[SOLVED] E-AC3 and more with Logitech Z906 Speakers?

[doody]

Hello,

I have a theater setup at my house running Windows 10 PC, Epson projector, and Logitech Z906 speakers. The visuals and sound are great. But recently I am having issues with surround sound with movies. Newer formats like E-AC3 and I think even Atmos have issues and result to stereo instead of DD surround sound. I have the Z906 hooked up with Optical, and I know E-AC3 cannot work through optical but that is the only hookup I have or know to be able to use with a computer. I run Media Player Classic and it was great for everything, but it uses LAV decoder for audio and it doesn't work no matter what I set for most of my movies now. I installed ffdshow with MPC set to "AC3 (S/PDIF encode mode)" to resample to use E-AC3 format.

My question is this the best solution I can ask for? Is there a better way or speakers and hookup from PC. I would like to have something to be able to handle all formats with no issues. Not sure if that means going with a different receiver or speakers. Also what cable hookup would I then use with PC since the optical doesn't support these new E-AC3 formats or others?

 

[hang-the-9]

Yes a receiver with speakers will work, you can use HDMI pass-though. If you read the specs on the formats they should tell you what you need to play them.

 

[doody]

Thanks for the reply, the Z906 has a receiver but only capable of optical or coaxial. If I get a receiver with hdmi input how does that work with a computer? I have to plug the video card out to the receiver? and how good of an audio processor does a video card have then compared to a computer with optical. I have a ROG motherboard and a 1080ti and a 2080ti.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thanks for the reply, the Z906 has a receiver but only capable of optical or coaxial. If I get a receiver with hdmi input how does that work with a computer? I have to plug the video card out to the receiver? and how good of an audio processor does a video card have then compared to a computer with optical. I have a ROG motherboard and a 1080ti and a 2080ti.

Yes the receiver will be doing a pass-through for the video from PC to projector. The audio quality will be the same from HDMI as the optical out, and since the optical jack does not work with the audio codecs you want it's a moot point anyway since that was your whole reason to switch. If you want a yellow car but the quality of car you want is not available in yellow, then you are forced to get the cars that you can buy in yellow.

If this was my setup, I would just use it as is and not worry about any possible improvement in sound with a receiver and better speakers unless you are not happy with your current speakers in general. Chasing after new standards is a never ending and often useless endeavor that does more for your bank account then your ears. Good enough is usually good enough LOL

There should be other options for surround sound, I doubt any movie will force you to use Atmos or any newer spec, that is not a very common thing people have. There should be other audio options for surround sound.

 

[doody]

Thank you for the help hang-the-9, I did get everything working using ffdshow decoders instead of LAV. I think it converts E-AC3 to AC3 though, but good enough like you say. I have to be honest my Z906 speakers sound amazing, my family had Bose surround sound and my Z906's sound even better. Also the Z906 only cost me $249. The only weird thing is that I am having to put the speakers receiver volume higher and higher to get the same volume noise out of the speakers that I use too. Is that something wrong with the receiver or the speakers wearing out?

 

[hang-the-9]

Thank you for the help hang-the-9, I did get everything working using ffdshow decoders instead of LAV. I think it converts E-AC3 to AC3 though, but good enough like you say. I have to be honest my Z906 speakers sound amazing, my family had Bose surround sound and my Z906's sound even better. Also the Z906 only cost me $249. The only weird thing is that I am having to put the speakers receiver volume higher and higher to get the same volume noise out of the speakers that I use too. Is that something wrong with the receiver or the speakers wearing out?

Comparing things to Bose speakers is not hard to find models that sound better, there are very few Bose speakers that compare well against others.

Not sure about the volume, it may be the source is at a lower level or the mix in surround is a bit off.