How to connect my Computer to my Sony STR DE 698

[admin_exported]

Hi All

I have just joined this forum after browsing it for months and months. Have got loads of great advice but thought it was about time i asked you knowledgable guys a question. I have set up in my room my LCD TV and a 7.1 surround sound system connected to my Amplifier. This part of the setup works fine. What i am stuck with is how to connect my computer to the Amplifier for the Audio. I dont think at the moment my computer takes full advantage of the 7.1 surround sound system. I am using a optical connection currently from my Motherboard output. Would i be better using composite connections from my Creative soundcard or is the optical connection still just as good? Any advice would be very useful please. The main reason is that when i play High Definition videos on my PC which have dolby digital 5.1 sound tracks my Amplifier should pick them up, activate a blue led on the front and play in 5.1 sound. Just have not seen it do this in agesss. Hope that all makes sense, easy to know what i mean, not as easy to write it down, lol. Anyways any help much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Chris Konopka

 

[Anonymous]

What soundcard is it? It may be that the Optical is only capable of sending out PCM 2 Channel sound and that to achieve the full 7.1 (or 5.1 for that matter) is to use the 3.5mm jack plugs I would assume you have.

If you let me know the model of soundcard, or at least the model of the PC you have I can have a look around for some better guidance for you.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, Yep no worries. My Sound Card is a Creative Fatality Gamer Professional Sound Card and i have the additional spdit in and out connections add on.

Hope this helps.

Many Thanks

Chris Konopka

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look at your soundcard settings. There may be something that controls what format(s) are sent out of the digital output; it may have got changed to stereo or the wrong format/sample rate for your amp. Or your player software may be using stereo by default and you may need to change a player setting, or pick the right soundtrack from the DVD menu. Hope one of these helps

 

[Anonymous]

It seems that the internal decoder will only output Stereo, you have to turn it off in the creative settings to use the optical connector in pass-through mode which allows an external decoder to deal with the multichannel (i.e Your Sony amp)