Hooking up a PC to sound system

[Smartazz]

Hi all, I'm looking to be able to send good quality sound to a roughly $3000 Polk Audio 5.1 surround sound system. This is the reciever that the computer needs to plug into: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0MJ-001T-00003&IsVirtualParent=1

And this is the sound card I'm looking at getting. Note the second card it comes with. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271005

How does this sound card look for this purpose and it would it provide a clear advantage over my current sound card? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ophir]

Can't you just use HDMI to connect the PC to the AVR?

 

[alcoholbob]

Your Denon AVR-1913 receiver doesn't even have multichannel analog inputs, so it's not even compatible with the sound card you listed.

Other than Onkyo, and maybe Pioneer, most receiver brands these days don't even supply multichannel analog inputs below $1,000.

You should stick to the HDMI port on your video card...assuming your motherboard doesn't already one as well.

 

[Number1]

This sound card does have DD encoding and you will need this feature if you plan on gaming. As others have said, the multichanel sound card output will be useless to you.

If you're not a gamer, just use the HDMI port of your video card.

 

[reallyscrued]

What they said. Why would you want to send an analog signal to your $3,000 dollar audio system? Unless you're very curious as to what static sounds like through 3 grand.

Audio cards aren't needed anymore unless you're producing studio recordings. You could argue they are detrimental to sound quality compared to a fully digital (HDMI connection), so bypass any computerized DACs.

Here's what you want to do:

Go to Monoprice/Amazon and get two decent HDMI cables

Video card - Enable Multichannel surround in Sound menu on a modern version of Windows > Output HDMI to Denon - Set Denon to Multi In > Send HDMI out from Denon to TV

The Denon will strip the audio and process it itself while passing the video along to the TV, all digital. You'll be able to turn your system up to 0.0 db without any line static.

 

[Smartazz]

What they said. Why would you want to send an analog signal to your $3,000 dollar audio system? Unless you're very curious as to what static sounds like through 3 grand.

Audio cards aren't needed anymore unless you're producing studio recordings. You could argue they are detrimental to sound quality compared to a fully digital (HDMI connection), so bypass any computerized DACs.

Here's what you want to do:

Go to Monoprice/Amazon and get two decent HDMI cables

Video card - Enable Multichannel surround in Sound menu on a modern version of Windows > Output HDMI to Denon - Set Denon to Multi In > Send HDMI out from Denon to TV

The Denon will strip the audio and process it itself while passing the video along to the TV, all digital. You'll be able to turn your system up to 0.0 db without any line static.

Thanks for the advice. I didn't realize modern video cards have surround sound.

 

[alcoholbob]

This sound card does have DD encoding and you will need this feature if you plan on gaming.

HDMI sends out full multichannel sound that's uncompressed, versus DDL which is compressed sound. Why would someone need DD compressed sound for gaming when they can have uncompressed multichannel sound?

 

[Soundmanred]

HDMI sends out full multichannel sound that's uncompressed, versus DDL which is compressed sound. Why would someone need DD compressed sound for gaming when they can have uncompressed multichannel sound?

And it's much easier with a cleaner signal!