What can 5.1 sound play?

windie

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Hi. Im planning on getting a 5.1 sound setup for my pc (p35 ds3r onboard sound). Apart from gaming, can avi videos play 5.1 sound? I know mp3 songs are 2 channel and so wont work. But im a bit hesitent/unsure of a 5.1 system if its only gonna work for games. thanks
 

djcoolmasterx

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The logitech X-540 is probably worth looking into as it has a feature called "matrix mode" which lets you emulate 5.1 sound with 2 channel audio, it works and sounds great.
 

ImajorI

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I don't think a 5.1 computer sound system is good for anything but gaming. If you want home audio for music or TV, an inexpensive receiver and decent home speakers will smoke your computer's sound.

The following tutorial teaches how to keep 5.1* ac3 audio while converting an .AVI** file to DVD for use in a standalone player. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/202947

Maybe this will help. It appears it is possible you can get 5.1 sound from AVI formats. But others here know much more about this than I do. :) Try a post down in audio, some of those guys know everything. Here's an example form down there http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/53282-6-promedia-replacement. quite in depth sound wise.
 

windie

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thanks for your replies. I am limited on budget and did actually have read of the matrix mode. Was thinking of the x-540 or G51, but dont know if the extra for G51 is worth it in terms of quality.