Astro A50 + 5.1 speaker set up on Sound Blaster Z

[dairymasta]

Hi all,

As the topic description explains, I've got a Sound Blaster Z card in my rig and it's currently hooked up to a 5.1 system. I've been looking to buy a decent set of wireless surround sound headphones (I'm aware it's virtual) however it looks like you'll only get the surround sound via optical out.

My question is, I've currently got my rig hooked up to my monitor and a TV so I can switch to XBMC on the TV. I've got a decent set up so that via a remote I can press a button which will switch output from my headphones which are plugged into the card and my speakers. If I buy the Astro A50, I'm aware I won't be able to use this macro, as I'll need to change my default speaker on the PC to optical audio out, so I'm losing the convenience of sitting on my couch in my room and just switching speakers from my remote. (before anyone calls me lazy, the main issue here is my family who don't know the technicals and just know the press the button and the sound comes on!)

Is this correct? If I purchase the headphones, does anyone know of a way I can continue to do this? Thanks!

 

[TwsT]

right click on the volume icon in the taskbar select sounds and then you can switch the default out put. Sure it's not as easy as clicking between speakers and headphones but it's not much mroe effort.

 

[dairymasta]

right click on the volume icon in the taskbar select sounds and then you can switch the default out put. Sure it's not as easy as clicking between speakers and headphones but it's not much mroe effort.

Thanks for the reply mate, but that doesn't really solve the problem with the remote.

Furthermore, anybody have any ideas on the Astro A50 vs the Sennheiser RS180s?

Thanks