Guid to hooking up your 5.1 Sound Card to a 5.1 Receiver
The Pictures will follow soon.
Just want some input (on what was left out) and hope that it might answer some peoples questions. This is a very first "rough" draft. Anyway...
Beginners Guide To Sound Card Connectivity:
Looking though the forums there seems to be a lot of confusion about just what you are supposed to do with all those output jacks on your sound card and all of those input jacks on a stereo receiver and what type of equipment you should buy. This guide is for those who are hooking up there sound cards to a separate receiver, and will not really mention any brands that are the "BEST" or everyone will argue.
What to look for:
Well I assume if you are going to hook up your receiver to your computer you will want a descent sound card. There are so many different brands out there with so many options. For connectivity look for one that supports Digital Out as a minimum if you want to use your system in a 5.1 setup. All sound cards will support stereo output and some support SPDIF. Some sound cards even have Fiber Optic or a special coaxial connection. Any Dolby Digital receiver will do the job. Just make sure it has the coaxial connection, this will be explained below. Also either your receiver or sound card must decode 5.1 or as some call it AC3. Also as a last note here, there are many newer built in sound cards on motherboards that support Digital Out, SPDIF, and 5.1. You can use these setups just like you would with a sound card, but I believe audio quality will be somewhat diminished. Don’t let anyone tell you different when shopping for speakers. They should not be bought online for one reason. When “looking” at a speaker there is no substitute for hearing them for your-self. Go to your local shop and buy what you think sounds good. Make sure when you get them, especially for a 5.1 setup, that they are “Timbre” matched. This will ensure that they all sound and work together correctly. This simply means when you find the Front Left and Right speakers, there will be a Center and Rear Left and right that match and are designed to work in concert with each other. When buying a “package” deal this will already be the case so you don’t have to worry about it. Looking at sound cards I think anything for around $50.00(US) and above should do the trick. Just look for some of the features mentioned above. I happen to be a fan of Creative (Going to try a card from M-Audio soon).
One quick note, 5.1 speaker setups from companies such as Creative and Altech Lansing will not produce the room filling sound you would expect if you are using it in your living room. There is just not enough wattage to do this
STEREO CONNECTION:
Stereo is the most common and easiest connection. All a stereo connection does is separate the signals into a left and right channel. You can also easily add a sub to this setup for extra deep bass effects. If a sub is supported there will be an output jack on your receiver for the sub. Now to hook up your sound card all you need to do is find the analog connection on the back of you sound card #PIC#. Find the Left and Right inputs on your receiver #pic#. Now you will need a cable similar to this #PIC# which can be found almost anywhere even Wal-Mart. Plug it in as pictured below #PIC#. This is no different than hooking up normal PC 2.1 stereo speakers.
5.1 SETUP AND CONNECTION:
5.1 setup is becoming more and more popular. You need a sound card that is 5.1 capable and a receiver that is 5.1 capable. Most of the time this is referred to as Dolby Digital when buying your receiver. There are three main ways to hook up your receiver. One way is optical, which for several reasons (one that not as many sound cards support it) will not be covered. The most common setup is going to be to use a 3.5mm to RCA adapted connection. #PIC#. All you do is plug this into your Digital Out on your sound card and the RCA connection goes into your receiver. On many sound cards you must go into the properties menu and turn on “Digital Out Only” or you can select SPDIF out. Look on the back of you receiver and you will see the jack (usually the inside color is orange), which is the coaxial input for 5.1. The last type of connection is Digital Coaxial Cable. This has a Male RCA type connection on both sides of the cable. Any coaxial cable will work, but if you want the best audio get a good one for about $15.00 or $20.00. Here is a pic #PIC# of what this would look like. Only some types of sound cards on the market support this function, they must have a control panel (Much like the Live! Drive for Creative Sound Cards) or an adaptor or an output for this. Some even have a PCI riser with these connections, any of the above mentioned would do the job. Now if you are going to listen to Dolby Digital you need to look at your DVD-ROM next. If your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM support the connection pictured below you may use this feature. This connection is used for a “pure” digital connection. Instead of the usual 4 wire (analog) cable #PIC# it uses a special 2 wire (digital) cable #PIC#. Your sound card must also support this, any sound card with 5.1 capabilities should have this. Hook it up as pictured and you don’t need the analog plug anymore. #PIC#. As a last note, you will want to turn off AC3 on your sound card. Or if you have a “Dolby Digital Ready” receiver then leave it on. You only need one of your components to do the decoding, either the Receiver or the Sound Card (sometimes if they are both on it can cause problems).
WHAT THE HECK IS SPDIF ANYWAY?
Well to start with in order to use this type of connection you either need a special 2-wire connection or some OS's will transfer the data through your IDE. You also need to go into your Sound Cards properties and select SPDIF out. This must be connected to your sound card for this to work as pictured above. Second note, if you run Windows2000 SPDIF is not supported. Why go through the trouble of connection via SPDIF? SPDIF will ensure that you have a no noise low distortion signal transfer. This is the best type of connection to use. Now if you have a 5.1 setup and you have SPDIP enabled then “only” when it gets an AC3 (or Dolby Digital) signal will it use all 6 speakers. When you are playing a game (although some do now support Dolby Digital) you will only get 3 speakers, the Front Left and Right plus the Sub. Since the SPDIF is a “pure” digital signal many higher end computer speakers also use this type of connection also. Some games will “simulate” surround sound but it is more like pro-logic than Dolby Digital.
ONE LAST CONNECTION TYPE:
Now we move to one of the last type of connection. What you will have is 6 actual inputs on your receiver and 4 outputs on your sound card. On the receiver you will have a connection for each speaker, 1 for Left Front, 1 for Right Front, 1 for Center, 1 for Left Rear, 1 for Right Rear, and 1 for the sub. Your sound card will have 1 stereo output for Left Front and Right Front, 1 for Center, 1 for Left Rear and Right Rear, and 1 for the sub. This way you will be able to take advantage of all speakers no matter what type of media you are listening. Of course you will not get actual Dolby Digital (unless you have a Dolby Digital Signal) quality separation, but all 6 speakers will be pumping away.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT:
We will focus this discussion on a typical living room setup. I am not going to get all complicated by talking about noise generators, perfect speaker balance, distance timing and other stuff. I just want to point out the best place to “put” them. You want everything to be square. The best place for the center speaker is either right under the TV or under it. This is where dialogue and other on screen info happens most. This speaker is the workhorse of your setup. Next you want to position your Left and Right Front Speakers somewhere in-between your walls and TV set. I would match the innermost side of your speakers with the edge of your listening area, as in the illustration. Now the rear is the hardest. There are so many different ideas about where to put them and how high up they should be. Optimum height and position is point directly at your ears at a distance of at least 5 – 6 feet. Most people of course put the high up (as I do) so they don’t interfere with anything. Also many people position the high up directly behind you, this is also good placement. The sub woofer is the easiest. Low Frequency Sound is not really directional. This means that no matter where you put it, it is harder to detect where it is coming from (especially true for downward firing subs). The best placement is in any of the 4 corners in your room, this tends to spread out the sound using the natural acoustics of your room. #PIC#
The Pictures will follow soon.
Just want some input (on what was left out) and hope that it might answer some peoples questions. This is a very first "rough" draft. Anyway...
Beginners Guide To Sound Card Connectivity:
Looking though the forums there seems to be a lot of confusion about just what you are supposed to do with all those output jacks on your sound card and all of those input jacks on a stereo receiver and what type of equipment you should buy. This guide is for those who are hooking up there sound cards to a separate receiver, and will not really mention any brands that are the "BEST" or everyone will argue.
What to look for:
Well I assume if you are going to hook up your receiver to your computer you will want a descent sound card. There are so many different brands out there with so many options. For connectivity look for one that supports Digital Out as a minimum if you want to use your system in a 5.1 setup. All sound cards will support stereo output and some support SPDIF. Some sound cards even have Fiber Optic or a special coaxial connection. Any Dolby Digital receiver will do the job. Just make sure it has the coaxial connection, this will be explained below. Also either your receiver or sound card must decode 5.1 or as some call it AC3. Also as a last note here, there are many newer built in sound cards on motherboards that support Digital Out, SPDIF, and 5.1. You can use these setups just like you would with a sound card, but I believe audio quality will be somewhat diminished. Don’t let anyone tell you different when shopping for speakers. They should not be bought online for one reason. When “looking” at a speaker there is no substitute for hearing them for your-self. Go to your local shop and buy what you think sounds good. Make sure when you get them, especially for a 5.1 setup, that they are “Timbre” matched. This will ensure that they all sound and work together correctly. This simply means when you find the Front Left and Right speakers, there will be a Center and Rear Left and right that match and are designed to work in concert with each other. When buying a “package” deal this will already be the case so you don’t have to worry about it. Looking at sound cards I think anything for around $50.00(US) and above should do the trick. Just look for some of the features mentioned above. I happen to be a fan of Creative (Going to try a card from M-Audio soon).
One quick note, 5.1 speaker setups from companies such as Creative and Altech Lansing will not produce the room filling sound you would expect if you are using it in your living room. There is just not enough wattage to do this
STEREO CONNECTION:
Stereo is the most common and easiest connection. All a stereo connection does is separate the signals into a left and right channel. You can also easily add a sub to this setup for extra deep bass effects. If a sub is supported there will be an output jack on your receiver for the sub. Now to hook up your sound card all you need to do is find the analog connection on the back of you sound card #PIC#. Find the Left and Right inputs on your receiver #pic#. Now you will need a cable similar to this #PIC# which can be found almost anywhere even Wal-Mart. Plug it in as pictured below #PIC#. This is no different than hooking up normal PC 2.1 stereo speakers.
5.1 SETUP AND CONNECTION:
5.1 setup is becoming more and more popular. You need a sound card that is 5.1 capable and a receiver that is 5.1 capable. Most of the time this is referred to as Dolby Digital when buying your receiver. There are three main ways to hook up your receiver. One way is optical, which for several reasons (one that not as many sound cards support it) will not be covered. The most common setup is going to be to use a 3.5mm to RCA adapted connection. #PIC#. All you do is plug this into your Digital Out on your sound card and the RCA connection goes into your receiver. On many sound cards you must go into the properties menu and turn on “Digital Out Only” or you can select SPDIF out. Look on the back of you receiver and you will see the jack (usually the inside color is orange), which is the coaxial input for 5.1. The last type of connection is Digital Coaxial Cable. This has a Male RCA type connection on both sides of the cable. Any coaxial cable will work, but if you want the best audio get a good one for about $15.00 or $20.00. Here is a pic #PIC# of what this would look like. Only some types of sound cards on the market support this function, they must have a control panel (Much like the Live! Drive for Creative Sound Cards) or an adaptor or an output for this. Some even have a PCI riser with these connections, any of the above mentioned would do the job. Now if you are going to listen to Dolby Digital you need to look at your DVD-ROM next. If your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM support the connection pictured below you may use this feature. This connection is used for a “pure” digital connection. Instead of the usual 4 wire (analog) cable #PIC# it uses a special 2 wire (digital) cable #PIC#. Your sound card must also support this, any sound card with 5.1 capabilities should have this. Hook it up as pictured and you don’t need the analog plug anymore. #PIC#. As a last note, you will want to turn off AC3 on your sound card. Or if you have a “Dolby Digital Ready” receiver then leave it on. You only need one of your components to do the decoding, either the Receiver or the Sound Card (sometimes if they are both on it can cause problems).
WHAT THE HECK IS SPDIF ANYWAY?
Well to start with in order to use this type of connection you either need a special 2-wire connection or some OS's will transfer the data through your IDE. You also need to go into your Sound Cards properties and select SPDIF out. This must be connected to your sound card for this to work as pictured above. Second note, if you run Windows2000 SPDIF is not supported. Why go through the trouble of connection via SPDIF? SPDIF will ensure that you have a no noise low distortion signal transfer. This is the best type of connection to use. Now if you have a 5.1 setup and you have SPDIP enabled then “only” when it gets an AC3 (or Dolby Digital) signal will it use all 6 speakers. When you are playing a game (although some do now support Dolby Digital) you will only get 3 speakers, the Front Left and Right plus the Sub. Since the SPDIF is a “pure” digital signal many higher end computer speakers also use this type of connection also. Some games will “simulate” surround sound but it is more like pro-logic than Dolby Digital.
ONE LAST CONNECTION TYPE:
Now we move to one of the last type of connection. What you will have is 6 actual inputs on your receiver and 4 outputs on your sound card. On the receiver you will have a connection for each speaker, 1 for Left Front, 1 for Right Front, 1 for Center, 1 for Left Rear, 1 for Right Rear, and 1 for the sub. Your sound card will have 1 stereo output for Left Front and Right Front, 1 for Center, 1 for Left Rear and Right Rear, and 1 for the sub. This way you will be able to take advantage of all speakers no matter what type of media you are listening. Of course you will not get actual Dolby Digital (unless you have a Dolby Digital Signal) quality separation, but all 6 speakers will be pumping away.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT:
We will focus this discussion on a typical living room setup. I am not going to get all complicated by talking about noise generators, perfect speaker balance, distance timing and other stuff. I just want to point out the best place to “put” them. You want everything to be square. The best place for the center speaker is either right under the TV or under it. This is where dialogue and other on screen info happens most. This speaker is the workhorse of your setup. Next you want to position your Left and Right Front Speakers somewhere in-between your walls and TV set. I would match the innermost side of your speakers with the edge of your listening area, as in the illustration. Now the rear is the hardest. There are so many different ideas about where to put them and how high up they should be. Optimum height and position is point directly at your ears at a distance of at least 5 – 6 feet. Most people of course put the high up (as I do) so they don’t interfere with anything. Also many people position the high up directly behind you, this is also good placement. The sub woofer is the easiest. Low Frequency Sound is not really directional. This means that no matter where you put it, it is harder to detect where it is coming from (especially true for downward firing subs). The best placement is in any of the 4 corners in your room, this tends to spread out the sound using the natural acoustics of your room. #PIC#
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