Surround sound through PC?
-
Monk 0 Nuggets
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:18 pm
- Location: western NY
- Contact:
Surround sound through PC?
Hey, I was thinking. I have a pretty rockin 5.1 system for my PC, but was wondering if I could get my consoles running through it somehow. Any idea how I could make this happen or even if it is possible? Thanks!
Honestly, I'm not sure about discrete 5.1 audio support with consoles. I'd imagine that if your PC sound card had digital input, then you could run your 5.1-capable consoles through that, and then on to the speakers... otherwise, you'd probably need a separate surround receiver to decode the signal.
I'm personally focused on a matrix-encoded surround sound system, so that I can get a (hopefully) immersive sound field with anything that outputs stereo sound. This would be similar to Dolby Surround, Pro Logic [II/IIx], Qsound, and would also work standard stereo into something more or less interesting. I think that I've probably mentioned it here before, but I'm putting together a quiet low-end PC around a Philips Acoustic Edge sound card. I read that it has the most advanced implementation of the Qsound matrix surround decoding engine, so we'll see how it goes.
Your PC's sound card might have some similar features; If you can't get direct 5.1 from your console to your speakers, maybe you could get some matrix-encoded surround out of it. I found the Acoustic Edge on eBay for about $15; A downside is that Philips aren't in the sound card business anymore, so the PC will probably be running Windows 98 or Millennium forever... or until I get an actual surround receiver!
I'm personally focused on a matrix-encoded surround sound system, so that I can get a (hopefully) immersive sound field with anything that outputs stereo sound. This would be similar to Dolby Surround, Pro Logic [II/IIx], Qsound, and would also work standard stereo into something more or less interesting. I think that I've probably mentioned it here before, but I'm putting together a quiet low-end PC around a Philips Acoustic Edge sound card. I read that it has the most advanced implementation of the Qsound matrix surround decoding engine, so we'll see how it goes.
Your PC's sound card might have some similar features; If you can't get direct 5.1 from your console to your speakers, maybe you could get some matrix-encoded surround out of it. I found the Acoustic Edge on eBay for about $15; A downside is that Philips aren't in the sound card business anymore, so the PC will probably be running Windows 98 or Millennium forever... or until I get an actual surround receiver!
\\ /\/\ \
-
Monk 0 Nuggets
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:18 pm
- Location: western NY
- Contact:
Frugal PC Optical Audio Input Solutions
Ah, I'm sorry. Which sound card do you have? I think that Creative Labs cards tend to have digital input of some kind on the board somewhere, even as a digital CD audio input. I'm not certain if this can be used for 5.1 audio, since although it is the same technical standard, CDs tend not to be encoded with such signals. The sound card might not be expecting the type of signal being sent through, but I would probably try it anyway! DVDs do have multichannel audio encoded, and this same connector can be used for DVD-ROM drives. There are "adapters" to convert digital optical to digital coaxial, but I'm not sure if latency is an issue.
Aside from that, I remember there being a lot of add-in cards for the Creative Labs sound cards. Full optical input/output could be added to the Live! series, via either an extension card with a bracket for mounting in place of an expansion card (PCI, ISA or otherwise) or via the "Live! Drive," which fits into a 5.25-inch drive bay.
Alternatively, there are a number of inexpensive, older 5.1-capable sound cards on eBay and online vendors. Installing a second sound card is just as fine as installing a second video card (although AGP would need to be paired with PCI), and if you're using it primarily for digital input, it doesn't seem that there would be a loss in quality. Amazingly, there is a Hercules Game Theater XP on eBay for USD 1.00, with USD 7.50 shipping. Bulky, perhaps, but it would get the job done. (Here is a review of the GTXP.) If you want something a bit more streamlined, there's also a Hercules Fortissimo II sound card on eBay (misspelled as "Fortismo") for USD 10.00; It ends in two hours, so if you miss it and no one bids, you could probably offer the seller USD 10.00 or 15.00 for it, including shipping. (Here is a review of the F2, on that same site.) Both of these cards use Cirrus Logic audio processors, with the version in the Game Theater XP being the same as that used in Turtle Beach's "Santa Cruz" card, which was the primary competitor to the Sound Blaster Live!, and was regarded by audio enthusiasts to be of much higher audio quality.
I don't have any experience with those, but I thought that I'd look into it. My results are from searching on Google for "sound card optical input review 2000," checking only the first page of results and then incrementing the year by one. It worked pretty well for coming up with some cards made quite some time ago, albeit with optical input. I also apologize if you didn't want this much information, but, hopefully it's of some use! I might actually use this research to enhance the capabilities of the "sound" PC that I'm setting up. Which games are you interested in that have 5.1 sound support, anyway? Just curious.
(Depending on which sound card you have, I'd still try hooking standard L-R audio output from a console to its line-in via an adapter such as the one seen in this thread, and then checking the sound card's mixer software to see what sort of possibilities are available... unless you've done so already, of course.)
Aside from that, I remember there being a lot of add-in cards for the Creative Labs sound cards. Full optical input/output could be added to the Live! series, via either an extension card with a bracket for mounting in place of an expansion card (PCI, ISA or otherwise) or via the "Live! Drive," which fits into a 5.25-inch drive bay.
Alternatively, there are a number of inexpensive, older 5.1-capable sound cards on eBay and online vendors. Installing a second sound card is just as fine as installing a second video card (although AGP would need to be paired with PCI), and if you're using it primarily for digital input, it doesn't seem that there would be a loss in quality. Amazingly, there is a Hercules Game Theater XP on eBay for USD 1.00, with USD 7.50 shipping. Bulky, perhaps, but it would get the job done. (Here is a review of the GTXP.) If you want something a bit more streamlined, there's also a Hercules Fortissimo II sound card on eBay (misspelled as "Fortismo") for USD 10.00; It ends in two hours, so if you miss it and no one bids, you could probably offer the seller USD 10.00 or 15.00 for it, including shipping. (Here is a review of the F2, on that same site.) Both of these cards use Cirrus Logic audio processors, with the version in the Game Theater XP being the same as that used in Turtle Beach's "Santa Cruz" card, which was the primary competitor to the Sound Blaster Live!, and was regarded by audio enthusiasts to be of much higher audio quality.
I don't have any experience with those, but I thought that I'd look into it. My results are from searching on Google for "sound card optical input review 2000," checking only the first page of results and then incrementing the year by one. It worked pretty well for coming up with some cards made quite some time ago, albeit with optical input. I also apologize if you didn't want this much information, but, hopefully it's of some use! I might actually use this research to enhance the capabilities of the "sound" PC that I'm setting up. Which games are you interested in that have 5.1 sound support, anyway? Just curious.
(Depending on which sound card you have, I'd still try hooking standard L-R audio output from a console to its line-in via an adapter such as the one seen in this thread, and then checking the sound card's mixer software to see what sort of possibilities are available... unless you've done so already, of course.)
\\ /\/\ \
-
Monk 0 Nuggets
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:18 pm
- Location: western NY
- Contact:
No problem, I was definitely in a researching mood that day.
If you do have a Live!, then it seems that you'd probably be set (as it would likely be the 5.1 model). We'll see, but, here's some more info if that's the case:
My SB Live! 24-bit, which I believe is actually a rebadged SB Audigy LS (or something like that), has a matrix-encoded surround decoding feature; It's in one of the Creative configuration panels, called "Creative MultiSpeaker Surround." It's not Qsound or Dolby, but it's pretty good. From what I can tell, every SB Live! from the 5.1 series onward should have it. If yours is one of these, you might try hooking your consoles right up to the line-in using the aforementioned adapter, turning the CMSS on, and seeing how you like it!
All SB Live! cards (perhaps excluding the Value) should support the Digital I/O Module and Live! Drive, though Creative seems to be listing only a new version of the module which indicates compatibility with only the Live! 24-bit onwards. The previous version was as I mentioned, an internal card that would occupy a expansion card position. I'm not seeing any on eBay, but right now there is a Live! Drive for the 5.1 series for under USD 10.00 including shipping,
There's also one starting at USD 100.00; You might not want to get that one.
If you do have a Live!, then it seems that you'd probably be set (as it would likely be the 5.1 model). We'll see, but, here's some more info if that's the case:
My SB Live! 24-bit, which I believe is actually a rebadged SB Audigy LS (or something like that), has a matrix-encoded surround decoding feature; It's in one of the Creative configuration panels, called "Creative MultiSpeaker Surround." It's not Qsound or Dolby, but it's pretty good. From what I can tell, every SB Live! from the 5.1 series onward should have it. If yours is one of these, you might try hooking your consoles right up to the line-in using the aforementioned adapter, turning the CMSS on, and seeing how you like it!
All SB Live! cards (perhaps excluding the Value) should support the Digital I/O Module and Live! Drive, though Creative seems to be listing only a new version of the module which indicates compatibility with only the Live! 24-bit onwards. The previous version was as I mentioned, an internal card that would occupy a expansion card position. I'm not seeing any on eBay, but right now there is a Live! Drive for the 5.1 series for under USD 10.00 including shipping,
There's also one starting at USD 100.00; You might not want to get that one.
\\ /\/\ \