What Else Do I Need To Take Full Advantage Of The Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Sound System?

>realtek onboard sound have config for u to change the line out and mic into center/sub and rear.

Like I said, most sound cards do.

SkyeHack said:

really, there is nothing wrong with analog? isn't digital suppose to be a little better or something or is there no real difference to justify it?

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unless you are a serious audiophile, there is no difference between analog and digital--it's stil gonna be DTS or DD encoded. PLUS with analog you can have your games (doom3...hl2...halo...millions of others) in 5.1 sound. with digital outs, ONLY DD/DTS can be 5.1, everything else is 2 channel (as Kane already pointed out.)

but, i do recommend getting an Audigy2. Creative has THE worst drivers on the planet but their hardware is excellent. meh. it's up to you if you want to wade through craptastic drivers to get excellent sound.

All's you need is some games to go with that!

this thread was very informative, cuz i didnt know that soundstorm doesnt allow for 5.1 sound when gaming thru the digital out. and to think i was actually saving up for a set of pc speakers with digital support!

phew good thing we saved you D.D.!

>cuz i didnt know that soundstorm doesnt allow for 5.1 sound when gaming thru the digital out.

The soundstorm does support 5.1 in games via digital out. It's the only card which does.

Kane said:

>realtek onboard sound have config for u to change the line out and mic into center/sub and rear.

Like I said, most sound cards do.

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you said no onboard did Realtek is onboard not a sound card. i was mainy correcting u saying that no onboard did.

Considering the trend of game companies moving away from EAX and creatives enviromental sound for their own 3d sound engines. It really doesnt make alot of sense to invest in an expensive sound card. Since most of it will be done on CPU anyway, (HL2, Doom 3)

in fact, most first generation 5.1 onboard sound can switch the line in/mic ports to the center/sub and rear out audio. my previous AMD mobo (A7V8X) had onboard sound that could be changed to 4/5.1 by switching the ports. my old P4 mobo with a SiS chipset can do that too. Same for my cousin's P4S800. The Soundstorm on the A7N8X (normal one) also works like that since there is only 3 audio ports on this one. the -E DX version (mine) already got the ports on the back for rear, center/sub and S/PDIF

>you said no onboard did Realtek is onboard not a sound card. i was mainy correcting u saying that no onboard did.

I never said no onboard did. You are misreading my post. I said most cards, esp. [<Especialy] onboard cards have this feature.

The soundstorm does support 5.1 in games via digital out. It's the only card which does.

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ARG????! just when i thot i had the facts someone goes and says its not >.>

i thot that when you said

Like I said, that only provides 5.1 in DTS/DD streams, like in DVDs. Everything else will be in Stereo. I have that problem.

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it meant that if i use the digial out, then 5.1 would not be possible? ><

The soundstorm (boards with the MCP-T, not nVidia boards with generic on board sound) is the only card (to my knowledge) that does the on the fly DD encoding which is needed to get 5.1 sound from a digital cable in games.
Every other card will output in stereo accross a coax or optical cable unless an AC3/DTS stream is passed through.
Creative cards from the Live 5.1 and above have a seperate custom digital output which will do 5.1 etc, but only when used with Creative speakers.
Basicaly:
If you have a soundstorm and Digital speakers, you can use the digital cable to get 5.1 in games.
If you have any other card, the digital cable will output stereo in games.
If you have a creative card and creative speakers, you can use the custom digital cable to get 5.1 in games.

ah...much clearer. so, since im on an ABIT AN7 board, i can use digital speakers and have 5.1 whenever i want.

Indeed