Will this work for DD 5.1 sound?

[JoeDaddy]

Could I connect this to a DD 5.1 home audio reciever and get true Dolby Digital 5.1 sound?

Here's the link

 

[Pariah]

If your receiver has 5.1 analog inputs you could, but if you have a DD receiver, what would you want with this thing?

 

[JoeDaddy]

<< but if you have a DD receiver, what would you want with this thing? >>



Because you can connect this to your computer via USB.
Which would mean that you could output 5.1 via DVD to your DD 5.1 reciever, right?

 

[MasterHoss]

Yes, you can connect it to your digital out jack on your sound card. So first of all, your card has to have a digital out or SPDIF out connection. Then if your card support SPDIF pass thru, you'll be in business.

To get 5.1 DD sound watching DVDs, your software DVD player will have to have the ability to also support SPDIF pass thru

 

[JoeDaddy]

<< Yes, you can connect it to your digital out jack on your sound card >>



Ok maybe i'm an idiot, but I thought that the device was a sound card?

Is there not such a thing as a usb sound card?

 

[MasterHoss]

Hmm, I've never heard of a USB sound card. Even if one exists (which I doubt), you'd be asking for trouble using USB...a USB audio card would suck up so much bandwidth from the other USB devices you may be running.

Anyway, if you don't have a newer sound card that supports or has that digital out, you can always go to RadioShack and pick up some 1/8&quot; mini jack to RCA plug adaptors, then you can buy a male to male RCA cable and connect, the decoder to the sound card via the line out connections on your sound card (although I don't think that'll give you 5.1 surround sound).

 

[JoeDaddy]

<< a USB audio card would suck up so much bandwidth from the other USB devices you may be running >>



This would be the only usb device. My problem is that I'm trying to use these very small micro-atx cases, and full height sound cards, (SB live 5.1,hercules,etc) won't fit. So my options are limited.

Its either this device or get the MSI micro-atx nForce board whenever it comes out.

But even then I'm not sure if it does 5.1 or not. Their webpage only says 5.1 encoder.

 

[Sugadaddy]

First of all, that thing isn't a hardware Dolby Digital decoder, it uses WinDVD for decoding and outputs 5 channels. Also, if you have a Dolby Digital receiver/decoder, you should be using that to decode AC3, and not software... All you need is any sound card that has spdif output, and a software DVD player that will output the undecoded AC3 stream to your decoder. I'm sure there's a sound card out there that'll fit in your case, and it'll also be cheaper than that USB thing.

edit-- I'm not sure, but maybe you can find a mobo that has spdif with the onboard sound... Never seen one though.

 

[Sugadaddy]

Wait a second!!!

Most motherboards with onboard sound DO have spdif out. It's not in the form of a 1/8&quot; mini jack in the back with the other ports, but it's on the board itself. (it looks like a 4-pin CD-rom audio cable plug, but I think it's 3 pins, at least that's what my mobo manual says...) You could simply use the onboard sound chip from a mobo, and use the spdif out to your receiver to pass the AC3 stream. All you have to find is a cable that hooks to the board and has a normal RCA plug on the other end.

Can someone confirm that this would work??

 

[Sugadaddy]

here's what you would need, if I'm right...


get it here(it's under products\cables\audio cables and cable kits,model CA20, costs a big 2$)


This bracket has left and right outputs, but the AC3 stream would come out of only one of the two... You'd just have to hook up an ordinary coaxial cable from that thing to your receiver...

 

[BCYL]

Why not just get a RealMagic Hollywood+ DVD decoder card? It will decode DVD video for you (so save some CPU cycles), and the card has SPDIF out... connect that SPDIF out to a Dolby Digital receiver and you will have true 5.1 surround sound... no software decoding necessary... And right now, the Hollywood+ card can probably be had for $50-60US... And this card comes with TV-out too, so you can output the video to a TV if you want...

I currently have this setup running in my room, and I love it! much cheaper than a stand-alone DVD player, and I dont have to mess with buying software DVD players...

 

[JoeDaddy]

<< Why not just get a RealMagic Hollywood+ DVD decoder card? >>



I do have one, I got one brand new from RML for $25 shipped. Problem is that it is a full height card, and these very small micro-atx cases I am trying to use only accept half height cards.

Sugadaddy: Thanks for the help, i'm off to check out that link