PC Soundcard for Onkyo 875

[admin_exported]

Hi

I have just bought a decent PC, and have connected it to the TV via the Onkyo 875 to use my 5.1 speakers for PC gaming. When I bought the PC the company said dedicated sound card was not necessary. I am not sure about the sound though - could be the games I am playing or that I really need a dedicated sound card in the PC. The motherboard is "MB-235-GI Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard". Any views on sound card, and if so which one?

Thanks

Paul

 

[indyjase]

Just a thought, but if you upgraded your graphics card to one of the ATI 5000 series you could pass audio ( handy as well for lossless i.e DTS MA ect...) to the Onkyo as well as vastly improving the gaming graphics in one go via HDMI. This would also future proof you a tad as well as keeping the cabling tidy!!!! Thanks Jase

 

[steve_1979]

Hi Paul, I've just bought a 5.1 receiver and speakers for my gaming PC too. After doing some research I've found that there are three ways to send a 5.1 audio signal from a PC to a reciever. The first two options will have the best sound quality because they use a digital signal.

1. Use an ATI 5000 series graphics card with an HDMI cable.

2. Use a sound card with an optical S/PDIF cable (if you buy a sound card get one with an S/PDIF socket).

3. Using three seperate 3.5mm jacks to phono RCA cables connected to the 3.5mm audio sockets on your PC.

This third option will have slightly lower sound quality because it uses an analog signal but it will definitly work with your motherboard without you having to upgrade anything on your PC. I've checked the specs of your motherboard and it is capable of 5.1 onboard sound processing so using option 3 will give you proper surround sound in your games without you having to buy a sound card.

www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=35540&title=how-to-connect-hifi-speakers-to-my-pc

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Indyjase.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Steve_1979 for your very helpful response.

I have 5870 card which I am using to connect via HDMI to receiver. I did not know graphics card sorted audio out as well! Will check how it has been set up but seems like I do not need a separate sound card.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Anonymous]

Im admitting something here then im getting my coat

. I have just had a new lappy and well I connected up via the headphone out and hdmi to the amp for picture decoding then my amp showed it was decoding hd audio it honestly never occured to me that it would pass audio through the hdmi just a senior moment i feel and im ona good quality twin ohono cablely 35.

I can say that passing audio through hdmi is better than through my ipod docked with apples own dock and audio passed through a twin phono cable much crisper and moore musical

 

[steve_1979]

Please let me know how you get on using a HDMI cable with your graphics card.

I have a ATI 5850 graphics card and would like to use the HDMI method myself but the cheap Yamaha receiver I'm using can't receive audio via it's HDMI socket.

I will probley upgrade it soon when I get a bit of spare money.

 

[007L2Thrill]

IV got an ATI 5870 and the onkyo 875 and use the HDMI for BLU RAY and video files and for games I use an X-FI titanium sound card and use optical lead to my onkyo and use Dolby digital live software that's supplied and then it outputs 5.1 EAX 5.0 sound.