All in Wonder 9700 pro digital audio question

[viperc0n]

Ok, i have an All in Wonder 9700 pro videocard and I looked on google but couldnt figure out if my aiw 9700 pro would take video that has been input, like if i am usign an xbox and have and advanced av pack, and use s-video. And since the Theatre 200 chip is said to have 12 bit ADCS, would it convert the analouge signal from xbox audio rca connectors throught the ati input adapter to the spdif of my 5.1 channel santa cruz soundcard or will it only have a digital signal through the tv out adapter spdif which is connected to my line in of soundcard. If it does convert to digital will it have any audio quality loss of any sort of compression? If it does output through both the tv out adapter and soundcard though spdif, which would be better?

 

[Crashman]

It's not going to convert an analog signal to a digital signal, it's just going to pass through the audio from the RCA connectors to the line-in jack of the soundcard.

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[viperc0n]

So theres no way the soundcard would convert it to digital? Im thinking of buying a Audigy 2 ZS soundcard since it has optical inputs, or unless there is anything out there cheaper that can convert it, i would like to know and instead might get that.

 

[Crashman]

You can't get 5.1 from stereo. Stereo doesn't have the rear and center channel info. You can get synthetic 5.1 from stereo, but that's just stereo out 4 or 5 of the speakers (with echo enhancement or whatever to make the room sound larger). Doesn't matter if you use the Audigy 2 ZS or onboard, you'll still only have stereo sound.

If you're using the digital output from your computer, you WILL get the stereo analog converted to digital stereo for that output. But it still won't be 5.1. As before, your soundcard may be able to "synthesis" 5.1, but it will only be stereo sound with room effects added.

What this means to you is that whatever you use, you won't get directional sound from a stereo signal: you won't be able to hear whether people are sneaking up from behind you or in front of you, for example, you'll only hear whether they're to the left or right.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[viperc0n]

Oh i think you may be confused, if i use an advanced av pack and only have the s-video going through the ati input adapter and not the red and white rca cables.Then use the optical out from the advanced av pack, and have it going to the optical in of an Audigy 2 ZS without any usage of the video card for sound. just for s-video input, and the optical from xbox to Audigy 2 ZS would it have digital sound then?

 

[Crashman]

Yes, if you use the optical out from the AV pack to the input of your sound system, you should be able to preserve all the digital channels encoded into the game.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>