SPDIF to Dolby Digital Receiver

[WooDaddy]

It seems that there are more and more soundcard that have coax or optical SPDIF outputs. If you have a compatible 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, n.1 computer speaker set, I'm assuming that it decodes this audio data appropiately. Question is, what standard is it and is it compatible with AC-3 Dolby digital formats (5.1, 5.1DTS, 6.1, etc)? I would love to be able to connect my SPDIF output directly to my receiver and know it's interpreting it correctly.

 

[Howard]

You might get a quicker and more accurate response if you posted in General Hardware.

From what I know, the S/P-DIF sends a 2-channel PCM signal unless a codec like DD or DTS is used, in which case the compressed data is sent. The receiver should be able to handle both modes.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I have a Chaintech AV-710 and if I play an mp3 or something, it sends PCM out to my receiver. I can select 44.1kHz output, 48kHz, or in Hi sample rate, I can output a 96kHz signal.

When I play something that was encoded with DD sound, it outputs AC3 to my receiver. My HK AVR-325 recognizes this and expands is to DD EX. (I have AC3 filter on my computer)

I haven't tried a DTS track on the card yet, so I can't tell you what happens with that.