Theoretical: Computer Audio Setup

I am not currently about to purchase anything, this is for my own information for when I do decide to pull the trigger. What kind of audio connection do I want to use if I am starting from stratch and have a reasonable budget? Here is what is typically available on a standard motherboard. Did I miss any? Are there any pros or cons to using a particular port?

Standard computer audio ports (up to 4) for stereo up to 7.1 surround sound.

S/PDIF Optical Toslink - What I currently use for my computer.

USB

HDMI - What do you have to do to seperate the sound from the video because I am pretty sure I don't want to use the monitors built in speakers.

Displayport - What do you have to do to seperate the sound from the video because I am pretty sure I don't want to use the monitors built in speakers.

Optical ofc.

The only con is the cables can get atrociously expensive...

^ Agree.

Go with optical. It allows you to separate any noise component out of the audio signal.

are you using your computer as your media/gaming box? you want to use a 5.1/7.2 receiver?

Evilsizer said:

are you using your computer as your media/gaming box? you want to use a 5.1/7.2 receiver?

Click to expand...

Probably for gaming and video watching. Which connector is best for 5.1/7.2 surround sound?
Is it easy to split HDMI video to a monitor and the sound to a receiver?

if you have a receiver then and your using HDMI, route it to the receiver first then to the display. alot of receivers have HDMI inputs for differnt things and one output just for the TV/monitor.

Best HDMI and optical are going to be the same quality. i would go with which ever will allow the easiest setup/minimum amount of cables. by going with the HDMI cable route, you reduce the chance of getting audio latency to what your watching. think old kung fu movies that had English audio added. unless you like watching TV shows with them talking then 1-2secs later the audio starts playing. it doesnt always happen when you have one cable for video and one for just audio, it can happen though. unless the receiver has the function to adjust the video or audio delay to match up, you cant fix it on the pc. had it happen a long time ago on my pc the only way i could fix it was using HDMI cables but my receiver didnt have this audio/video adjustment.

Some receivers (ironically, most likely with the expensive ones!) add lag so check for that. If it's enough to affect gaming experience, you can get a HDMI splitter or use a second output (mirrored) on your GPU for audio.

Don't pay extra for built in upscaling since it will add lag and your GPU has that feature built in.

Make sure that the board (and it's sound chip) support 5.1/7.1 through optical, if that's what you intend to use. Some do not, I found out.

The safer bet is HDMI, in my opinion.