Connecting Pc to Home theatre?

Question

Recently bought a sound card (x-fi xtreme music)

to connect to my reciever via optical, now the card doesnt have an optical out but i have seen an optical lead with 2 mini adapters that seem as if they would fit into the card but i am unsure of if using the adapter would carry full surround sound to the receiver

creative have released a digital i/o module upgrade for the card wich has optical out on it but it would be cheaper to just buy the lead if i knew it would work for surround.

Answer 1

HT receivers are only capable of receiving PCM stereo, Dolby Digital or DTS through the digital input. So... Sound cards output stereo PCM through the digital output and are capable of passing through Dolby Digital or DTS surround. Any other type of surround for games (EAX, etc...) needs to be decoded by the sound card.  Only an analog connection between all the outputs of your sound card and a receiver with 5.1 analog inputs will allow you to hear these types of surround over your home theater in full surround. If your receiver has analog jacks for 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 inputs, Creative sells cable sets that will allow you to make the connection.  http://us.creative.com/products/product....

It looks like you do have to buy the Creative I/O box if you want a digital output.  LOL... the more "advanced" they become, the less options they come with... I was wrong about your card having a digital output in it's stock form and I didn't mention DTS, but everything else here is accurate.

Basically, for music and movies... a digital connection is the best... and used to be the easiest when the Creative cards came stock with digital outputs...  For gaming, some types of surround can only be decoded by the sound card and an analog connection would be required. The sound cards cannot take one type of surround and convert it / output it as another (DTS or Dolby Digital)...

The manual for your card is here...   http://us.creative.com/support/downloads...

... but it doesn't seem to work right...  I can't read it... lol

EDIT:  OK... I did a little more research and the adapter you linked to won't work. Some devices use multi-out jacks with optical digital built in and this adapter will bring the size up to standard toslink. The X-fi cards use S/PDIF output in the multi-out jacks. No optical.  You would have to buy the Creative I/O module to get optical ins and outs. You may be able to stick a mono 1/8" plug to single RCA plug cable in the multi-out jack and get a coax digital output. It worked on my Audigy 2 and I see now that the exact same I/O module is recommended for that card. Like I said, it would work for stereo, Dolby Digital and DTS. Any other types of surround (EAX, etc...) will require an analog connection for getting full surround from your home theater.

If you want the 6 foot long mono 1/8" to single RCA plug cable I used to get a coax digital output out of the Audigy 2 (I switched to a card with RCA connections), e-mail your address and I'd be happy to send it to you.  [e-mail]

Answer 2

mhhh what do the instructions say that came with the card?

Answer 3

Sounds like the adaptor you're talking about connects to red and white jack plugs.  If this is the case, then you'll certainly get surround sound out of them, although this will only be dolby prologic.  Prologic only outputs to the two front speakers, the two rear speaker, and a subwoofer if you have one connected.

For true dolby digital 5.1 (much better sound), you need the full optical to optical connection.