Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro Processor

I see all these connections, digital in, digital out, spidf out, digital out for 5.1 ... really...what I'm concerned about is this...I'm going to be having this connected to a reciever...5.1 speaker system (infinity primus)...what I need is to have it be able to play 5.1 in Movie mode and 2.1 in stereo...so...for spidf 5.1 mode I figure I can get an optical cord for that? is that right? and Can I have either coaxial or optical SPDIF out be for stereo? can coaxial/optical play stereo? and can I use RCAs for connecting audigy and reciever or is there only rca out?? I'm confused, I need 5.1 and 2.1 support and i'm just a lost soul swimmin in a fish bowl, lol...help meeee ahhhh

Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro On-Board Connectors

Line level out (Front / Side / Rear / Center / Subwoofer)
Digital CD Audio in
Aux Audio in
AD_Link 1 and AD_Link 2 connectors to connect with external I/O hub.
Power connector


Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro External I/O Hub Front / Rear Panel Connectors

Headphone Out (1/4" Stereo Jack)
Line In 1 (1/4" Stereo Jack , shared with Mic In with Gain Control)
Line In 2 (1/4" Stereo Jack)
Line In 3 (2x RCA Jack)
Optical SPDIF In/Out
Coaxial SPDIF In/Out
Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers)
2x FireWire® (IEEE® 1394) ports
MIDI In / Out
Infra-red Receiver to communicate with Remote Control
AD_Link 1 and AD_Link 2 connectors to connect with Audigy 4 Pro

if you run a spdif to your reciever that will be all you need. both a multi-channel signal and stereo signal can be passed down this type of connection. as a bonus, the stereo signal will be passed as a straight untouched signal (PCM iirc) to the recievers where its (probably) superior DACs will do all the decoding work.

oh, and stick with a nice 75ohm rca cord for the digital link between pc and reciever. optical/toslink is a gimmic unless you have mad interference... ie live in line site of a radio tower or something like that. think about it,.... music from the puter is in a digital format. it(the audio signal) must go thru a conversion in order to be turned into an optical signal, another uneeded conversion where loss and distortion is inevitable. its better to pass the signal straight to the DAC and avoid this situation if possible.

The_Jizzler said:

if you run a spdif to your reciever that will be all you need. both a multi-channel signal and stereo signal can be passed down this type of connection. as a bonus, the stereo signal will be passed as a straight untouched signal (PCM iirc) to the recievers where its (probably) superior DACs will do all the decoding work.

oh, and stick with a nice 75ohm rca cord for the digital link between pc and reciever. optical/toslink is a gimmic unless you have mad interference... ie live in line site of a radio tower or something like that. think about it,.... music from the puter is in a digital format. it(the audio signal) must go thru a conversion in order to be turned into an optical signal, another uneeded conversion where loss and distortion is inevitable. its better to pass the signal straight to the DAC and avoid this situation if possible.

Click to expand...

TOS/ Optical is not a gimmick it hasn't been proven to be better or worse than a Coax. There is no converstion. Think about it. If I flash a flash light to you that with a pattern for SOS and telegraph you the same pattern for SOS. At the end you still get SOS which is all that matters.