HDMI from the video card doesn't render 5.1 channel, can I use S/P DIF on Sound card?

johnny_hunter

Hello all:

I have my 5.1 HT system and I wanted to hook it up with my computer. My video card has a HDMI port and I connected it to my AVR 2600 receiver, however only two channels have sound. After some study I concluded that the limit is in video card which only generates two channel sound. Then I noticed that I have the S/P DIF interface on my audio card. The questions are:
1. Can I use S/P DIF to render 5.1 channel sounds if the source is equipped so?
2. AVR 2600 should have a S/P DIF interface, right? I took a look at the back panel, still couldn't determine that;
3. is S/P DIF some kind of old tech, is it alright to use it in my case?

Thanks a lot,
John

cnh

Does that interface support 5.1?

I have a relatively new Lenovo mid-level laptop i5 core/8 gig memory etc., that says "explicitly" that, in its current state (with what it has on board) it DOES NOT support 5.1 surround!

So I'd look into it.

Any digital interface (HDMI, toslink or coax can pass S/P DIF, etc.). The HK has ALL of those!

cnh

helipilotdoug

I have a Macbook pro that has the optical hook up and I have the cable to do this on the way. Should be here tomorrow. From what I understand, on my computer anyway, 5.1 will be fed to the optical output when playing files that contain 5.1 sound. I'll let you know more after tomorrow when the cable arrives. I'll be feeding the TV with HDMI via an adaptor from the mini display port. Hoping this set up will work well. We'll see after tomorrow!

Zeros

johnny_hunter wrote: »

Hello all:

I have my 5.1 HT system and I wanted to hook it up with my computer. My video card has a HDMI port and I connected it to my AVR 2600 receiver, however only two channels have sound. After some study I concluded that the limit is in video card which only generates two channel sound. Then I noticed that I have the S/P DIF interface on my audio card. The questions are:
1. Can I use S/P DIF to render 5.1 channel sounds if the source is equipped so?
2. AVR 2600 should have a S/P DIF interface, right? I took a look at the back panel, still couldn't determine that;
3. is S/P DIF some kind of old tech, is it alright to use it in my case?

Thanks a lot,
John

What video card is it? I had an Nvidia card that only did 2 ch audio via HDMI in my HTCP, so I switched to an ATI card that does 5.1. This was a few years back, but that might be the issue.

helipilotdoug

johnny_hunter wrote: »

Hello all:

I have my 5.1 HT system and I wanted to hook it up with my computer. My video card has a HDMI port and I connected it to my AVR 2600 receiver, however only two channels have sound. After some study I concluded that the limit is in video card which only generates two channel sound. Then I noticed that I have the S/P DIF interface on my audio card. The questions are:
1. Can I use S/P DIF to render 5.1 channel sounds if the source is equipped so?
2. AVR 2600 should have a S/P DIF interface, right? I took a look at the back panel, still couldn't determine that;
3. is S/P DIF some kind of old tech, is it alright to use it in my case?

Thanks a lot,
John

helipilotdoug wrote: »

I have a Macbook pro that has the optical hook up and I have the cable to do this on the way. Should be here tomorrow. From what I understand, on my computer anyway, 5.1 will be fed to the optical output when playing files that contain 5.1 sound. I'll let you know more after tomorrow when the cable arrives. I'll be feeding the TV with HDMI via an adaptor from the mini display port. Hoping this set up will work well. We'll see after tomorrow!

The cables arrived today. I'm PUMPED!!! Hooked up the mini display port to the HDMI adaptor to the TV. Hooked up the optical cable from the SPDIF toslink optical output from the computer into the Sunfire TG IV. Using VLC to play a movie I have on the computer, 5.1 channel audio came through perfectly! Great sound using this set up. Also played some music files in stereo, and am very impressed with everything. If your computer works the same as mine, the SPDIF connection should do the trick. BTW, I'm getting the same thing through the HDMI connector as you. Just 2 channel.

Looking at a drawing of the AVR 2600, looks like there are 2 SPDIF toslink optical inputs, as well as coaxial digital inputs. And yes, SPDIF has been around for awhile, but it does do a pretty good job. It does have it's limitations, but all in all does well.

Syndil

Check this thread:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/481638/geforce-300-200-100-series/cant-get-5-1-audio-over-hdmi/

The TV is sending EDID info back to the PC telling it it is only capable of stereo sound, which limits the modes you are able to select. A suggested workaround is to leave the TV off at first, while establishing 5.1 sound to the AVR, then turn the TV on.

I had no problems getting 5.1 audio over HDMI via a GTX 660 to a Denon AVR last weekend, but the TV's audio output was set to external (built-in speakers turned off) so that might have been why it worked without a problem.

Habanero Monk

What video card are you running? If it's old it may only do two channel across HDMI. Good news is there are plenty of $30 cards after rebate that will do 5.1.

With SP/DIF you won't get the higher resolution audio formats in 5.1.

RamZet

Dont use the audio output on your video card! what are you thinking!


Use that awesome audio card that is built into your computer. Buy a PCIe audio card. A PC will use its CPU to process audio. imagine if all stereo equipment had intel i7s or AMDs processing the data. Use the 5.1 or 7.1 out of the audio card for the best results. if you dont have the 5.1 or 7.1 out use the optical/digital out. dont forget to set it all up on the PC end. you will need to select speaker sizes, swap bass and center, disable EQs and turn off effects.

Please Join EVGA.com and repost this question in the forum.

Syndil

RamZet, HDMI audio via the video card with a decent DAC or AVR is going to be miles better than multi-channel analog out via 3.5mm outputs on a sound card.

samreddevilz

Yes. you may try this. But be careful in case of connecting....