will this work to get 5.1 surround sound?

[Cyborg]

5.1 Game Console Adapter Convert Rca Plugs To A Single 1/8
http://www.shopblt.com/cgi-bin/shop...011004001509_BG52643P.shtml&order_id=!ORDERID!

In case you wonder what I'm trying to do:
I have a nice subwoofer with 2 front, two rear and 1 center speaker connected to it.
My wife used it to listen to a cd player that can be plugged in with two rca plugs.
I have a wire with a small stereo to two rca connection and tried it and it works.
It obviously only works with the two front speakers, since I would need more of those small stereo connectors connected to it.
If I buy this adapter, will the center and rear channels also work?
Or do you know of a better solution/different adapter?
And no, I'm not interested in buying a better soundcard and/or a new speaker system.

 

[Nhut Pham]

It probably will work, but you're not really getting 5.1 surround sound, which I think you already know.

There's no way to get actual 5.1 surround from a stereo source, you can only multiply the 2 front channels to the back and make a virtual center channel. So if your goal is to just have more speakers but still basically have stereo sound, then you should be able to do that.

This isn't for your computer? The motherboard listed in your sig has 5.1 and 7.1 audio configurations...

 

[Cyborg]

This isn't for your computer? The motherboard listed in your sig has 5.1 and 7.1 audio configurations...

Yes it is for my computer, I thought I'd connect the three stereo plugs from my computer to this device and then the two audio plugs to the subwoofer.
Why would the subwoofer have all these speakers connected to it and only two input audio plugs, if surround sound doesn't work with it?

 

[Nhut Pham]

Okay let me get this all straight.

You have a computer with the three 1.8mm jacks going out, and an amplified subwoofer/speaker system with 2 red and white RCA jacks going in. You want to buy this adapter you linked to in order to convert between the computer's outputs to the speaker system's inputs and you would like to know if you will get 5.1 surround sound.

Well, the adapter you linked to is meant to go the other way. It takes a stereo source through the RCA jacks and basically splices the wires in order to simulate surround sound by giving sound to the extra speakers. You can't get true 5.1 surround sound from a stereo source, only from a source that specifies the sound for each of the speakers which would be from optical, coaxial, HDMI, or the three 1.8mm jack connections.

So if you have this 5.1 surround sound system, it's likely it has another connection besides the red and white RCA jacks. It could be an optical plug, coaxial plug (looks like a single RCA jack), or it has HDMI.

Your computer likely can connect through one of these three methods, your mobo has optical and coaxial output, and you can hook up the SPDIF from your motherboard to your video card to get audio through HDMI. You would only do this if your speaker system has pass through you can hook up the HDMI to your display also.

 

[Cyborg]

Thank you for the explanation, now I understand.
Nope, the speaker system doesn't have any other connection
I tried to connect the speakers separately to small stereo plugs and plug them into the computer, but that doesn't work.
I guess they need to be amplified.
Now I'll have to think about three other possible solutions.

1. leave the subwoofer and two front speakers connected the way they are and buy an extra set of computer speakers to plug into the rear port of the computer.

2. use the 5 speakers and subwoofer that I have and get a cheap amplifier between them and the computer.

3. buy a cheap 5.1 system, like the one from SoundBlaster.

What do you think? would any of these three methods work?

 

[Nhut Pham]

That's so strange, the subwoofer has outputs labeled as center, front and rear speakers?

I don't think I've ever come across a 5.1 system that only has stereo inputs. Even stranger would be if you hooked up the stereo input and it would only play through the front speakers if this was the only input. Do you have the make/model of the speaker system?

For those three methods, method one would require you to buy speakers and you would end up with 4.1 surround sound. Method two would work, you would probably be hooking up audio through the optical port, but I don't know how cheap you can get an amplifier like this, also you would need to know the power ratings of your speakers before you could start looking into this.

I would personally go with the last option, assuming your speaker system really only has that one stereo input. You can actually find 5.1 computer speaker systems for under 50 bux these days, though they aren't the strongest speakers, particularly for the sub. I use a cheaper creative 5.1 set I won in a company drawing, it works great for a bedroom environment but I don't think it would fare so well for a living room.

 

[Cyborg]

This http://www.walmart.com/ip/Durabrand...1-Home-Theater-Speaker-System-HT-3917/4810671 is the system.
It IS advertised as 5.1 and if you look at the "connections", it shows 2X Audio line in.
I was looking around a bit and figured when the time comes, I'll go with the Logitech X 540 system.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Cyborg]

Got the X 540 system today and really love it.
There are only two things that I wish would be different.
The cables for the speakers should be longer and the remote should be wireless. Gosh, this is the 21st century, I didn't even know that wired remotes still exist.

 

[Nhut Pham]

well, in a desktop pc situation wired makes sense in order to have a headphone jack, I guess most people with HTPC setups would be using wireless keyboard/mouse/home stereo etc.

Glad to see you're happy with your speakers, I checked out your other thread with your recent build it looks like you have a kick *** setup going there!

 

[Cyborg]

well, in a desktop pc situation wired makes sense in order to have a headphone jack,

unless you already have that and a mic jack on the front panel of your case

Glad to see you're happy with your speakers, I checked out your other thread with your recent build it looks like you have a kick *** setup going there!

Thanks, I love this new build and with the new sound, it's a totally new gaming experience.