of soundcards and most onboard solutions with optical should work.
Click to expand...

No they wont, "Windows sounds", including games, via digital out will only be in stereo.
 
Snakedoctor said:
No they wont, "Windows sounds", including games, via digital out will only be in stereo.
Click to expand...

Eh?

I can't test this myself but why would games be in stereo? Just set them to 5.1 or does a bug prevent that from working via optical on the Xonars?

As for Windows sounds, who cares about that.

Edit: Oh right I see, because of your receivers, sounds pretty gay. :p
 
To get surround from games you need a card with live encoding. You can use a DSP on your av amp, I can use Logic 7 on stereo but it's not natively multi-channel.
 
Jihad said:
Eh?

I can't test this myself but why would games be in stereo? Just set them to 5.1 or does a bug prevent that from working via optical on the Xonars?

As for Windows sounds, who cares about that.

Edit: Oh right I see, because of your receivers, sounds pretty gay. :p
Click to expand...

It's not a bug, simply a restriction of the sound device.
 
If the sound device can do Dolby Digital Live or DTS connect, it will work. Most games will be fine.

Why would you want 'windows sounds' in 5.1 anyway?
 
Right, to clear up some things that might be confusing.

I'm running Vista on an Abit IP35 motherboard, currently using the onboard sound.
I get 2.0 output from Windows, games, music etc.
I get 5.1 output from DVDs (Dolby Digital or DTS direct passthrough the sound card)

My AV receiver will only do the 5.1 (DD/DTS) when in one of it's various processing modes. Any 2.0 source gets upmixed to 5.1 - badly, unless I change the mode to a stereo one.

I get no surround from any games, in any mode, as the optical output only outputs 2.0 PCM.

I have set up AC3Filter to output in either 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby Digital depending on whether my video source is 5.1 (AC3) or 2.0 in Media Centre/WMP, so being in the "surround" mode on the AV receiver is OK here, as it gets a Dolby Digital signal and processes it correctly.

I want 2.0 output from Windows, music etc in Dolby Digital/DTS (so my AV receiver sees it as multi-channel and doesn't process it!)
I want 5.1 output from games & DVDs


My usage is split between games, music, TV viewing (via Media Centre) and general usage (YouTube etc) pretty evenly, by myself, my GF and her son. Therefore the need to not have to keep adjusting the processing mode of the AV receiver!! ;)
 
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I couldn't find what the onboard sound is on an Abit IP35. If it's Realtek HD you will need to download a program called 3D Soundback to get surround sound in some older games. Newer ones will probably be fine.

You also need Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect to send surround sound over optical that isn't pre-encoded (e.g. games). Quite a few sound chips support on or the other. It's on some Realtek HD chips but not others. If it's available, you should be able to change between PCM sound (2 channel) and DDL / DTS Connect for 5.1 in the realtek control panel.

If you have onboard other than realtek, or no DDL / DTS Connect, you will need a separate soundcard to do what you want. I would recommend Xonar DX or D1 if you end up taking that route. The Xonar D2 and D2X are more expensive, partly becuase they use better analogue components. Digital output should be essentially the same.
 
It's got a Realtek onboard sound, but it's not DDL/DTSC (otherwise I wouldn't need to have posted this thread in the first place).

OK, so I can get 5.1 from games and other stuff that uses 5.1.

My next question is, will 2.0 stuff be output in DD/DTS, or only PCM (I CAN'T have it outputting in PCM.
 
Confused said:
It's got a Realtek onboard sound, but it's not DDL/DTSC (otherwise I wouldn't need to have posted this thread in the first place).

OK, so I can get 5.1 from games and other stuff that uses 5.1.

My next question is, will 2.0 stuff be output in DD/DTS, or only PCM (I CAN'T have it outputting in PCM.
Click to expand...

if your card cant do DTS connect or DD Live then no, it wont output 2.0 as DTS or DD, it'll be 2 channel pcm. why can't you do pcm? what reciever is it?
 
I know my current sound card can't do DDL/DTSC - hence this thread!

I can't have it outputting 2.0 PCM because of the reasons I've stated above - without my GF and her son messing about with my AV receiver depending on what they're watching, the easiest thing all round is to have 2.0 DTS or Dolby Digital rather than 2.0 PCM, that way the sound output will always be right, and no processing will be done on a 2.0 signal.
 
Confused said:
I know my current sound card can't do DDL/DTSC - hence this thread!
Click to expand...

you asked a question which i answered - can it still do dd/dts with 2.0 audio? no it cant. im very surprised the av amp doesnt default to stereo with 2 channel pcm, but you havetn said what model it is anyway. you need a new soundcard to do what you want, its that simple really.
 
I have a similar setup... i've always accepted that i'll only be able to get stereo sound for gaming, and only multichannel (5.1/DD/DTS etc) when i'm using SP/DIF bypass.

Easiest way would be to use analogue inputs (if your receiver + soundcard has them).

I'm using a crappy old SoundBlaster Live! with some Digitheatre DTS setup haha fun!
 
Confused said:
So to get this right - the card I linked in the first post won't output DD/DTS as 2.0? Correct?
Click to expand...
Confused said:
My next question is, will 2.0 stuff be output in DD/DTS, or only PCM (I CAN'T have it outputting in PCM.
Click to expand...

your asking two different questions.
no it wont output 2.0 as DD/DTS, but yes it will still output DD/DTS as DD/DTS - this is known as passthru.
 
By DD/DTS I don't mean 5.1

A DD/DTS signal could be 2.0 - I'm asking if it will do this.

I know it'll pass through 5.1 and it will output EAX etc to 5.1 DD/DTS.
 
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