Low-profile sound card with 5.1 RCA?

[vcarpio2]

Is there a low-profile 5.1 sound card with RCA output to a receiver's 5.1 RCA input?

I inherited a Dell GX260 and would like to use it as a "multimedia PC" connected to my surround sound system to watch DVD and Netflix movies with.

Thanks!

 

[themisfit610]

Does your reciever have S/PDIF?

Otherwise you'll need to get (ideally) a USB based external sound card with 3.5mm outputs, and use 3x 3.5mm -> dual RCA adapters.

~MiSfit

 

[ViRGE]

Here's a low-profile Audigy, with some 3.5mm->RCA adapters you'd be set.

 

[Soundmanred]

That's what I use, but I use the S/PDIF digital out instead of buying all of the adapters.

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Does your reciever have S/PDIF?

Otherwise you'll need to get (ideally) a USB based external sound card with 3.5mm outputs, and use 3x 3.5mm -> dual RCA adapters.

~MiSfit

Yes, my receiver has S/PDIF both optical and coaxial.

I actually have a 5.1 USB external soundblaster with I think optical (toslink) outputs. I bought it a long time ago when I ripped vinyl LPs into my laptop. I prefer coaxial because I have a switchbox to select video and audio source between dvd player and cable box (and soon a PC).

I'll try that first. Thanks for reminding me

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Here's a low-profile Audigy, with some 3.5mm->RCA adapters you'd be set.

I like this because it will all be contained in one PC, as opposed to the external USB Soundblaster. I might eventually go this route and get the optional digital i/o module (http://us.creative.com/product...egory=16&product=1780).

Thanks!

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred
That's what I use, but I use the S/PDIF digital out instead of buying all of the adapters.

Do you mean the low-profile Audigy SE already has S/PDIF?

 

[themisfit610]

Yeah it does, but its in a 3-pole 3.5mm jack. You have to buy their digital I/O breakout cable to get the optical / coaxial jacks. Not bad - the card is like $30, and the adapter is like $15. That's pretty reasonable.

Do realize though, that S/PDIF can only deliver 5.1ch for Dolby Digital / DTS soundtracks. Everything else (including games, 5.1ch AAC etc...) will be passed through at 2ch PCM. You can get around this on the media front by using the wonderful AC3Filter that can encode anything you watch to Dobly Digital on the fly, and push it out of the S/PDIF. Games are still fail though

~MiSfit

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Yeah it does, but its in a 3-pole 3.5mm jack. You have to buy their digital I/O breakout cable to get the optical / coaxial jacks. Not bad - the card is like $30, and the adapter is like $15. That's pretty reasonable.

Do realize though, that S/PDIF can only deliver 5.1ch for Dolby Digital / DTS soundtracks. Everything else (including games, 5.1ch AAC etc...) will be passed through at 2ch PCM. You can get around this on the media front by using the wonderful AC3Filter that can encode anything you watch to Dobly Digital on the fly, and push it out of the S/PDIF. Games are still fail though

~MiSfit

I like this solution best. I?m still waiting for the DVD drive I ordered from newegg and the vga-to-rgb cable I bought on eBay. Since I already have the USB soundblaster, I will have everything I need to try out watching Netflix movies (and other streaming video) on my projector. If everything works out and I?m happy, I?ll get the low-profile Audigy SE + digitial io and I?ll be even happier. Games would be nice but I think the GX260 can?t handle them anyway.

So many decisions to make ? all sweet . Thanks.

 

[Soundmanred]

I use a three conductor jack that breaks out to two RCA style jacks. I only use one for digital coaxial, the other one is null.
I only use it for 2 channel music and 5.1 DD/DTS soundtracks, so no games here.
I don't need inputs, only the coax output, so the SE was the best card for me. (I use it in a Dell Vostro 200 Slimline HTPC)

 

[themisfit610]

ROFL yeah a GX260 isn't exactly a gaming box

I would be nervous about the VGA -> RGB cable. You sure your TV supports RGB input? Most don't and only do true component (YUV)

~MiSfit

 

[ViRGE]

It will be overkill for the OP, but if anyone else comes through this thread apparently the X-Fi XtremeGamer can also be converted to low-profile, you only need to buy the new bracket from Creative.

 

[vcarpio2]

Hi. I've pretty much finished my little project -- I'm still waiting for the rgb-vga cable. Since I?ve been away from this thread, I?ll put all my responses here instead of to the individual posts.

MiSfit, I think I should be good with the rgb-vga cable because (I think I didn?t mention) I?m using a projector that came with an rgb-vga connector. So basically, I have 3 rca cables snaking from the back of my projector (mounted on the ceiling) to a regular rca switch box?s input. I then have sets of 3 rca cables from the switchbox to my digital cable box, my dvd player, and soon to my PC. Since my PC only has vga out, I ordered the rgb-vga cable for it.

My digital cable box and dvd player have rca outs for digital sound so one rca cable for each also goes to the switchbox. I just push the proper button on the switchbox if I wanted to watch cable or dvd.

For the meantime, since my PC?s rgb-vga cable is in the mail, I connected the GX260 directly to the projector using a regular vga cable, sans any vga-rgb adapter cable.

Soundmanred / ViRGE, I found in my box of old spare parts a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz soundcard. It?s supposed to send 5.1 signal through its 3.5mm ?Versajack? output. And since I discovered that the GX260 actually has two full-height horizontal PCI slots, I tried it first. I didn?t have to buy the low-profile Audigy SE.

However, I couldn?t get the Santa Cruz to output 5.1 sound. It only outputted 4.1 sound. The center channel -- and thus the dialogue in movies -- stayed silent. Then I remembered I have an Audigy MP3 soundcard in another PC whose motherboard already has onboard sound. Since I only use that PC for working-at-home via VPN and not for watching movies, I took out the Audigy MP3 soundcard and used that instead of the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. It worked great! I only needed to buy a 3.5mm-to-rca adapter at RadioShack to connect it to my switchbox. I now have a 5.1 ?media center PC? built out of junk parts .

I also installed a wi-fi card I ordered from 3btech ($13 PCI card instead of a $15+ ethernet cable) so I'm watching Netflix on it, too. I only wish Netflix would stream 5.1 sound and not just stereo.

I'm excited that I now wish I can also play games on my projector. I wonder what games the low-profile AGP boards at Newegg for under $40 could handle. Far Cry? NBA Live? Would be nice if they can handle a 5.1 PC game...

 

[vcarpio2]

BTW, I had some some ?misadventures? with my project.

The $26 DVD rewriter I ordered from Newegg was SATA -- I thought SATA was only for hard drives. The GX260 does not have SATA. Good thing my work-at-home PC?s motherboard has SATA built in so I simply swapped DVD drives.

I also bought a used 250 gig HD for $29 and two sticks of ram -- a 512mb and 256 mb -- for $11 from fellow Anandtechers. Both came with free shipping .

The GX260 initially won?t recognize the full 250 gig HD -- its BIOS only recognized 130 gigs. So I flashed the BIOS with the latest version that has LBA support. But I still had to partition to make full use of the 250 gigs. Maybe there?s a way to make one contiguous 250 gig partition but I?m OK with having 2 partitions.

I just wanted to share these because I can?t believe I?m enjoying PC-based home theater out of ?obsolete? parts .

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
ROFL yeah a GX260 isn't exactly a gaming box

I would be nervous about the VGA -> RGB cable. You sure your TV supports RGB input? Most don't and only do true component (YUV)

~MiSfit

My vga-rgb cable arrived and didn't work. I just learned from googling that rgb signal and rca/component/YUV signal are not the same -- sorry for my minimal knowledge. I hope someone can help.

At the back of my projector is a vga-rgb cable. Three RCA cables are connected to it which then go into the ?output? ports of my generic Wal-Mart AV switchbox. Into the switchbox?s 2 sets of ?input? ports go two sets of 3 RCA cables -- one set from my digital cable box (Scientific Atlanta HD31000 with Y/Pb/Pr label) and one set from my DVD player. They work fine.

I now wish to connect my PC to the 3rd input port of my switchbox using RCA cables. My PC (Dell GX260) only has VGA-out on board. With the vga-rgb cable that just arrived, I think it only outputs RGB. But I think what I need is Y/Pb/Pr output.

If I buy a cheap vga-to-Y/Pb/Pr cable like this:

http://www.uxcell.com/vga-card...pter-cable-p-7251.html

will it work? Does this cable have circuitry to convert RGB to Y/Pb/Pr?

Alternatively, if I buy this video card (I?m limited to low-profile AGP 4X):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814139165

which has the following outs:

vga
composite (yellow RCA)
s-video

and get this s-video cable:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...me=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=024

to connect to the card?s s-video out, will it work?

Are there better connection options? Thanks!

(My projector, Nec VT47, can detect RGB or component signal. I tried changing the settings on the projector?s ?advanced? menu but neither ?RGB? nor ?component? setting worked. I think since I have the vga-to-rgb connector at the back of my projector, it is always expecting component signals, that is, Y/Pb/Pr. While my PC with its own vga-to-rgb cable is sending RGB signals. I?m just guessing...)

 

[themisfit610]

Don't use S/Video if your projector works with component video!

It sounds like your projector can display RGB and YUV, which is a good thing! The trick will be determining the precise resolution and refresh rate it expects, and applying those settings to your video card. If you're using the onboard video, you're probably SOL. That FX5200 will be flexible enough to output the VGA signal your projector wants.

I think

Alternatively, you could find a half height card that can output true YUV component. I didn't see any that definitively could on newegg, so I'm not sure

~MiSfit

~MiSfit

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Don't use S/Video if your projector works with component video!

It sounds like your projector can display RGB and YUV, which is a good thing! The trick will be determining the precise resolution and refresh rate it expects, and applying those settings to your video card. If you're using the onboard video, you're probably SOL. That FX5200 will be flexible enough to output the VGA signal your projector wants.

I think

Alternatively, you could find a half height card that can output true YUV component. I didn't see any that definitively could on newegg, so I'm not sure

~MiSfit

~MiSfit

Thanks a lot, MiSfit! I'll try that -- I know my projector's native resolution is 800x600 but I didn't think of the refresh rate. I hope there's a combination that will work. If not, I'll check out other online stores for any low-profile agp with YUV out. Thanks for checking on Newegg!

 

[ViRGE]

You're basically screwed either way if you have to go YUV, going by Newegg. None of the AGP low-profile cards they carry support component(YUV) out from the looks of things, and since you already filled your PCI slot, you don't have another PCI slot to drop in a newer PCI card (now there's irony) that can do component out.

 

[vcarpio2]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
You're basically screwed either way if you have to go YUV, going by Newegg. None of the AGP low-profile cards they carry support component(YUV) out from the looks of things, and since you already filled your PCI slot, you don't have another PCI slot to drop in a newer PCI card (now there's irony) that can do component out.

Thanks, ViRGE! It's not yet working but changing the resolutions above 800x600 last night to 1024x768 and 1124x964 as ~MiSfit suggested I was able to go as far as displaying XP's "Welcome" screen on the projector. However, the Welcome screen occupied only about 3/4 of the screen and off to the left. I can move the mouse and there was some image warping along the horizontal line where the mouse cursor is. Then after the Welcome screen, signal is lost and the screen goes blank.

I downloaded and applied the latest video driver for the Intel video chip no luck.

During boot up, there is no black BIOS screen either.

So I think my projector can process RGB signal. Hopefully I don't have to go YUV. If I have to go YUV, I also have an 802.11g USB nic so I can free up a PCI slot for a video card with YUV. I just think a PCI wireless nic is better than a USB one, right?

I even used my multi-tester to test for continuity with the 2 vga-rgb cables connected via their RGB-RCA ends. I thought it was weird that the first vga's pin #1 corresponded to the second vga's pin #5. So I unplugged their RCA ends and again tested for continuity. The red RCA ends corresponded to both vga connector's pin #1 which I thought was correct. The pin#1-to-pin#5 is a puzzle. I'll try again tonight -- maybe my hands were just unsteady. If not my hands, then my brain. Another round of testing should settle that .

I'll play around some more with the resolution and frequency settings although I think I'm running out of combinations. I'm planning to buy the FX5200 anyway as (according to my cousin) it will free up main memory that onboard vga uses. Worst case I will have to use vga cable and unplug/replug when switching to cable TV watching and maybe I can play Far Cry or an old NBA Live game and watch Indie Netflix movies which I'm into now .