Home surround sound , can i hook up to it ?

[westreet]

Hello,

I am workin on a New game computer that i also plan on using to watch movies and listen to music in my room once i upgrade my 47 tv in the living room. What i was wondering is instead of buying a set of computer speakers can i get a Home surround sound system and hook my Computer sound up to it ?

I have a older model SB fx fatality card. not sure if it will work with window 7. Guess what i am asking is what would i need to make this work , just a new sound card or something else? I will be adding a Blueray drive to this also.

Gonna be playin BF3 also figure it would sound awsome as well.

Thanks all.

( ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory )

 

[iam2thecrowe]

of course you can. So long as the home theatre system has audio inputs (they normally do), or even better digital inputs, either coaxial or optical, most sound cards dont have optical outputs though.

 

[westreet]

Thanks. If i have to what do i need to look for in a new cheap sound card ? just matching out and input ?

 

[fightingslu]

the easiest way would be to get a sound card with an optical output, but you will not find that in a cheap sound card- but you can plug any 5.1/7.1 sound card into a home theater receiver via the audio inputs. I just bought a new SB fatality professional card because new egg had them half off. i was nervous that the card wouldnt work with my win7 based on the reviews of SB cards, but i just put in the cd that came with the card and it worked perfectly. Your SB should work if you download their windows 7 drivers

 

[gamerk316]

Well, you have a few options.

Optical output is the easiest, but be aware of SPDIF format limitations [2.1, Dolby, and DTS formats].

Analog is best quality wise, but you'd need several 3.5mm->RCA conversions.

 

[Grizly87]

I was in the same situation. I wanted to hook my Soundblaster sound card to my Sony A/V receiver but the Sony dosen't have an optical output or digital output to connect it to. I connected the "line out" on the sound card it to the satellite jack on the Sony using the adapter. It seems that I only get front and back speakers without true 5.1 surround. I'm wondering if I bought a cheap a/v receiver with the digital output to plug into the digital output on the sound card if I would then get true 5.1 surround from the speakers.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Griz

 

[westreet]

yea i ordered a adapter also. not gonna use a sound card since my MB had the hook ups. but the spare Surround system i had doesnt lol. So gonna try the Adapter also see how it works.

If not well then Suround sound system has gotten cheap or i might go with new Comp. speakers.

 

[Grizly87]

The adapter does work good but not having true 5.1 sound (front and back speakers - like having 2 channel) takes away from the quality. Thats why I wonder if having a digital imput will make a difference. Anyone one know of a cheap a/v receiver that has a digital coaxial imput?

 

[westreet]

bummer. my blueray suround sound system in the living room has the Digital imput i might have to hook it up and see how it sounds. lol i can always put my old blueray player and system back in there and keep the new for my comp lol.

 

[MEgamer]

yes u can, however if u want full blu-ray quality, then no, unless you have the asus xonar HDAV 1.3

 

[gamerk316]

Again, S/PDIF is limited to three formats: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 Dolby, and 5.1 DTS. And Dolby/DTS are VERY limited in quality. In most cases, direct analog out offers significantly higher quality, but connecting this way to a receiver adds a LOT of wiring to the mix.

 

[Grizly87]

Westreet - let me know how it sounds when you connect your soundcard to the digital imput - do you get true 5.1 surround?
Griz

 

[astrallite]

Use the HDMI output on your computer.

 

[MEgamer]

WB astrallite