How do I get 5.1 in games via home cinema amp?

[jallsey]

I now have my PC in the same room as my home cinema set-up and don't want 2 sets of 5.1 speakers in the same room obviously, therefore the inferior pc speakers/amp have to go.

On my home cinema amp I have SPDIF/Optical in or 2xRCAs, my soundcard is a X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro.

Reading up on the soundcard I can buy a plug-in that will give me an SPDIF/optical output or my motherboard has one already. Apparently if I use either of these outputs though I will only get stereo sound if I am playing games.

I presume I will have to bin the soundcard and buy another one in which case any recommendations? or is there another way around it?

[shaithis]

To get 5.1 via SPDIF you need a soundcard that supports "Dolby Digital Live".

Without that feature you would have to run 3 "analog stereo" signals to the direct line ins of the amp (if it has them).

[jallsey]

Thanks for the reply Shaithis

Are you using your Xonar through a home cinema amp?
if so do you have any problems with latency? - I read this can be a problem with Dolby Digital Live

Is your card the best one to get or do you or anyone else have any other recommendations?
(reading the review on the Xonar it mentions that it does not support EAXHD)

Was not looking to spend more than £50 really as I do most my gaming on PS3 now

[shaithis]

I do occasionally use mine through a receiver/amp but normally use headphones.....when I do pump it through the amp there is no latency that I can tell.

The Xonar I have is the best non-HDMI card that Asus do that I am aware of, although there is no need to go for that particular card.

Many of the lesser models also support DDL as well as cards from other manufacturers, there were even modified creative drivers (might be worth goggling "daniel k creative drivers") that added DDL to a number of cards that creative said were incapable of supporting the feature (marketing BS).

The Xonar range does not have full EAXHD, no, but then it sounds crystal clear compared to a creative card.....unfortunately, as far as I am aware, there is no card available that gives you every feature and has this clarity.

You have to make a concession somewhere.

[jallsey]

I have found a link to an official Creative patch that enables Dolby Digital Live & DTS connect on my card;

http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativ...DDN6Z2H2ADDEZD

The only problem is that I now need an optical output on my soundcard. Creative did an adaptor called the Soundblaster Digital I/O Module;

http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-B...B002DS2IRA.htm

But it does not seem to be available any more, can I buy a lead elsewhere that does the same thing?

[jallsey]

Paid for the Creative patch and bought one of these;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toslink-ADAP...0351371&sr=8-4

it did not work though any other ideas?

[TS || Slick]

not sure what the optical cable was for but the add in card you board on the creative webiste states:
The Digital I/O Module is an upgrade for the following sound cards1 only:

Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit
Sound Blaster Audigy Value/SE
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
Sound Blaster Audigy 4
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

and yours isnt in the list, what you do want is the front panel I/O upgrade kit, wuite hard to find though i think and make sure that has an optical output on it (should be prety obvious) the front panel kit connect internally to your soundcard via a IDE type cable, so if youve got a spare 5.25" drive then see if you can find one of those, failing that give up on the x-fi and go back to onboard optical. The software you mentioned is also a little confusing because depending on the setup of the amp you should be able to force it to 5.1 with the soundcard.