Audio out options on ASRock A75M-HVS

[good old bakes]

I have just bought a new PC with an ASRock A75M-HVS motherboard which I haven't set up yet. On my previous PC, the MB had an optical out, which I hooked up to a Creative decoder amp and 5.1 speaker set. The new MB doesn't have an optical or coaxial output just 3 audio sockets labelled - 'HD Audio Jack: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone'. It says in the specs that it supports 5.1 CH HD Audio (VIA® VT1705 Audio Codec) and THX TruStudio™.

What's the best way of hooking this up to the decoder amp? The only way I can figure is just via a standard 3.5mm jack lead from the front speaker socket. Surely this can't be correct??? Would I be better off just getting a cheap sound card with optical out?

Also, can anyone tell me what a 'VT1705 Audio Codec' is?

Thanks

MB link here - http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=A75M-HVS

 

[DarkOutlaw]

If you have all this extra external audio equipment you should just buy a pci sound card...

 

[good old bakes]

Well that's an option but I just wanted to explore ways of utalising what I've already got. I mean, what is the point of having HD onboard sound if you need to buy a seperate card anyway?