[Omlet]

I currently have a Striker 7.1 sound card and a Samsung HT-XQ100 home theater system, which are connected via optical cable. I'd like to output 5.1 surround sound while playing audio files, but since S/PDIF is only 2-channel I'd have to get a receiver that can take those 2-channels and output to 5.1, correct?

 

[Rian]

S/PDIF can output 5.1....

And most receivers should be able to take 2 channel audio and upscale it to 5.1, at least that is the case in my experience.

 

[axipher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omlet

I currently have a Striker 7.1 sound card and a Samsung HT-XQ100 home theater system, which are connected via optical cable. I'd like to output 5.1 surround sound while playing audio files, but since S/PDIF is only 2-channel I'd have to get a receiver that can take those 2-channels and output to 5.1, correct?

That is correct, since S/PDIF supports 2 channels of uncompresed audio, or a 5.1 compressed source (Dolby, etc.) you are limited to sending a 2-channel signal to your reciever when playing most media or games that don't have Dolby built-in. You would require a reciever with something like "5-channel stereo" or "Virtual Surround" wher it can convert the 2-channel input in to 5 channels. I love my Denon's 2808 amp with THX Neural Surround, does an amazing job of up-mixing stereo to 5.1.

 

[Omlet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rian

S/PDIF can output 5.1....

And most receivers should be able to take 2 channel audio and upscale it to 5.1, at least that is the case in my experience.

From what I was told, S/PDIF will only pass 2-channel if uncompressed, but a decoder can change it to 5.1 +. If that's the case, I'd simply run the able from the sound card to the receiver and an additional cable from the receiver to the home theater system, correct?

Sorry if I came across rather vague.

 

[Omlet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axipher

That is correct, since S/PDIF supports 2 channels of uncompresed audio, or a 5.1 compressed source (Dolby, etc.) you are limited to sending a 2-channel signal to your reciever when playing most media or games that don't have Dolby built-in. You would require a reciever with something like "5-channel stereo" or "Virtual Surround" wher it can convert the 2-channel input in to 5 channels. I love my Denon's 2808 amp with THX Neural Surround, does an amazing job of up-mixing stereo to 5.1.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Rian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axipher

That is correct, since S/PDIF supports 2 channels of uncompresed audio, or a 5.1 compressed source (Dolby, etc.) you are limited to sending a 2-channel signal to your reciever when playing most media or games that don't have Dolby built-in. You would require a reciever with something like "5-channel stereo" or "Virtual Surround" wher it can convert the 2-channel input in to 5 channels. I love my Denon's 2808 amp with THX Neural Surround, does an amazing job of up-mixing stereo to 5.1.

Ah there we go

 

[axipher]

No problem, always glad to help

 

[Omlet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axipher

No problem, always glad to help

I just wanted to follow up with some information I found. Apparently, the HT-XQ100 has built-in decoding for DTS and DD (link). If that's the case, I'm puzzled as to why I can't seem to get any sort of surround sound while playing music.

I'm not sure if this would be considered relevant, but I tried playing a DTS file to see if I could indeed get surround sound, but all I got was static. I'm sure I've got the correct codecs, so I'm thinking that perhaps that home theater system isn't actually decoding.

If it helps, below is an image of the Striker 7.1 control panel and the current settings:

 

[Darren9]

It looks like it should work with a DTS encoder on the soundcard (Neo-PC is an upmixer and Interactive is an encoder), the virtual 7.1 doesn't add anything to a 5.1 system I'd maybe remove it (at least while your getting it going). Have you set 6 channels in Windows?

Edit - Also ProLogic (II) is an upmixer? Are you sure you can't set your reciever to upmix stereo?

 

[Omlet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren9

It looks like it should work, the virtual 7.1 doesn't add anything to a 5.1 system I'd maybe remove it (at least while your getting it going). Have you set 6 channels in Windows?

Actually, I believe I just figured it out: I had Digital Output set as my default playback rather than Speakers. I went ahead and set Speakers to default and configured them for 5.1.