7.1 SPDIF Output Sound Card

[erv]

Hey Guys,

I am getting more confused the more I read from everywhere about this question. I am looking at buying an Astro a50 headset http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-headset/A50-WIRELESS-HEADSET-ASTRO.html?dwvar_A50-WIRELESS-HEADSET-ASTRO_color=Black#start=1 . I have come to the conclusion that I need a sound card that supports 5.1 or 7.1 SPDIF (Optical). However I cannot find a card for under a $100 that explicitly says it will do the Dolby Digital 5.1 or 7.1 through the SPDIF. Any help would be awesome!

Thanks in Advance,
Erv

P.S. I have read a lot where people think that I do not need a sound card becasue the Astro A50's connector will handle it, and that is incorrect. The audio needs to be encoded in the first place.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Most motherboards with Realtek chip/connectors have that ability already... what MB do you have?

 

[erv]

Hello... Most motherboards with Realtek chip/connectors have that ability already... what MB do you have?

Thanks for the quick reply. Here is a link to my motherboard's manufacture page. It is getting up there in age :/
http://us.msi.com/product/mb/P35-Diamond.html

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... yes, you have Optical SPDIF 5.1 audio out with the REALTEK chipset... its that square connector on back of MB with the plastic cover.

 

[erv]

Hello... yes, you have Optical SPDIF 5.1 audio out with the REALTEK chipset... its that square connector on back of MB with the plastic cover.

Yeah I missed that... I guess I never thought my MB would of had that since it was older, now does that encode the SPDIF output as 7.1 or 5.1? I see that the chip supports 7.1. But I do not know if it is encoding it as the Dolby Digital 7.1 or 5.1 through the SPDIF..

Update: I just found an answer for my question, the SPDIF for my motherboard does not support the Dolby Digital Encoding https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=123414.0 . So I still need some good sound card picks.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... MB page is not clear on it... if the Chipset was mentioned I could be sure... 5.1 for sure or at least, check your MB manual to be sure... Not Dolby... don't worry about it these days... Dolby is a trade mark with royalties to be paid... just a sound EQ... not a headphone driver or exclusive playback audio device needed.

 

[erv]

Hello... MB page said 6 SPDIF... thats 5.1. not Dolby... don't worry about it these days... Dolby is a trade mark with royalties to be paid... just a sound EQ... not a headphone driver or exclusive playback audio device.

So then the SPDIF will encode 5.1 surround sound through that connection? Everything I am reading it says it needs to be Dolby Digital Live encoding. Also if you look at the update of my last post, a person with the same motherboard as me is trying to do the same thing and it is not working.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... do you mean "DEcode" ? ... ok, yes I'm not experienced with your situation then... Those headphones might be Picky with what they are connected too then... but alot of Motherboards have Realtek Digital SPDIF, and I would not want to design a product that didn't work with the REALTEK connection... maybe another product out there will.

 

[Guest]

Hi Erv,

I've had the same issues recently and had to do a lot of reading very quickly, so I'll explain what I've found here. Don't take it the wrong way if I tell you what you already know, just this is on the front page for similar queries on google, so other people will be looking for answers!

First off, yes you're right. The audio needs to be encoded into the Dolby Digital format for your headphones to even receive surround sound. SPDIF can only handle 2 channels of audio data, so to get 5.1 or 7.1 channels it must be compressed into the Dolby Digital format. Most motherboards CANNOT do this, even though they have SPDIF output, since rights have to obtained from Dolby (the company) themselves to do so. So if you currently have your headphones hooked up to the mobo, you'll only be getting stereo sound. The only time you'll get surround is when you play media that already has the actual audio files in DD. Usually a DVD.

To that end, you'll need a card that can take the 5.1 channel sound output from media or games and encode it into Dolby Digital in realtime to send over SPDIF. This is the Dolby Digital Live you're talking about. I have the Asus Xonar DX for that, it supports both the Dolby Digital format AND the DTS format, which is an audio format from a separate company. Some headphones only support one, while others support both.

The Xonar DX is around $100 http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Xonar-DX-Sound-Card/dp/B0017DJXG6. While it appears that there's no SPDIF slot on the back, you do get a small adaptor to turn one of the jacks into an optical port. I've heard people say that it's one of the best cards you can buy for less than $100.

tl;dr: Most mobos only do stereo audio from the SPDIF, the Asus Xonar DX is a great Dolby Digital card for less than $100, your headphones still need a discrete soundcard. Hope this helps!

 

[erv]

Hi Erv,

I've had the same issues recently and had to do a lot of reading very quickly, so I'll explain what I've found here. Don't take it the wrong way if I tell you what you already know, just this is on the front page for similar queries on google, so other people will be looking for answers!

First off, yes you're right. The audio needs to be encoded into the Dolby Digital format for your headphones to even receive surround sound. SPDIF can only handle 2 channels of audio data, so to get 5.1 or 7.1 channels it must be compressed into the Dolby Digital format. Most motherboards CANNOT do this, even though they have SPDIF output, since rights have to obtained from Dolby (the company) themselves to do so. So if you currently have your headphones hooked up to the mobo, you'll only be getting stereo sound. The only time you'll get surround is when you play media that already has the actual audio files in DD. Usually a DVD.

To that end, you'll need a card that can take the 5.1 channel sound output from media or games and encode it into Dolby Digital in realtime to send over SPDIF. This is the Dolby Digital Live you're talking about. I have the Asus Xonar DX for that, it supports both the Dolby Digital format AND the DTS format, which is an audio format from a separate company. Some headphones only support one, while others support both.

The Xonar DX is around $100 http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Xonar-DX-Sound-Card/dp/B0017DJXG6. While it appears that there's no SPDIF slot on the back, you do get a small adaptor to turn one of the jacks into an optical port. I've heard people say that it's one of the best cards you can buy for less than $100.

tl;dr: Most mobos only do stereo audio from the SPDIF, the Asus Xonar DX is a great Dolby Digital card for less than $100, your headphones still need a discrete soundcard. Hope this helps!

Very good man! Yeah I finally figured it out in the end and bought a refurbished Creative Recon HD for about $50 off of NewEgg. It really made a difference in gaming for me. Sorry I did not update this with my findings and just forgot. Awesome Nambread! Thanks again.