should i get a dedicated sound card?

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jdaniel 125

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Jul 14, 2015
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hello

on my custom built desktop, the motherboard currently has integrated realtek AC887 audio. it sounds pretty good, but the only problem is, there's only 3 rear audio jacks, line in, mic in, and line out.

i want to make a mini surround system for my computer using some old speakers, but i cant do that when i only have 3 rear audio jacks, should i buy a dedicated sound card with all the rear/subwoofer/front ports? i dont want to use a Y-splitter because windows would think that the speakers plugged into the Y splitter is a normal pair of desktop speakers.
 
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nukemaster
Please try to use the re-task feature. On most boards(with realtek codecs) the mic and line in on the rear can be turned into rear and center/sub.

One thing to note about the Omni 5.1.

It does not support protected audio path meaning bluray movies may be limited to 16-bit output(on the plus side this downgrade allows all the SBX features to be used).

If you can find and old PCI-E X-fi titanium you would be pretty happy with it(I am not sure if it supports protected audio path, but the hardware is good and if you bypass the Windows mixer, the audio enhancements still work[The omni will not since it is all done in the Windows mixer not on the card it self because it is a software solution]).

The omni can also be picky at times, but...
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nov 23, 2004
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Please try to use the re-task feature. On most boards(with realtek codecs) the mic and line in on the rear can be turned into rear and center/sub.

One thing to note about the Omni 5.1.

It does not support protected audio path meaning bluray movies may be limited to 16-bit output(on the plus side this downgrade allows all the SBX features to be used).

If you can find and old PCI-E X-fi titanium you would be pretty happy with it(I am not sure if it supports protected audio path, but the hardware is good and if you bypass the Windows mixer, the audio enhancements still work[The omni will not since it is all done in the Windows mixer not on the card it self because it is a software solution]).

The omni can also be picky at times, but it could just be a system configuration thing.

EDIT.

Forgot to mention. If you are using Windows 8/8.1/10 you need to tinker with X-fi cards or else you may get no sound on system restarts. You install the drivers. restart. If you have no sound change to another mode and back(allow enough time). Once you have sound make all your settings then place the computer in standby for a few minutes. Wake it up and things should stay working.

It is strange, but it seems to happen on x-fi(hardware ones) cards. The creative forum has lots of users complaining about this. Once the work around is done it seems to work just fine. I use the Daniel K driver pack(used these on my Audigy 2zs as well).

EDIT
Creative seems to have fixed this with a driver.
 
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