How do I get 5.1 movie sound from my PC to my cinema kit?

alexjholland

alexjholland

alexjholland

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How do I get 5.1 movie sound from my PC to my cinema kit? (perhaps a new soundcard?)

Hey,

I have a Sony DAV-D150G 5.1 cinema kit which supports DTS and Dolby inputs via optical in, so my XBox 360 works fine.

I also have a PC with a Soundblaster Audigy 2Zs which has an optical output.

As I discovered a few years ago whilst interested in PC gaming, whilst using optical from my PC I can only get stereo, due to differing audio formats between the cinema kit and PC - I can't remember what specifically.

I game exclusively on my 360 now, but have started downloading a lot of movies recently (legal documentaries of course!) and would very much like them to work in 5.1 on my cinema kit.

I believe as well as DTS and/or Dolby, AC3 output would be required - although whether that needs to be converted to a format my cinema kit can replicate I do not know.

What do I need to buy?

- A new movie-orientated soundcard that supports these audio formats seems the most tidy option (hopefully well under £100).

- A unit such as one of the creative boxes that converts audio to a compatible format would do otherwise - as long as it does a decent job.

This seems a very straightfoward and reasonable aim, so I hope I can find a solution!

Thanks
 
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an optical lead from your sound card to your amp should do it

from memory, mine worked but it was a while ago now and i dont have that setup anymore
 
I have an optical running from the Soundblaster 2 into the Sony cinema kit and I have very high quality sound (great for music) but only in 2.0

When I investigated 4 years ago I was given a solid reason for why 5.1 wouldn't work, it was something to do with the soundblaster outputting in a different format - but I can't remember what it was now.

I have also upgraded to Vista, so don't have the full Creative drivers I used to.

If there has been some change in software since then which will allow this to work without a further purchase, please let me know!

Otherwise a good movie-specialised soundcard for a reasonable price would be good..
 
You could either buy a Xonar DS or a DX/D1. DX/D1 is Dolby, and the DS is DTS. Both have tech capable of converting the audio to 5.1 to send out via digital to the receiver. DS is £35 approx, and the DX/D1 is £55 approx.
 
Brilliant response thanks!

I am no techie, but will either of these models convert any 5.1 format I am likely to run into (dolby/dts/ac3 etc.) to the same output format each time - or do they only work with their assigned (dolby/dts) format?

Thanks
 
On recommendation from someone on AVForums, I have just ordered a coaxial-optical convertor so by using AC3Filter I can - apparently - run a full 5.1 signal into my Sony cinema kit.

If anyone has any comments or experience of this method it would be appreciated - it would be nice to have confirmation this method will work!

Thanks
 
Do you have one of these?

audigy2zsalt14vm.jpg
 
Yup that's the one!

I use the 'coaxial out' you can see on its left-hand-side to run into my Macbook's offboard soundcard, so it shares the awesome KRK monitors.

So if coaxial-optical is the key, then I'll either have to swap cables when watching movies - or (apparently) I can put a 3.5mm-phono convertor in one of the back sockets and output it as a coaxial too.

Quite why I can do this with a coaxial-optical but not with just the optical I don't know!

Any views on these ideas would be appreciated - I've ordered the coaxial-optical convertor, so hopefully it will work!
 
Ok, now I am puzzled. Why on earth would someone suggested running a coaxial cable, whether it be from front or rear into a converter, then optical into the receiver, when you can just use optical cable with no messing? They are both S/PDIF, so the ouput will be the same, whichever is used.
 
From what understand only the coaxial/SPDIF is capable of performing this function - everyone else seems to do it the same way to.

Basically I put a mono 3.5mm-RCA converter into the digital output on the back, then run this into an optical converter, which will then send a 5.1 signal to my 5.1 kit

If this works it will be brilliant - and for around £15 of parts it's worth giving a go! Will report back if it does.
 
They do it that way, because without the front panel or a breakout box, that's the only way to connect digitally. Converting from coaxial to optical will be no different to just connecting an optical cable from the front panel to the receiver. Coaxial and optical are the same thing, they are both S/PDIF, which has only 2 channels. To send multi channel via S/PDIF the stream must be compressed, which is where DTS and Dolby come in.

AC3 Filter will work with either optical or coaxial, and can send a 5.1 stream to the receiver, but you will need a media player capable of using AC3 Filter. Most media players will decode AC3, but not all can pass it on. VLC for example can decode Dolby or DTS contained on a DVD, but it can not pass it on untouched, therefore the audio will be sent out as stereo to the receiver and it will not appear as DTS or Dolby. For any media containing 5.1, the stream must be passed on to the receiver untouched, otherwise it is not true 5.1.

If you are watching media with only a stereo track, then AC3 Filter can upmix that to 5.1, but that is no different from Dolby Pro Logic being applied by the receiver.
 
I don't think your problem is due to 'differing sound formats' between your kit.

I think the problem is Windows.

Windows only understands analogue multi channel audio. In order to get multi channel digital audio over something like SPDIF you are going to need to fool Windows into thinking its analogue and then letting the soundcard convert it to digital so that it can be sent via the SPDIF lead to your 5.1 setup.

To test this - have you got multi channel outputs and inputs on your kit (soundcard and sony home cinema respectively)? If so, connect it up and see if you get surround sound. My bet is you will...

I am unsure how you would fix this on your soundcard but I am 80% convinced it is a preference issue not hardware. Bloody windows - it's always been crap for audio. Since they rewrote the audio in Vista it's been totally borked.

I just posted an article which maybe worth reading on another thread (I know it is not your soundcard but the same issues apply):

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx..._id=21&model=Xonar+D2X&SLanguage=en-us&page=1
 
The sound card can only send 2 channel via SPDIF though, as it has nothing to convert it to 5.1. The only way it can pass on a 5.1 stream is for the video to contain a 5.1 track to be passed on, or for AC3 Filter to upmix the stereo to 6 channels using Pro Logic or similar. That seems somewhat pointless though, as the receiver has Pro Logic already and should be able to convert incoming stereo to surround.

Receiver only has optical in, no 5.1 analogue inputs.
 
I have almost the same set up and any modern onboard soundcard can pass-through a 5.1 signal (this may well be 2 channels but your receiver will do the work). Almost all .mkv films/TV shows come with a 5.1 sound track. I use Sharkys codec pack for Windows 7 (64bit) and enjoy everything in glorious 5.1 (DD or DTS). I’ve simply set Sharkys to pass-through the sound and my Receiver does the rest.

I have since updated my sound card and got a Xonar DS. However, this was to enable 5.1 sound in games and the card makes no difference during video playback as the Receiver does all the work.

It really should be that easy…

I’m no expert but I hope this has helped.
 
I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if im going over stuff already said.

But it should be very straight forward...

Your amp does all the decoding work, not the PC. It only has to pass the 5.1 track out through the optical connection to your amp.

You just need to make sure that whatever your playing on your PC, has a 5.1 track in it. The easiest why would be to play a movie DVD using PowerDVD or something if you have that. Even the cheapest onboard sound allows you to do this.

If you want to play .avi's or .mkv movie files, something like that. It can be a slightly more complication to get things setup. If you use something like "Media Player Classic - Home Cinema Edition" which is free. You can right click during movie playback and access the audio filter settings for the audio decoder. Just make sure SPDIF is ticked for DTS and Dolby Digital (DD).

To confirm its working you Amp should light up and show that it is now decoding a DD or DTS signal.

Hope this helps.
 
This is all getting mightily confusing!

I have the lovely and convenient front panel on the Audigy 2Zs, which I am reluctant to lose for a non-frontpaneled soundcard - and it is from this front panel than an optical cable currently runs into my Sony cinema kit. (And the coaxial which runs into my KRK monitors via my Macbook's audio interface).

I have tried using Microsoft's speaker identifier tool and only the stereo signals register - no 5.1 speakers work!

I have been told it is using this digital output out on the back that does the trick, for some reason this DOES allow 5.1 out and the optical and coaxial on the front DON'T.

I do not understand why, or understand what is being passed through or converted etc.

However apparently AC3 filter (as is bundled with that sharky thing) will allow this to work in conjunction with the digital out.

I would like

- Full, individual speaker mapped DTS/DD 5.1 output
- Compatibility with most, if not all 5.1 sound formats commonly used for downloaded movies
- Everything working nicely, even the cool little Vista speaker tester

And I hope this solution achieves that!

I'll report back when the parts arrived and I've given it a go..

(And as confirmed, I have only an optical in on this Sony - no analog 5.1 or coaxial)

Thanks for your thoughts, hopefully they'll make more sense when it is all up and working!
 
All the kit has arrived and it has done NOTHING so far!

AC3 filter is sitting like a lame duck doing nothing, I've followed all the guides and have stereo no matter what I do.

Any ideas?

What media program should I be using? I use WMP11 as it works with my Logitech Harmony remote (and a Microsoft receiver) but also tried VLC - do I need any codec packs?

Would be nice if an HDMI graphics card would solve everything - but the TV doesn't do 5.1 optical passthrough!
 
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Tbh, I am not surprised, hardware cannot do it alone. The card can only output stereo over S/PDIF, so using the rear digital jack which is still S/PDIF won't magically transform stereo into 5.1. The audio stream needs to be passed through untouched from the source.

However the card should output 5.1 using AC3 Filter and a compatible media player, but it needs to be configured correctly, as Trancer pointed out, which is not so easy. Media Player Classic is a good player to use, as it allows AC3 to be configured through it. I use The KMplayer which has AC3 Filter built into it, but have had trouble getting the audio to play correctly when passing through AC3. PowerDVD is very good at passing through AC3 with no configuration at all, but the formats it will play are limited. An AVI video I played with an AC3 5.1 track, worked fine with PowerDVD, but the audio was stuttering a lot with MPC and The KMplayer, quite why I do not know yet.

It might be an idea to get a trial of PowerDVD, and play a DVD, see if the card will indeed pass on the 5.1 stream. It should do, but Creative's lame drivers maybe causing some problem.
 
NEW IDEA:
I've just started playing around with my 360 which is connected on the same hub as my Media PC (all via ethernet) and have been watching movies over the network from my PC's hard drive.

Does this option support 5.1? If so, what kind of formats?

This would appear to be a neat solution if it's a decent range!
 
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