Looking for USB soundcard solution for Vista 64bit

[ItsAlive]

Hi, I just picked up a nice laptop which Id like to run to my 5.1 surround sound home theater. Im wondering if anyone could suggest a good USB sound card solution that has Hardware decoding for Dolby DTS and is equipped with an Optical out. I am runnin on Vista 64bit so the card would need to have support for this OS.

I found this one while searching, says it has hardware decoding and SPDIF optical out. It also says it just got support for Vista 64 bit. Do you think this will work for me?

USB soundcard

 

[WraithETC]

If the card decodes the signal you can't send 5.1 over optical since it will be in pcm. You would have to use the analog connections in this scenario. Optical/coax provide 5.1 when they bitstream a compressed/encoded audio source like DD/DTS.

If your home theater can decode the bitstream you can just get any card with a digital out otherwise you'll have to go analog or sacrifice some people to create a notebook card with hdmi out.

Edit: bitstream on a card without DD live will only get you 5.1 on pre encoded sources like DVDs.

 

[ItsAlive]

I have the Samsung htx50 surround sound, how could I find out if it will decode bitstream? Also I have a cheap soundcard with optical out I'm using in my HTPC but the sound doesnt sync well with DVDs and there is noticable lag. It also wont output in 5.1, only in stereo.

I wouldnt mind just connecting through analog, but how would I do that since my PC uses the green/orange/black connectors and the surround sound uses composite inputs?

Samsung HTX50

I was looking at Asus Xonar U1, it has dolby digital live, and says its capable of sending 5.1 over optical.

Here's a Link

 

[shingletingle]

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I have the Samsung htx50 surround sound, how could I find out if it will decode bitstream? Also I have a cheap soundcard with optical out I'm using in my HTPC but the sound doesnt sync well with DVDs and there is noticable lag. It also wont output in 5.1, only in stereo.

I wouldnt mind just connecting through analog, but how would I do that since my PC uses the green/orange/black connectors and the surround sound uses composite inputs?

Samsung HTX50

I was looking at Asus Xonar U1, it has dolby digital live, and says its capable of sending 5.1 over optical.

Here's a Link

The page you linked to says right up front that your system decodes DD & DTS.

I'm willing to bet your HTPC is playing in stereo because you don't have it connected via 5.1 multichannel analog inputs. It would be connected to the receiver via 6 RCA connectors and your HTPC would be doing the decoding.

 

[Ghouler]

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I wouldnt mind just connecting through analog, but how would I do that since my PC uses the green/orange/black connectors and the surround sound uses composite inputs?

Samsung HTX50

I was looking at Asus Xonar U1, it has dolby digital live, and says its capable of sending 5.1 over optical.

Here's a Link

There is a heap of confusion surrounding Dolby formats so let me clear that out for you.
Your speakers are able to decode Dolby - for that scenario you need a sound card that can send a Dolby stream to them via digital out. Dolby Digital Live (DDL) is ENcoding algorithm so you do not need that for watching movies or music - movies are in Dolby already and music is usually in stereo which can be passed on with no need for the DDL. For that setup you do not need Dolby Decoding either - you want to send it to your decoder box from this Samsung set.

When you ask about Dolby DEcoding that means you are about to use the analog connection. Which is absolutely fine - simply use Y splitter cable with mini jack on one end and 2 RCA connectors on the other ends. A standard cable, any audio shop should have it.
Keep in mind for that scenario DDL does not matter.

There are a few cards that offer Dolby decoding and come with both analog and optical outputs. Xonar U1 is not one of them, but as explained above it might fit your setup. A card that seems a much better value and gives more versatility is
X-Fi Surround 5.1. If you ever decide you need DDL
this can be purchased separately for $4 from buy.soundblaster.com later

Hope this helps.

 

[ItsAlive]

Just and update, I purchased the Asus Xonar U1, and so far 5.1 dolby digital live over optical output is working beautifully, I get 5.1 sound in everything Ive tried from movies to video games.......it installed flawlessly on my laptop with Vista 64bit premium OS.

Would like to thank everyone for their input and explainations of dolby formats, it helped me greatly in making my decision.

 

[shingletingle]

Dolby Digital Live doesn't need to be used for movies.