- Jun 13, 2002
- 3
- 0
- 18,510
Hey everybody. I just spent the last day and a half scouring this board to find anything related to my question. . . I have a plain old Sound Blaster Live! and I want to hook it up to my stereo receiver, which has 4 speakers and a sub. I currently have the front channel output plugged in and so obviously only the front channel plays over my speakers. I want the rear channel in there for games (like Counter Strike!) and watching DVDs.
Since my receiver doesn't have discrete 5.1 inputs, I assume I'll need to use the digital output on the sound card in order to hear all channels. I have NOT been able to accomplish this for the life of me. I have a Harman/Kardon AVR120 and I'm sure it can handle all the required digital formats. It has a number of digital coax inputs and optical ones too. I have tried all of the cords in my personal collection and they just won't work. What /specific/ cord do should I be using and where should it be plugged into on the receiver? I am guessing something along the lines of a stereo 1/8 to single RCA plugged into the digital in on the receiver? I've only had the chance to try a mono 1/8 to RCA but that doesn't work.
A little extra info to help any kind soul who decides to reply and so you don't end up repeating what I've already read in past posts:
I realize that the SBLive needs to be set to Digital Output Only and I KNOW that the card is outputting the digital. If I connect a stereo 1/8 to stereo RCA and plug one of the RCAs into the digital in on my receiver I get either the two front channels or the two rears (depending on whether it is the left or right RCA that I plug in).
I've heard that games will only play on the front channels when using digital out. If that's true or not, it doesn't matter. I only want to get this thing working and I'll worry about the other issues later. I really just don't want to be missing the entire rear channels when watching DVDs.
I would love to hear from someone who has actually managed this type of hookup. Surprisingly enough, I've found that very few people actually have their computers hooked into receivers. Maybe there is a reason for that. . . If there are any questions at all, I'll be watching this thread carefully and I should be quick to respond. I apologize for the length of the post but I want to make sure I get a real answer. I'm desperate guys, sorry. No one at FutureShop or Radio Shack was able to help me out and I haven't been able to find anything on the web or in the manual.
Again, the question I need answered is:
What /specific/ cord do should I be using and where should it be plugged into on the receiver?
I will be eternally grateful for any helpful info. Thanks for your time guys!
Since my receiver doesn't have discrete 5.1 inputs, I assume I'll need to use the digital output on the sound card in order to hear all channels. I have NOT been able to accomplish this for the life of me. I have a Harman/Kardon AVR120 and I'm sure it can handle all the required digital formats. It has a number of digital coax inputs and optical ones too. I have tried all of the cords in my personal collection and they just won't work. What /specific/ cord do should I be using and where should it be plugged into on the receiver? I am guessing something along the lines of a stereo 1/8 to single RCA plugged into the digital in on the receiver? I've only had the chance to try a mono 1/8 to RCA but that doesn't work.
A little extra info to help any kind soul who decides to reply and so you don't end up repeating what I've already read in past posts:
I realize that the SBLive needs to be set to Digital Output Only and I KNOW that the card is outputting the digital. If I connect a stereo 1/8 to stereo RCA and plug one of the RCAs into the digital in on my receiver I get either the two front channels or the two rears (depending on whether it is the left or right RCA that I plug in).
I've heard that games will only play on the front channels when using digital out. If that's true or not, it doesn't matter. I only want to get this thing working and I'll worry about the other issues later. I really just don't want to be missing the entire rear channels when watching DVDs.
I would love to hear from someone who has actually managed this type of hookup. Surprisingly enough, I've found that very few people actually have their computers hooked into receivers. Maybe there is a reason for that. . . If there are any questions at all, I'll be watching this thread carefully and I should be quick to respond. I apologize for the length of the post but I want to make sure I get a real answer. I'm desperate guys, sorry. No one at FutureShop or Radio Shack was able to help me out and I haven't been able to find anything on the web or in the manual.
Again, the question I need answered is:
What /specific/ cord do should I be using and where should it be plugged into on the receiver?
I will be eternally grateful for any helpful info. Thanks for your time guys!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram