Question for those using digital sound?

[durex]

So I just picked up some Logitech Z5450's... which kick so much a** I can not even begin to explain. Im a bit of a novice when it comes to audio stuff and Im just realizing that as great as digital sound is for movies (which support it of course), that unless a games specifically supports dolby or dts digital output (which most do not), Ive got to switch back to using an analog connection.

The two annoyances Im left with whenever I need to swicth from analog to digital (or vice versa) is swap 1 cable on the sound card (between a coax digital and the "front channel" plug of the analog 3-set plug) and Ive got to change the output setting on my sound card to enable/disable the "Digital Output Only" setting.

Im wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the easiest way to manage these settings so that i can swap between these two modes as easily as possible.

TIA!

Edited April 15, 2006 by durex

[ripken204]

i hate u!!! hopefully i will be getting the z5500's with an xfi, but thats when i get some money.

and ur correct, almost every single game can only have surround sound thru analog

im not sure if there is anything u can do, maybe you could have some fun with autoit3 so that all u need to do is click an icon and it will set it to analog or digital.

[big poppa pump]

and ur correct, almost every single game can only have surround sound thru analog

I have surround with my digital output. So you are wrong!

It all comes down to the sound card you are using. If you continue using s***ty sound cards, especially the ones from Creative, you will always have a 2 channel output with digital. Get a good sound like the HDA X-Mystiqyue (DD5.1) or the HDA Xplosion (DTS) and you can enjoy true 5.1 digital sound

[ripken204]

for games tho?

edit: googled it and wow, i have to start looking into this

the xfi has soo mny problems with it too, and now theres this

[big poppa pump]

Yep!

Since the sound card is able to do on the fly dolby 5.1 encoding, 2 channel sounds are encoded and spit out as 5.1 sound!

[durex]

Ive got the audigy 1 and it handles digital 5.1 dobly and dts without issue.. it also handles dolby pro logic surround and "direct" 5.1 surround sound via analog channels without issue an issue either.

My question isnt if i can do surround sound... I know for a fact you cant do digital surround sound (with the card i have anyway) from games or any non dts/dobly digital source- this can only be handled using analog.

My question is whats the easiest way to swicth between these two modes.

Thanks again!

Edited April 15, 2006 by durex

[ripken204]

autoit3 is all that i can think of, u can even hotkey the file u make. u can just push f9 and it will go into digital or back to analog.

big poppa pump-ive read 2 reviews on this, do u have this card? it is apparently amazing for music and movies. with the xfi i wouldnt be able to listen to my mp3 in surround sound? is that true? but with the xplosion i can?

and for games, it will allow me to hook up using an optical cable and be in surround sound? do u know if the optical with the encoding would sound any better than the normal analog way?

[big poppa pump]

I have the HDA X-Mystique right now and trust me it makes a world of difference when playing games and music. I love this card especially when playing FPS games since I am able to pinpoint and tell where the enemies are based on the sound. The 2 channel output on the creative cards might be good, but there's s big diff between 2.1 and true 5.1. Analog 5.1 is just 2 channel output through all the 5 speakers and doesnt even come close to this. I have been spoiled by the 5.1 soundstorm since the nforce2 days and I refuse to have anything else other than true DD 5.1 on my computer.

And to answer your questions, YES! all games, mp3 and movies (all formats) are output in DD 5.1 sound. With either the coaxial or spidf output on the card you can get 5.1 sound (everything). And this blows away anything output from analog output.

I will be upgrading to the HDA-Xplosion in the next couple of months since I prefer DTS over DD 5.1. I feel that DTS adds a better punch to the sound than DD 5.1. Trust me, you wont ever regret buying this card!