I'm looking into upgrading my gaming PC speakers to a full surround sound system to use with Windows 7 and FSX.

I want to get a regular surround system, probably 5.1 surround sound, that is intended for use with a TV and use it with my PC. I plan on connecting it to my PC by using a cable like this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16882123074

 

The dual RCA connection on the end would go to the surround sound system, and the 3.5mm jack would go into the headphone jack of the PC.

 

Then I would set my audio control panel to output in 5.1 surround. Would this idea work?

 

Does anyone have a recommendation of the best gaming pc surround sound system?

Keep in mind your PC will only provide two audio channels (L & R) of input--a 5.1 system uses 5 channels (front L-R-center, and rear L-R). So make sure your HT receiver can synthesize pseudo-5.1 signals to your speakers. And a line-level output is what you want rather than a headphone jack.

 

I use a Creative XFi Titanium HD audio card (PCI Express version), and run a single fiber optic TOSLINK cable from the audio card to the SPDIF input on a Yamaha home theater receiver. That carries both audio channels to the receiver, which has a "7 Channel Enhancer" mode that will synthesize outputs for all five channels plus a subwoofer for a pseudo-surround sound that works very well for FS.

 

I use good quality consumer-grade bookshelf speakers--a pair of Klipsch KB-15 bookshelf speakers in front plus the center speaker from a set of Polk Audio TL350s (the other four went into my motor home), a pair of Polk Audio T15s for the rear speakers, and a Polk Audio 12" 100W powered subwoofer. The HT receiver is a Yamaha RX-V467. With the exception of the sound card, I bought every other component deeply discounted off the "open box" rack at the local Best Buy stores over the course of six months or so.

 

A pair of decent bookshelf speakers plus a decent powered subwoofer works much better than any of the made-for-PC setups I've seen. The rear and center speakers are a nice-to-have for a more consistent sound field, but not truly necessary. Both my Klipsch and Polk bookshelf speakers use 5.25" drivers and would be quite usable without a subwoofer, but the subwoofer's low-range does add a convincing rumble effect when using the better add-on sound sets.

 

Regards

Keep in mind your PC will only provide two audio channels (L & R) of input--a 5.1 system uses 5 channels (front L-R-center, and rear L-R).

 

If the game, video or audio source provides surround sound, then the PC can output it to a surround sound stereo system. This requires a sound card that supports the Dolby Digital Live, or similar, function if you are using a TOSLINK cable.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Digital#Dolby_Digital_Live

 

DTS Connect is another option.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS_(sound_system)#DTS_Connect

 

Many recent sound cards support one or both of these technologies, including many on-board audio cards and some of Creative's X-Fi cards. Here is the software that Creative provides for some of the X-Fi cards.

 

http://software.store.creative.com/software/dolby-digital-live-and-dts-connect-pack/106-18034.aspx

 

Or as the OP is proposing, you connect the individual surround sound outputs on the PC to the appropriate inputs on a receiver (if the receiver supports this), and off you go.

 

For the best quality audio, the speaker suggestions above are going to out perform all dedicated PC speaker systems. Of course, this assumes that the audio being sent to the speakers is also good quality. Low bitrate MP3 files aren't really going to sound any better on a high end system compared to a low end one, for example.

Keep in mind your PC will only provide two audio channels (L & R) of input--a 5.1 system uses 5 channels (front L-R-center, and rear L-R). So make sure your HT receiver can synthesize pseudo-5.1 signals to your speakers. And a line-level output is what you want rather than a headphone jack.

 

Regards

 

Most modern Motherboards that have onboard sound, and all but the lowest end Audio cards, have 5.1 sound outputs. FSX supports 5.1 sound as well, so I do not see why this is made out to be so complicated. No need for any "synthesize pseudo-5.1".

 

I can't remember when I last saw a gaming computer with just a single Stereo Audio output.

Most modern Motherboards that have onboard sound, and all but the lowest end Audio cards, have 5.1 sound outputs. FSX supports 5.1 sound as well, so I do not see why this is made out to be so complicated. No need for any "synthesize pseudo-5.1".

 

The part that can make it complicated is when one is hooking the PC up to an receiver, as not all receivers have multiple inputs to connect those 5.1 outputs on the PC to. This is where you need to use the optical or digital output on the PC sound card, which leads to needs requiring the Dolby Digital features for surround sound.

The part that can make it complicated is when one is hooking the PC up to an receiver, as not all receivers have multiple inputs to connect those 5.1 outputs on the PC to. This is where you need to use the optical or digital output on the PC sound card, which leads to needs requiring the Dolby Digital features for surround sound.

 

Exactly...I have two Yamaha home theater receivers (one for my FSX rig, one in my living room HTS), and neither has analog inputs for 5.1 or 7.1 audio. They both need either a coaxial or TOSLINK (optical) cable, or alternatively audio on an HDMI cable. I've never tried using the audio device on my video card to run digital audio via HDMI to the receiver, but in theory there should be a way to do that.

 

Regards

 

Exactly...I have two Yamaha home theater receivers (one for my FSX rig, one in my living room HTS), and neither has analog inputs for 5.1 or 7.1 audio. They both need either a coaxial or TOSLINK (optical) cable, or alternatively audio on an HDMI cable. I've never tried using the audio device on my video card to run digital audio via HDMI to the receiver, but in theory there should be a way to do that.

 

Regards

 

You should still be able to have 5.1 surround sound sent to the receivers over coaxial or TOSLINK. Pretty sure your X-Fi card supports Dolby Digital Live.

 

HDMI works quite well too, and needs fewer cables. This is how I had my HTPC hooked up.

You should still be able to have 5.1 surround sound sent to the receivers over coaxial or TOSLINK. Pretty sure your X-Fi card supports Dolby Digital Live.

 

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I use DTS Connect and TOSLINK here. But the OP may have a hard time with analog cables.

To expand on this a little further, FSX only generates a two-channel stereo signal, no matter what kind of audio device you have in your PC. If you want to use four or five or seven speakers, some component in your sound system has to take those two channels and either duplicate them or synthesize new ones. That can often be done in the PC--for example with the onboard Realtek audio chips you can often map the front channels to the rear ports, or with a dedicated audio card like the XFi you can use something like DTS Neo to create a full set of 5.1 or 7.1 pseudo-surround channels. It can also be done externally in many home theater receivers--the Yamahas call it "7 channel enhanced mode" for example. But any way you do it, FSX itself is not generating anything more complex than a simple stereo signal.

 

If you use the sound card's capability to create an artificial 4/5/7-channel signal, then you have to either run multiple pairs of 1/8" stereo plug-to-RCA cables (and most modern HT receivers won't take multiple analog cables as an input) or multiplex the channels onto a single digital cable, which can be coaxial (a regular copper RCA-RCA cable), TOSLINK/fiber optic, or HDMI, depending on what your PC's sound device and your receiver will support. Also keep in mind that usually, audio signal processing done by the sound card is really being done by the CPU, which could have a minor effect on FSX performance, although in most multi-core machines you'd be hard-pressed to see a difference.

 

One additional consideration I forgot to mention is that some modes like Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect may make it necessary to control volume with the receiver's volume controls. In my case, if I send the signal to the receiver as a 2-channel stereo signal via an analog cable pair or the XFi's digital output, I can control the volume with the PC's normal sound controls. With DDL/DTS, at least in the case of the XFi, I have to use the receiver's volume knob or remote. The receiver also gives me better control over the audio, with features like automatic compensation for speaker positioning, subwoofer crossover frequency control etc.

 

In short, there are lots of ways to skin this cat. With the higher quality add-on aircraft and/or quality add-on sound sets, it's worth the trouble.

 

Cheers

Wow! This sounds complicated! But it does seem worth it. Thanks for the replies. Now, I know that some receivers use and HDMI cable. Can someone explain this to me. I don't understand the need for an HDMI cable. The stereo isn't inputting or outputting any video, so why use HDMI?

 

I'll also add that I know hardly anything about audio. I've never really researched it at all. So, things like TOSLINK and DTS connect might need more explaining. Sorry. I need to know the most reliable best quality way to hook up a 5.1 surround sound system. I'm not really even sure what kind of sound card I have either. I know it has Realtek audio though.

 

I also get confused on how to hook everything up to the receiver. Does the receiver has slots for center, left, right, rear left, rear right, and subwoofer to hook up to? Does anyone have a picture of their setup? That would be helpful. Thanks.

What are the specs of your sound card? Note that it may be built into your motherboard, so include the motherboard model too is needed. And similarly, what amp or receiver will you be connecting to?

 

HDMI is intended for situations where you want to send both audio and video to the receiver. With many home entertainment setups, one would run all audio and video sources (Xbox, came box, HTPC etc.) to the receiver. The receiver would then send the video to the TV, and process and send the audio to the speakers.

 

The reason for talking about HDMI, TOSLINK and coaxial connections is that not all home theatre receivers have analog surround sound inputs. You have to use one of the digital options.

To expand on this a little further' date=' FSX only generates a two-channel stereo signal, no matter what kind of audio device you have in your PC.[/quote']

 

FSX does support 5.1 surround sound audio. Things like the engine sounds will be sent to the rear channels. The aircraft has to provide the correct audio files though. Can't remember if the default aircraft make use of this, but some add-ons do.

FSX does support 5.1 surround sound audio. Things like the engine sounds will be sent to the rear channels. The aircraft has to provide the correct audio files though. Can't remember if the default aircraft make use of this, but some add-ons do.

 

I've pored over the FSX SDK and other references, and I can't find anything to support this. The panning control has a range from -10000 (left) to 10000 (right), with no mention of any kind of fader (front-to-back) controls. FSX will operate with 5.1 audio set--but only insofar as it produces a left and right channel. If you want rear or center signals, it has to be done outside FSX (i.e. in the sound driver) as far as I can tell. Now there are some add-ons that make use of non-FS aftermarket sound modules (Bryan York's FS2Audio comes immediately to mind), but that is sound generated by a third-party add-on and not by FSX itself.

 

If you've got some references to the contrary, I'd be interested in seeing it. I'd love to fade my engine sounds on a few acft to the rear channels.

 

Regards

Wow! This sounds complicated! But it does seem worth it. Thanks for the replies. Now, I know that some receivers use and HDMI cable. Can someone explain this to me. I don't understand the need for an HDMI cable. The stereo isn't inputting or outputting any video, so why use HDMI?

 

I'll also add that I know hardly anything about audio. I've never really researched it at all. So, things like TOSLINK and DTS connect might need more explaining. Sorry. I need to know the most reliable best quality way to hook up a 5.1 surround sound system. I'm not really even sure what kind of sound card I have either. I know it has Realtek audio though.

 

I also get confused on how to hook everything up to the receiver. Does the receiver has slots for center, left, right, rear left, rear right, and subwoofer to hook up to? Does anyone have a picture of their setup? That would be helpful. Thanks.

 

One good reason for using HDMI is that you probably already have a video card with an HDMI out port. That might save you the need for an audio card to get a multichannel signal to the receiver.

 

TOSLINK (I think it actually stands for Toshiba Link) is the standard fiber-optic cable connection for A/V components.

 

DTS Connect is a two-part system for taking audio from a PC to a HT receiver that can decode a DTS digital signal. DTS Interactive is the first part, a CODEC (coder/decoder) which takes an analog audio signal and converts it to the 24-bit 48kHz DTS digital format that can be carried over a digital cable and decoded by a DTS-capable HT receiver (most of them are DTS capable). DTS Neo:PC is the second part, which takes a 2-channel stereo signal and synthesizes a 7.1 channel "pseudo-surround" signal.

 

You don't necessarily need DTS...the standard S/PDIF format that CD/DVD players use for audio works pretty much universally. If a device has a digital output or input, it almost certainly supports S/PDIF.

 

Most receivers do not have separate analog (i.e. RCA) inputs for 5 or 7 channels on the back. Mine have HDMI, TOSLINK, and digital coaxial inputs, as well as a couple standard two-channel stereo inputs. Any signal with more than two channels has to go to the receiver on a digital cable. My Creative XFi Titanium HD has an optical port that takes a 3.5mm mini TOSLINK plug...the cable has a 3.55mm mini connector on one end and a standard TOSLINK square-D connector on the other--that plugs into the AV1 input on my receiver. In the Creative Control Panel I can select S/PDIF, Dolby Digital Live, or DTS formats.

 

The receiver has 7 speaker-out connections plus a subwoofer line-level output that goes to a separately powered subwoofer.

 

Clear as mud?

Bob,

 

I'm very sure FSX has native discrete channel surround sound through DirectSound. If your speaker set-up is correctly identified in the windows settings, and not all that useless garbage flashy-UI junk most sound-cards ship with nowadays, you will get a discrete channel surround environment out of FSX. I haven't perused through the SDK at all, so I can't be absolutely sure, but I'm very confident I get true surround sound out of FSX.

 

You can verify this is working correctly if you have the 'voice' set up to your default/surround speakers in FSX, and your speakers correctly matching (in Windows' sound options) your set-up. When using FSX's built-in ATC, all the ATC audio should be discretely audible only from your front-center channel.

 

Sound is a big issue for me (kinda nerdy-audiophileish), and I have all of that fake-surround sound stuff uninstalled or disabled. I figure if something is only playing in stereo, then it was mixed/meant to be heard only in stereo, not that (for me) ear-splitting joke of surround that these fake CMSS/Matrix/THXpander/Dolby Headphone/Pro Logic modes produce. In many (including the default aircraft), I get a surround sound environment. This is especially evident when FSX AI traffic is taxing behind me at a gate or something for example. Also, when in spot view, the majority of sound (in the default Cessna for example), is audible through the center channel.

 

PMDG's J41 for example, runs the engine sounds almost entirely out of the aft left/right speakers for me when in the cockpit. In fact, there is an issue where users who have defined 5.1 systems in their windows configs, yet only have 2-channel set-ups, have not heard the engine sounds at all within FSX. This could be a result of a third-party sound module like you mentioned, but the fact I hear AI traffic sounds discretely through surround channels and FSX ATC leads me to believe FSX itself is capable of true surround sound.

 

I'm not familiar with the SDK like I mentioned above, but perhaps fire off a PM to PMDG's Tabs or someone like that asking for a little heads up on how the sound stuff works. I'm very confident that FSX will produce a discrete surround sound environment if correctly set-up both on the users' side of thing within the aircraft files themselves.

 

This will not work though with people trying to get surround sound to a home-theatre receiver over something like TOSLINK or digital coax. As mentioned above, applications that natively support DTSConnect and such like that actually send their audio as a DTS coded stream (with compatible hardware); as would your DVD for example, for decoding at the receiver-end of things. FSX simply has it's audio channels defined and working through DirectSound. There is no consumer product out there (that I'm aware of) to allow you take a discrete channel DirectSound output straight from an application, to a surround sound live encoded stream (like AC3/DTS) through SPDIF, for decoding at the receiver end...and certainly not without a significant amount of latency introduced.

 

Those sending their computer audio through SPDIF are actually only hearing a 2-channel PCM encoded audio stream, which is really just a representation of the analogue wave-form and can be reproduced/transmitted with little latency/quality loss...and the expense of bandwidth available over the digital audio interface.

 

The only way to get true discrete surround sound from your computer to a home theatre receiver is through analog outputs on your computer for each individual channel.

 

EDIT:

 

I've started perusing the SDK documentation, and I can verify what Bobs saying regarding the only things mentioned being Full Left (-10,000) and Full Right (10,000). I swear though that at the very least external environment sounds being discrete. The only other place I can think of to shed a little lime-light on this is through searching DirectSound on MSDN.