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Optical audio in motherboard question

treyu86treyu86 Member UncommonPosts: 270
in Hardware
I am going to buy a new headsets with 5.1 support and dolby surround etc. All the headsets I see force you to connect them to the PC via an optical audio output on your PC if you want to use the 5.1 sound. I thought my motherboard didn't have one optical audio out port, but today I have seen one at the back, near a SPDIF OUT. Does that mean that my motherboard soundcard will support the 5.1? I don't want to spend the money and then get a stereo sound. My motherboard is an ASUS p7755D PRO, I have tried to check specifications but I can't get a clear answer there. Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • GroovyFlowerGroovyFlower Member Posts: 1,245
    Originally posted by treyu86
    I am going to buy a new headsets with 5.1 support and dolby surround etc. All the headsets I see force you to connect them to the PC via an optical audio output on your PC if you want to use the 5.1 sound. I thought my motherboard didn't have one optical audio out port, but today I have seen one at the back, near a SPDIF OUT. Does that mean that my motherboard soundcard will support the 5.1? I don't want to spend the money and then get a stereo sound. My motherboard is an ASUS p7755D PRO, I have tried to check specifications but I can't get a clear answer there. Thanks in advance!
    Sound for your MB supports that:
     
    5.1 and surround.
     
    VIA® VT1828S 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
    - Absolute Pitch BD192/24 featuring ENVY HD
    - DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC                      <===========
    - Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-Retasking
    - Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
     
    No expert here on sound but seem rather modern board with high defenition onboard sound that support older 5.1.
     
    Wait maybe for expert so you won't blame me for false info:)
  • grndzrogrndzro Member UncommonPosts: 1,163
    You would need to consult your MB manual for compatibility. Optical out and in were pioneered by Sony for Audio. go into your audio setup and see if there are options for the optical output.
  • RecklooseReckloose Member UncommonPosts: 39

    Ok, first and foremost, the headsets that have optical connections are designed for consoles, not PCs. The easiest solution would be to find a PC designed surround sound headset. Headsets for PC will be USB based, or 6 channel direct (for 5.1) or 8 channel direct (for 7.1). Razer makes a whole bunch of different ones, for example.

    If you really want to use an optical headset, you can, but it may take some effort (and possibly additional hardware). The trick is this: Optical is a digital connection, and everything going through it must be encoded. By default, PC's can only encode stereo for the optical. Dolby Digital and DTS are encoding types to send surround sound through digital connections, but to do so, your PC needs to encode the surround sound from the game into those formats.

    What you need to check for, is if your sound card supports Dolby Digital Live (DDL) and/or DTSConnect. I checked on your mainboard, and it does not support these. So you'll need a new sound card if you want to use optical. (To give you an idea, the Asus Xonar D2/PM supports them, but it uses Digital Coaxial as opposed to optical for it's digital connection).

    So, the choices for you are: A headset with 6/8 channel direct, or USB connection. Or a new soundcard with optical and support for DDL and DTSConnect.

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