Combining 5.1 headset with my computer

[RikuoAmero]

Alright, I feel like spending some dough and getting surround sound on my computer. When I say the following sentence, feel free to call me an idiot: I already have a 5.1 speaker kit, its analog, but I want to upgrade for two reasons: first, my bedroom is tiny, so there's nowhere for me to put all my speakers; second, the sound is coming through the analog ports that are connected to my motherboard, as I don't have a sound card.

Okay I've been looking at the Triton AXPRO

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4312754&csid=_21

and it does light a fire in my belly.

However, the problem I just know I'm gonna have is that all my sound on my computer is being processed throug the motherboard. I flicked through Amazon and saw this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Labs-Sound-Blaster-Surround/dp/B0042RUEQW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1294652083&sr=8-7

and it sounds perfect for me. Its USB which is great, since I don't have a spare slot on my motherboard for a sound card.

However, once I looked at this page

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-System-SB1240/dp/B004275EO4/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1294654445&sr=8-10,

it said that the device doesn't support EAX, which I've noticed is in some of my games but I've never been able to select.

So...do any of you guys know of a device that

1) Decodes and processes at least 5.1 Dolby Digital

2) Is pretty much a USB version of a PCI-E sound card?

3) Has Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit drivers?

Or will I be wasting my time and money with a device, and should I just stick with the headset, and go optical from my motherboard to optical on the headset?

[Asch]

Well, about the creative sound card you referred at last, its a X-Fi series card, so it should support EAX,

about others, I don't think, you need a dedicated sound card, Realtek 889 is pretty sufficient(Presuming you have same,its common on high end motherboards), itself, and supports Dolby Digital decoding of 5.1 channel content, as far as external goes,

I would recommend this one :

http://7902de93.linkbucks.com/url/http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Labs-Sound-Blaster-Surround/dp/B0042RUEQW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1294652083&sr=8-7

[RikuoAmero]

Well, about the creative sound card you referred at last, its a X-Fi series card, so it should support EAX,

about others, I don't think, you need a dedicated sound card, Realtek 889 is pretty sufficient(Presuming you have same,its common on high end motherboards), itself, and supports Dolby Digital decoding of 5.1 channel content, as far as external goes,

I would recommend this one :

http://7902de93.linkbucks.com/url/http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Labs-Sound-Blaster-Surround/dp/B0042RUEQW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1294652083&sr=8-7

No it doesn't, if you scroll down the page on the second link I gave, there's a chart with three devices, the first looks like a thumb drive, the X-Fi Go Pro. I think it literally is a USB sound card, as Amazon said there were some people buying that plus this

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044DEDCA

If I'm thinking along the correct lines, what I might end up doing is

1) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044DEDC0 - The X-FI Go Pro. The computer will use this to decode Dolby Digital, just like a full sound card.

2) Then, the computer will take back the audio data, and I'll output the sound through another USB to this device

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044DEDCA, which will go optical cable to the Tritton AXPRO headset.

Or...maybe I'll skip step 2, use the X-FI Go Pro, then output through optical from motherboard to the headset...FUCK, this is so confusing!

[Asch]

Hmm...I don't know, if a external sound card allows you to use your mother boards i/o, loop back is needed, will increase latency, and can....maybe...cause...slight loss in quality, also, and that sound card itself has a optical out, so no need to use "via" motherboard. I also don't think that you can select 2 audio card to distribute the work of encoding, etc etc.

P.S. Did you check what is your onboard audio card ??

[RikuoAmero]

Hmm...I don't know, if a external sound card allows you to use your mother boards i/o, loop back is needed, will increase latency, and can....maybe...cause...slight loss in quality, also, and that sound card itself has a optical out, so no need to use "via" motherboard. I also don't think that you can select 2 audio card to distribute the work of encoding, etc etc.

P.S. Did you check what is your onboard audio card ??

I've got Realtek High Definition Audio. On the front of my computer is the standard microphone and headphone jacks, and on the back is both an optical digital out (can handle up to 7.1), and 7.1 analog out with microphone. Plus there's the HDMI out on my Radeon HD 5770: that's another 7.1, although I doubt I could ever actually 3x 7.1 all at the same time! ^^ Apart from the HDMI, I consider all those connectors to be motherboard, so that's what I meant.

What I really want is a device that is pretty much just a USB version of a Creative sound card, so I can select EAX in my games, and then output from that device with an optical cable to the Tritton AXPro headset. As far as I can remember, I can't put in a sound card...at least I'm 99% sure on that. I remember when I put in the 5770 noting that I only had the one PCI-E slot, but maybe I'm misremembering, and I was thinking there was only the one PCI-E x16; the smaller PCI-E slots that are meant for other cards are smaller right?

Edit: I've done some research, and a x1 PCI-E 32-bit slot is supposed to handle 250mb/sec of data. If I was to get a Creative sound card, it would need that speed. The reason a USB device with all of a sound card's features is because its too slow: at minimum it would need the maximum of a 2.0 USB connection speed, 480mb/sec, and I have yet to see an actual device that is said to be at that speed. I suppose its theoretically possible, but hey, I'm no sound card engineer...

Last Edit: Well, some more research done. Unless someone else out there knows of a Creative USB device that does EAX 5.0 with an optical out, I've decided to get the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty sound card; provided that I actually have a PCI-E x1 slot, which I'll find out tomorrow after work, not gonna open up my computer now, its the middle of the fucking night...good night y'all!

[s0teric]

Well, some more research done. Unless someone else out there knows of a Creative USB device that does EAX 5.0 with an optical out, I've decided to get the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty sound card; provided that I actually have a PCI-E x1 slot

yeah I was about to say... why not just take out the old sound card and put in a new one... lol

[Anjel]

I had the same issue and bought myself a pair of the bose c-2's from a guy on ebay named Ron Harding...it is all he sells...they are used, but guaranteed and if anything is recorded in 5.1 under audio device, they are AWESOME!! If anything happens to them, cosmetic included, Bose will fix or replace them for something like $100...I must say that the noise cancelling feature is the greatest thing in headphones, ever...and if you happen to pull on the cord too hard...it connects at the earpiece instead of yanking it out of your pc...which I have done numerous times...they run on a AAA battery in the right earpiece...they really are wonderful and if you buy them used well, let's say, I won't ever need to and if somehow I fry these I can just send them off to Bose to be replaced for next to nothing as far as the cost of a new pair...but good luck either way you go!

Now, I got one for you guys to help me with....I start up my pc...desktop is lovely, I click anything and the screen goes black for 3 to 4 seconds and comes back up in the hugest setting in computer land...and when I go back to desktop, all is well, til I click another program or try to go online...as a matter of fact..i am not on my pc at the moment over this bs...I have had the pc scanned and it asked for the disk...but when I put in the disc from Dell, my pc says it is the wrong cd or my cd drive is nonfunctional...it is def. functional...I can't access the disc through explorer and don't know how to figure out how to reinstall my video drivers...anyone gotta clue? I am not wiping this pc again...what a pain in my ars...lol Thanks guys, I know I can count on you guys to help me out and can someone tell me WTF is going on with BLEACH? Those SOB's....I knew it was gonna happen when they sold the sub franchise...I hate BS and Fillt:beat_brick:

[RikuoAmero]

Okay I've checked my computer out, and I have two PCI-E x1 slots. It'll be difficult to put in a sound card, but should be doable. Thanks guys. Koby, can you close this thread please?