Question Help me understand the best way to connect the Logitech z5500's to a PC in 2023

[Oseriduun]

I plan to upgrade my PC system very soon. Currently, the Logitech Z5500's are connected to an Asus Xonar Phoebus soundcard that has been giving a lot of issues. I used the 3 stereo-mini 3.5mm jacks to connect to this soundcard in 6-channel direct mode. The system also has outputs for Digital S/PDIF optical and coaxial. The built-in dac on this system is not great. I also regularly game so I use a stereo headset almost as frequently.

Since the card has been giving issues, I plan to drop it when I buy my new PC hardware. The motherboard I'm looking at only has inputs for SPDIF out & headset mic/out. There are other motherboards with the full range of audio connectivity (3.5mm jacks etc) but they are quite a bit more expensive.

What is the best way to continue to use this 5.1 surround sound speaker system with my future build? Will an on-board optical SPDIF connection suffice? As I'm trying to avoid using any sort of sound card due to lack of support of drivers and software, should I instead get a budget DAC + Amp combo? If so, what kind of connectivity should I aim to be using with one?

Any recommendation on a budget Dac+Amp combo would also be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Colif]

8 years or so ago I had those speakers. From memory getting 5.1 through digital didn't work but then my Z5500 were not behaving right and up until that point I had used the 3 cables you use.

I wonder what they expect people to use when they pricing the audio options out of reach. I chose my last MB specifically to have 7.1 even though my Z906 speakers only have 3 cables.

What CPU maker were you looking at?

 

[dwd999]

I plan to upgrade my PC system very soon. Currently, the Logitech Z5500's are connected to an Asus Xonar Phoebus soundcard that has been giving a lot of issues. I used the 3 stereo-mini 3.5mm jacks to connect to this soundcard in 6-channel direct mode. The system also has outputs for Digital S/PDIF optical and coaxial. The built-in dac on this system is not great. I also regularly game so I use a stereo headset almost as frequently.

Since the card has been giving issues, I plan to drop it when I buy my new PC hardware. The motherboard I'm looking at only has inputs for SPDIF out & headset mic/out. There are other motherboards with the full range of audio connectivity (3.5mm jacks etc) but they are quite a bit more expensive.

What is the best way to continue to use this 5.1 surround sound speaker system with my future build? Will an on-board optical SPDIF connection suffice? As I'm trying to avoid using any sort of sound card due to lack of support of drivers and software, should I instead get a budget DAC + Amp combo? If so, what kind of connectivity should I aim to be using with one?

Any recommendation on a budget Dac+Amp combo would also be appreciated, thanks!

Any motherboard's spdif output would be best since there's no metal to metal contact and this reduces the chance of hum or other electrical interference. Using 3.5mm jacks would be the worst option. Since you already a DAC in your z5500 control box if that works well then an alternative DAC should not be necessary.

 

[boju]

Optical is limited to 2.1 uncompressed audio. There are sound cards that can encode surround from stereo on the fly but is emulated all the same. Games use wav audio (uncompressed, partly why games are so big nowadays), analog audio is the simplest way to have all channels working without any headaches.

PC speakers haven't progressed to Hdmi input/output like Avrs so rca/3.5mm (analog) won't be redundant anytime soon. There should be motherboards available with green yellow and black audio jacks for your speakers.

 

[Oseriduun]

8 years or so ago I had those speakers. From memory getting 5.1 through digital didn't work but then my Z5500 were not behaving right and up until that point I had used the 3 cables you use.

I wonder what they expect people to use when they pricing the audio options out of reach. I chose my last MB specifically to have 7.1 even though my Z906 speakers only have 3 cables.

What CPU maker were you looking at?

I still haven't decided fully, but my main choice was Intel, the 14th gen but there's a lot of controversy lately around the APO.

 

[Oseriduun]

Optical is limited to 2.1 uncompressed audio. There are sound cards that can encode surround from stereo on the fly but is emulated all the same. Games use wav audio (uncompressed, partly why games are so big nowadays), analog audio is the simplest way to have all channels working without any headaches.

PC speakers haven't progressed to Hdmi input/output like Avrs so rca/3.5mm (analog) won't be redundant anytime soon. There should be motherboards available with green yellow and black audio jacks for your speakers.

There are, but sound quality wasn't as high up on my priority list as other features and the ones that do add quite a large price point. Many of these tend to be ASUS boards and for stuff like the latest 14th boards tend to start around $450+. Since these boards are geared toward heavy overclocking, it'd be kinda wasteful for me. You're right about the optical which is why I've tried to avoid using it, especially since the DAC on the z5500s are weak. Buying an additional DAC with my MB of choice would be around a similar price point but then I'm not entirely sure what kind of audio I'm getting out of the motherboard 🙁

 

[Colif]

I know you said no Sound card but a new one would at least last 5 years or so.

this page feels like an advert for Creative - https://robots.net/tech-reviews/13-best-sound-card-for-pc-for-2023/

some dac suggestions: https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi/best-dacs - some of those aren't cheap.

 

[Colif]

Optical is limited to 2.1 uncompressed audio.

If your audio file is 5.1 sound and the music player app you use also supports 5.1 sound, the Optical S/PDIF can output 5.1 sound.
Thank you.

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[boju]

Optical S/PDIF on ROG Maximus Z790 Hero

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If games offer compressed tracks that's good but there won't be many, if at all. Paying Dolby royalties puts a dampening on that. Optical has always been a handful with this stuff and very confusing what can do what.

 

[Oseriduun]

I know you said no Sound card but a new one would at least last 5 years or so.

this page feels like an advert for Creative - https://robots.net/tech-reviews/13-best-sound-card-for-pc-for-2023/

some dac suggestions: https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi/best-dacs - some of those aren't cheap.

I'm not entirely familar with how using a PCI-E slot will impact the lanes between say that slot and the gpu. Most of the threads tend to be very old since using a soundcard isn't very popular anymore. If I buy a motherboard with 1x pcie 5.0 and 2x pcie 4.0 lanes, insert the GPU (rtx 4070 ti) into the 5.0 and the soundcard into the 4.0, will it have any impact on the performance of the GPU? I'll also be using at least m.2 drives