[SOLVED] Setting up old amp to pc

[ahsan540]

Recently I found an old Kenwood krf-v8030d and a set of large 5.1 fedic old speakers.
Can anyone tell me how to set this up with my pc?

 

[jay32267]

You can come out the green "line out" jack and into one of the inputs on the amp with a 1/8" stereo to rca cable.

You may have to turn the volume down on the PC pretty low so you don't get distortion.

 

[ahsan540]

So the problem of that is, speakers will run at streo mode
But i want to connect to pc as 5.1 speakers.

Also there is no specific output port except phono out and cd/dvd out

 

[Paperdoc]

Start with the amp's manual, here

http://manual.kenwood.com/files/B60-4593-00.pdf

This system can do 5.1 surround sound, although in some places it calls that 6-channel sound. First you have to decide which signal system you are using. The amp can handle either 5.1 surround analog signals (p. 8) or digital optical signals (p.9) for input, so choose what you have available from the signal source - that is, I guess, from the output jacks on your computer. NOTE also that it says the amp's default setting is to use the DIGITAL inputs, so if you're hooking up analogs you will need to change that setting.

MANY computer systems have TWO audio output systems. Almost all mobos come with some audio system built in, and signals from it are accessed from the rear panel of the mobo. Usually there are a set of three jacks for analog outputs (Lime Green for front L/R stereo, Orange for Front Centre / Subwoofer, and Black (maybe Grey) for L/R Rear. (On amp manual p.8 it labels the rear speakers as "Surround Out L/R".)There may also be an audio Optical digital signal output port. You connect using ONE of those two connection methods. Additional notes. 1. Your computer screen probably has an icon at lower right for a configuration tool for the on-board audio system. You need to configure that for the type of output you want to use (5.1 surround, aka 6-channel) and the type of connections (analog or digital). 2. IF your mobo audio system is by Realtek (very common), it has an interesting system that allows you to re-assign the several output ports to different uses. BUT it also requires careful use or it will send out NO sound signals! So if you get nothing from some ports, post back here for more details.

The OTHER way to get sound MAY be from your VIDEO card! Passing audio signals from a mobo system to an added graphics card is difficult, no many simply incorporate their own extra audio output chip on the graphics card. That way it is easy to send stereo (L/R) analog sound to your monitor via the HDMI cable. VERY often when you install such a video card it also installs the card's audio device drivers, too, and then changes a Windows setting so that all sound is sent out on the HDMI cable, and NONE from the mobo back panel jacks. So if that's what you have been using recently, you probably get nothing when you try to connect to the mobo jacks on the back. If that is your situation go into Control Panel ... System ... Sounds and find the screen where you can specify the Default Sound Playback device and the Default Sound Recording device. Each has a little drop-down selector. For the Playback device, you should see both the system on your mobo (maybe Realtek) and the one on your video card. You get to use ONE of those at a time, but you can always come back here and change the setting. I expect your video card system can NOT do 5.1 surround sound output (it is intended for small stereo L/R speakers in the monitor). So, you should plan to use the mobo audio output system and make either analog or digital connections between your mobo rear jacks and the amp inputs. Thus you need to tell Windows here that it should use the mobo sound Playback system.

 

[ahsan540]

Start with the amp's manual, here

http://manual.kenwood.com/files/B60-4593-00.pdf

This system can do 5.1 surround sound, although in some places it calls that 6-channel sound. First you have to decide which signal system you are using. The amp can handle either 5.1 surround analog signals (p. 8) or digital optical signals (p.9) for input, so choose what you have available from the signal source - that is, I guess, from the output jacks on your computer. NOTE also that it says the amp's default setting is to use the DIGITAL inputs, so if you're hooking up analogs you will need to change that setting.

MANY computer systems have TWO audio output systems. Almost all mobos come with some audio system built in, and signals from it are accessed from the rear panel of the mobo. Usually there are a set of three jacks for analog outputs (Lime Green for front L/R stereo, Orange for Front Centre / Subwoofer, and Black (maybe Grey) for L/R Rear. (On amp manual p.8 it labels the rear speakers as "Surround Out L/R".)There may also be an audio Optical digital signal output port. You connect using ONE of those two connection methods. Additional notes. 1. Your computer screen probably has an icon at lower right for a configuration tool for the on-board audio system. You need to configure that for the type of output you want to use (5.1 surround, aka 6-channel) and the type of connections (analog or digital). 2. IF your mobo audio system is by Realtek (very common), it has an interesting system that allows you to re-assign the several output ports to different uses. BUT it also requires careful use or it will send out NO sound signals! So if you get nothing from some ports, post back here for more details.

The OTHER way to get sound MAY be from your VIDEO card! Passing audio signals from a mobo system to an added graphics card is difficult, no many simply incorporate their own extra audio output chip on the graphics card. That way it is easy to send stereo (L/R) analog sound to your monitor via the HDMI cable. VERY often when you install such a video card it also installs the card's audio device drivers, too, and then changes a Windows setting so that all sound is sent out on the HDMI cable, and NONE from the mobo back panel jacks. So if that's what you have been using recently, you probably get nothing when you try to connect to the mobo jacks on the back. If that is your situation go into Control Panel ... System ... Sounds and find the screen where you can specify the Default Sound Playback device and the Default Sound Recording device. Each has a little drop-down selector. For the Playback device, you should see both the system on your mobo (maybe Realtek) and the one on your video card. You get to use ONE of those at a time, but you can always come back here and change the setting. I expect your video card system can NOT do 5.1 surround sound output (it is intended for small stereo L/R speakers in the monitor). So, you should plan to use the mobo audio output system and make either analog or digital connections between your mobo rear jacks and the amp inputs. Thus you need to tell Windows here that it should use the mobo sound Playback system.

I am currently using b450m ds3h which has 3 audio port (green for line out blue for line in and pink for microphone)
And at the amp where should i make connections from? There are only options to connect at phono/cd,dvd player/monitor (dunno what's that).

Because of my pc doesn't have digital ouput port i am plannig to buy asus xoner dgx. Will that make any help? Or should i buy xoner ae, which have all the ports i need to connect with 3 rma cabbles?

 

[Paperdoc]

You may not need to buy an additional sound card, because the mobo may already have all the outputs you need. It's just no obvious. The one thing an added card can provide is an easy OPTICAL digital cable output to reach your amp.

However, if you are happy with using ANALOG signals for those six channels you probably already have those. See the mobo manual on p. 11 and look closely at the labels for those three jacks. Of course, each jack actually has TWO signals on it, like a common stereo L/R jack. The BLUE jack says "Line In / Rear Speaker Out", the GREEN one says "Line Out / Front Speaker Out", and the PINK one says "Mic In / Centre / Subwoofer Speaker Out. In other words, each of those jacks can be configured to use EITHER of two functions. In each case the SECOND option for that jack is what you want in order to feed all six signals for 5.1 Surround Sound out of your computer as analog signals. Then you need three cables basically, each of them a 3.5 mm male stereo plug on one end (into the computer jack) and two RCA connectors on the other end to go into the RCA sockets on the back of your amp. See amp manual p. 8 under "Connecting a DVD Player (6 channel input)" for the socket pairs to use for Front, Surround (rear) and Centre/Subwoofer inputs.

The mobo manual does NOT give you details of how to configure those rear three jacks for the correct output choices. I expect it is done through the software that it calls the audio system driver. For a lot of mobo-based sound output systems the installation of the device driver also installs a configuration and testing utility package for that stuff and places a small icon in the bottom right of your screen. On mine, if I hover over that, it says "Realtek HD Audio Manager". A RIGHT click on it gives a mini-menu allowing access to the full app. Look in there among its tabs to find a way to select which signal type is sent out of each jack. ALSO check for a place where you can specify whether the output is for headphones, front stereo, or various versions of Surround Sound. If you can set it there for 5.1 (or 6-channel) Surround Sound and then specify the correct signals from each of the three rear jacks, you're in business! I note that the mobo system technically is able also to do 7.1 sound (with a pair of side speakers) ONLY if you are using an extra front panel jack set you don't have, so do not try to choose that setting.

If you can NOT find the way in that configuration tool to specify which signal type is sent out of each rear jack, post back here. Very often Realtek systems also have a way to re-assign output jacks that works but is a little tricky to use. If you need that, I can explain.

I note that your mobo has one other option I think is not easy for you. It has an S/PDIF header that can be used with an appropriate cable to send analog digital 5.1 or 7.1 signals out which I think can be fed into one of your amp's input sockets. Although this might have a small technical advantage in sound quality, it would require an uncommon connecting cable that must be plugged into a mobo header and fed out of the case. Your mobo does not have any OPTICAL digital audio output option.

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for Best Answer. Enjoy!