5.1 surround sound with a stereo jack?

[crashtestaddict]

This has me puzzled. I just bought a Gateway computer, an FX 6840-23, Intel i7, 1 TB HD, 8 GB, ATI Radeon HD 5750 GPU. The GPU connections on the back are 1 DVI and one VGA. I use the DVI connection. No problem.

Their is a huge problem I see in this higher-end computer supposedly made for media type work like editing photos and video, which is what I do, as well as being a writer, and it has great gaming uses, not so much as a hiccup so far with settings maxed out on FSX, CoH, Crysis, etc.

The problem? A little stinkin' stereo jack on the back of this computer. I was dumbfounded. I have a 5.1 surround sound system that I have no idea on how to hook it to this computer without buying a sound card. You would think that the jacks would be standard as they are on my other Gateway Intel Quad Core computer.

Can anyone give me some direction on what I need to do?

Thanks

 

[damasvara]

Unfortunately, yes, it's a common standard for some generic motherboard. Although I'm not familiar with that particular brand. No offense on the "generic" term, the rest of your hardware are top class. You just happen to stumble upon this issue, that's all.

That leaves no option other than getting a discrete sound card for that 5.1 speaker of yours. But maybe the others have their own opinion.

 

[wolfram23]

Yep either you'll have to buy a sound card, or a new motherboard. A sound card would be cheaper and better, tho.

That's the unfortunate part of buying prebuilds from major companies like that. Instead of sticking high quality parts, they modify nice mobos into cheaper versions to save a few bucks, and in the end it usually screws the buyer once they try to do something different... like upgrade (unsupported CPUs), or in this case use 5.1 surround.

Anyway, you can check out Xonar, AuzenTech, and Omega Striker for some decent sound cards. If you use headphones, I definitely recommend the AuzenTech Bravura 7.1 which has a really really good headphone amp on top of 7.1 and line in/microphone. It's what I'm using and it's great. The headphone amp can handle 600 or 650ohm headphones lol... I'm using Sennheiser PC350s whic are 150ohm and considered a lot of impedance. But you could get some super crazy "DJ" quality headphones and it would still thump.

 

[gamerk316]

The best bets on the market sound wise are the ASUS Xonar D1/DX and HT Omega Striker, both for around $89. After that, better cards offer different feature sets; it really comes down to what you need versus how much you are willing to spend.

 

[crashtestaddict]

Unfortunately, yes, it's a common standard for some generic motherboard. Although I'm not familiar with that particular brand. No offense on the "generic" term, the rest of your hardware are top class. You just happen to stumble upon this issue, that's all.

That leaves no option other than getting a discrete sound card for that 5.1 speaker of yours. But maybe the others have their own opinion.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll have to buy a sound card. Much appreciated.

 

[crashtestaddict]

Yep either you'll have to buy a sound card, or a new motherboard. A sound card would be cheaper and better, tho.

That's the unfortunate part of buying prebuilds from major companies like that. Instead of sticking high quality parts, they modify nice mobos into cheaper versions to save a few bucks, and in the end it usually screws the buyer once they try to do something different... like upgrade (unsupported CPUs), or in this case use 5.1 surround.

Anyway, you can check out Xonar, AuzenTech, and Omega Striker for some decent sound cards. If you use headphones, I definitely recommend the AuzenTech Bravura 7.1 which has a really really good headphone amp on top of 7.1 and line in/microphone. It's what I'm using and it's great. The headphone amp can handle 600 or 650ohm headphones lol... I'm using Sennheiser PC350s whic are 150ohm and considered a lot of impedance. But you could get some super crazy "DJ" quality headphones and it would still thump.

Thanks also for added input. I will look into headphones as well.

 

[crashtestaddict]

The best bets on the market sound wise are the ASUS Xonar D1/DX and HT Omega Striker, both for around $89. After that, better cards offer different feature sets; it really comes down to what you need versus how much you are willing to spend.

Thanks to you as well for the quick reply, and added input. Appreciate it.

 

[crashtestaddict]

Best answer selected by crashtestaddict.