At the moment my computer is pulling double duty as my main work surfstation and also as my HTPC of sorts. I have my TV set up as my second monitor and that's how I do a good portion of my TV watching. Right now I have the audio ghetto rigged though. I just have a cable like this running to the front inputs of my receiver from the headphones jack of my pc (my cable is much longer of course). Every time I want to have the sound coming from my computer speakers on the desk I pull the cable out of the jack, and every time I want to watch something on the TV, I plug it back in.

Well, I've finally decided to get around to something more permanent and decidedly less ghetto. My receiver has both optical and coax digital in ports and I'd like to put them to use. My question is 2 fold. #1 Does anyone have any recommendations for any fairly cheap soundcards with optical or coax out, and #2 What's the best way to set up to easily switch between my desktop speakers and sending digital audio out? My receiver supports multi-room setups, so I thought about hooking up my pc speakers up as room b, but I'd prefer to not have to get my receiver involved in my day to day computing activities. Is there an easy way to switch audio out destinations like that?

12/2/2008 12:58:36 AM

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg&mco=MTMwNzkyNg
+
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/windows/

12/2/2008 1:07:50 AM

Thats...not exactly what I was looking for. If that supported 5.1 audio, I'd consider it though.

12/2/2008 1:15:53 AM

If you want something decidedly less ghetto, just get a media extender (aka xbox 360 + PlayOn or ORB) and call it a day. 200 bucks or less and no more ghetto rigging.

12/2/2008 1:51:31 AM

Well, I have both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 hooked up to the tv. But for some reason I can't seem to get 1080p stuff to stream properly on either over wireless. I've just been using tversity and regular windows MCE stuff though. Is Orb that much better? Does it (or anything else) support 1080p video and 5.1 audio over wireless?

12/2/2008 1:59:37 AM

why not install two soundcards and switch between audio devices?

12/2/2008 3:10:57 AM

Well how to do that easily was question #2. Recommending a good sound card with optical out was question #1.

Feel free to answer either one.

12/2/2008 3:17:17 AM

why wireless? You are talking about running WIRES for audio (and video) from one room to the other. Why not keep it to a single cat5 cable?

Unless its 802.11n will damn near perfect strength and s/n ratio to the router, 1080p over wireless aint happening. You could do 480p for sure, maybe 720p.

12/2/2008 4:17:11 AM

#1. I don't know, the last time I looked into optical outs the only answer was nForce SoundStorm, apparently there are a number of discrete PCI and PCI-E cards that will do DD5.1 encoding on the fly available now. I believe that's what you need though unless you're only playing DVDs in which case passthrough digital out will work.

#2. In your music player and movie player, select the appropriate output devices in the audio configuration. You can also selected the default output device (which most programs will use for audio output anyway unless otherwise configured), and then use the Windows sound properties to change that default output device between the 2 sound cards as appropriate.

#3. Blu-ray 1080p has a maximum transfer rate of 54Mbps audio+video according to blu-ray.com, which as Noen indicates, is impossible with earlier standards and unlikely to be sustained with later standards.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 4:24 AM. Reason : .]

12/2/2008 4:18:06 AM

Quote :

"why wireless? You are talking about running WIRES for audio (and video) from one room to the other. Why not keep it to a single cat5 cable?"

Well I wasn't trying to do wireless. But at the same time, I don't want to run cat5 to my xbox and/or ps3. Which is why I wanted to just run audio and video out of my computer to the entertainment center. I was trying not to bore people with the specifics of my setup, but my computer is close enough to the TV/Receiver to where it's not a problem in the slightest to run cables. I have my wireless router near the center of the house so my laptop will work in all rooms but that means long cable runs (or another router/switch) just to run cat5 to the consoles. I'm really not too interested in going that route.

Quote :

"In your music player and movie player, select the appropriate output devices in the audio configuration. You can also selected the default output device (which most programs will use for audio output anyway unless otherwise configured), and then use the Windows sound properties to change that default output device between the 2 sound cards as appropriate."

Yeah, I was hoping to avoid having to run multi-step audio configuration every time I wanted to change audio destinations. I was hoping that some of the Tech Talk gurus would know of a batch file script or some special software that allowed for easy transitions of that sort of thing. I googled for that, but didn't really have any luck. As ghetto as my current setup is, at least it's really really easy to reach over and pull a headphone jack out 1/8th of an inch every time I want to switch destinations.

Quote :

"I don't know, the last time I looked into optical outs the only answer was nForce SoundStorm, apparently there are a number of discrete PCI and PCI-E cards that will do DD5.1 encoding on the fly available now. I believe that's what you need though unless you're only playing DVDs in which case passthrough digital out will work."

See, this might be where I need more information. I was thinking (hoping?) that I would be able to use passthrough digital out for everything and just let my receiver do the work. So you're saying if I download a movie that's been encoded with 5.1 audio it won't just work with a regular optical cable running to my receiver from something like this?

12/2/2008 1:43:13 PM

You do realize you can connect your COMPUTER to your XBOX with a cat5 cable right? You don't need to go to the router at all.

Which would again be the most simple, cheapest, and least rigged solution.

12/2/2008 7:20:05 PM

It's like I asked a question about how to change the oil in my chevy and you keep telling me to buy a honda so I won't have to change my oil as often. I have several reasons why I don't want to run things through my xbox. Perhaps that might work as an alternate setup(maybe even primary someday), but regardless I would still like to have audio and video from my computer going to my entertainment center.

So if anyone has any advice on my original questions, tha'd be great.

12/2/2008 7:46:47 PM

Quote :

"Thats...not exactly what I was looking for. If that supported 5.1 audio, I'd consider it though. "

Umm... the Airport Express DOES support 5.1 audio. It can passthrough AC3/DD from any file that has it (and a player that supports passthrough).

There's nothing out at the moment that would directly stream the video being sent to your monitor AND audio wirelessly.

But this solution will work if you just need the audio sent out wirelessly, and selectable by software.

The Airport Express can also act as a wireless bridge, so if you have an N connection on your PC (or if PC is hardwired to the gateway), and an N gateway, you could get faster transfer speeds to your Xbox/PS3 and possibly get better streaming with 1080p videos (and a faster connection to the net from those devices overall). Of course, this only helps IF you have a wireless N infrastructure already.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 8:17 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2008 8:12:10 PM

OK, well then I was lying. I wouldn't actually consider that.

I just want to run a freaking cable from the back of my computer to my receiver and get surround sound. I didn't know this would turn into a debate on the most difficult roundabout way to achieve this task.

12/2/2008 8:22:01 PM

^
Step 1) Purchase new sound card with a digital output
Step 2) purchase optical/digital coax cable
Step 3) Hook in to your surround sound receiver

problem solved

12/2/2008 8:26:13 PM

Well I was hoping to get a little advice on some specifics. But it's looking more and more like this is not the place I'll be getting that advice.

Thanks anyway wolf web.

12/2/2008 8:40:52 PM

buy the mobil 1 extended mileage formulation and you won't have to change your oil as frequently

just remember to change your oil filter

12/2/2008 9:00:47 PM

^^If your question is what sound card to get, the answer is that it does not matter, for what you're doing.

Your only requirements are digital output with passthrough. Just go to Wal-mart/Best Buy/Circuit City, find a soundcard in your price range with the same type of digital connection as your surround sound receiver, buy it, buy the cable you might need, and install it to your computer.

This card, for example, does NOT do what you want: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7698404&st=sound+card&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1138084673510

This one DOES do what you want: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8014926&st=sound+card&lp=4&type=product&cp=1&id=1156203598151

So does this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7180739&st=sound+card&lp=6&type=product&cp=1&id=1110267355627

Also, you'll need some spare PCI ports on your computer. Otherwise you'll have to get a USB audio adapter or PCIe based sound.

Ars recommends the Creative XFi or Asus Xonar if you're looking for nicer sound cards: http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200809.ars/4

12/2/2008 9:04:29 PM

he just said he wanted to play downloaded videos, that will not work with passthrough

12/2/2008 9:11:55 PM

What he is trying to do is exactly why they make media extenders. This is THE reason people buy them.

The answer to your question El Nacho is, there is no off-the-shelf way to do what you want with just adding a sound card. At the very least you will have to write a utility that will swap audio outputs, or you'll have to trudge into the control panel settings every time you want to go from PC to TV.

Which is why I'm repeatedly offering you a much easier, cheaper path. You own a media extender. You can connect it with a cable you already have, and it will all work the way you want it to.

12/2/2008 9:38:45 PM

Alright, fair enough. I've already got stereo sound running, I didn't figure that 5.1 would be that much harder.

12/2/2008 9:50:44 PM

So I'm trying to set up internet sharing to my xbox. I get the hugely helpful message "An error occurred while Internet Connection Sharing was being enabled for the connection."

Thanks microsoft. You're awesome.

So I google that message and click on the first result from microsoft.com, and what do they suggest I do?

Quote :

"User Action: Contact your system administrator. "

So much for this being the most simple solution to my problem.

12/2/2008 10:26:09 PM

Quote :

"he just said he wanted to play downloaded videos, that will not work with passthrough "

Why not?

If the optical is connected, then the PC will just send it as stereo PCM. If the audio is surround sound, it'll pass it through. That's how it works on Mac OS, I would assume it'd work like that on Windows.

And if it didn't, certainly a nicer SoundBlaster card or the Asus card would handle it properly anyway.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 10:45 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2008 10:44:09 PM

ICS requires that IP 192.168.0.1 is free. Make sure your router is not using this.

For this example, I will assume your Router is 192.168.1.1

Use a cross over ethernet cable, connect the Xbox360 to the ethernet connection on your PC. Set the IP on it to 192.168.0.2, it's gateway to 192.168.1.1, and the DNS server to 192.168.1.1

On the 360, set it's IP to 192.168.0.3, gateway 192.168.0.2 and the DNS server to 192.168.1.1

It should all work.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 10:46 PM. Reason : .]

12/2/2008 10:45:17 PM

Quote :

"ICS requires that IP 192.168.0.1 is free. Make sure your router is not using this."

Well that was the problem. I figured it out on my own, but god damn that's retarded.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 10:54 PM. Reason : thx, btw.]

And can I get a judges ruling on if ^^that will work or not. I'm still probably gonna go with an optical cable if I can even if I get all this xbox stuff worked out.

12/2/2008 10:54:14 PM

I haven't used a Creative product in half a decade (and never plan to).

But nForce audio certainly didn't auto-sense like that. And I know for a fact none of the 5.1, 7.1 or 8.1 Realtek onboard chipsets I've ever used work like that either. They've all required the output to be manually set. This may certainly have changed (it's been several years since I used optical audio output at all), but it REALLY pissed me off back in the day.

12/2/2008 10:59:48 PM

^ are you saying that you had to set the output to EITHER passthrough OR normal?

And if it was on passthrough, audio from YouTube or itunes for example wouldn't play?

That's really bizarre...

In any case... a lot of receivers share the digital inputs with an analog input, so it might be possible to just have the 2 cables hooked up anyway, and it would work.

[Edited on December 2, 2008 at 11:10 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2008 11:09:19 PM

So after all that messing around, I find out that the xbox doesn't support MKV files.

Like...just....fucking whatever. I give the fuck up. This thing is useless to me now.

BTW, I googled for a solution and like the 4th hit was this thread here on TWW.

I think it's appropriate that the last item in the thread is:

Quote :

"Got tired of trying to deal with transcoding and that all bs, so we just hooked my old dell laptop up to the tv to play all the HD stuff."

Considering that is a much better solution (for me) than anything recommended here thus far.

12/2/2008 11:43:14 PM

Quote :

"So after all that messing around, I find out that the xbox doesn't support MKV files. Like...just....fucking whatever. I give the fuck up. This thing is useless to me now."

You are upset that a format for pirated content doesn't work on all of your devices? Really?

Yeah, if you are just bit-torrenting/newsgrouping illegal HD rips, a second PC is about your only real option. You pay either way, basically.

12/3/2008 12:33:06 AM

I'm just gonna order a popcorn hour and be done with it all. I've been wanting one of those anyway.

12/3/2008 12:44:06 AM

Quote :

"If the optical is connected, then the PC will just send it as stereo PCM. If the audio is surround sound, it'll pass it through."

*facepalm*

Following that logic, how would you describe what it's doing to the stereo audio, and why do you think there's a distinction for "pass-through"?

Many low end sound cards are only capable of "pass-through" of a pre-encoded Dolby Digital track from a DVD source. It's possible that ripped audio which uses AC3 encoding may work as well, I haven't really messed with pass-through since I got a SoundStorm board. However, many games, multichannel rips, and movies use encodings other than AC3 for their audio, and you will be limited to stereo playback or horrible noise with a "pass-through" card. Additionally, you won't be able to do any kind of software equalization or gain modification of pass-through audio.

Even with a DVD source, back in the day pass-through only worked with a few select commercial DVD playing softwares, but I believe it did correctly "auto-sense" when that was the case. WMP and some open source players may support it now, I don't know.

In any case, the SoundStorm chip did not need to utilize pass-through at all, because it was the first chip that had a DD encoder. I believe some of the later Creative cards and some of the other random high-end cards support this now.

[Edited on December 3, 2008 at 2:48 AM. Reason : .]

12/3/2008 2:41:59 AM

Quote :

"If the optical is connected, then the PC will just send it as stereo PCM. If the audio is surround sound, it'll pass it through. That's how it works on Mac OS, I would assume it'd work like that on Windows."

As Tiberius mentioned, it doesn't work this way under Windows.

That said, SoundStorm isn't particularly relevant because I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he's worried about playing 1080p content, El Nachó's computer wasn't built in 2002-2003.

That said, to some extent, the playback software you use is going to be more important than the number of soundcards you have. You should be able to have your receiver hooked up to your SPDIF and your computer speakers hooked up to the analog out on your computer, on one sound card, without incident. It's just a matter of getting software to handle things properly.

For example, if I'm listening to music or watching a DVD using WMP with both headphones connected to the analog port and my receiver hooked up to the SPDIF, I get Stereo audio through both the receiver and the headphones. If I boot up PowerDVD, there's an option for DVDs (doesn't seem to exist for other content) that will allow direct passthrough to the SPDIF. At which point, I get nothing in my headphones and DD5.1 directly to my receiver.

It sounds like what you need isn't another soundcard, as much as a piece of software that's smart enough to trigger passthrough whenever it gets a 5.1 signal. I thought it'd be something that could be controlled with ffdshow's Audio Decoder, but it didn't pop out at me when looking at it. VLC doesn't seem to do it, though there may be a plugin. I don't have ZoomPlayer installed anymore, but this seems like something that might be up it's alley as well.

If you can't find that, your second option is the Media Center Extender option that Noen was talking about, however as you've figured out, it doesn't like MKV files -- or at least, not files with an MKV wrapper. There are ways to remove the wrapper (Shrike does this a lot with his PS3 and with some program that takes seconds to run, but I always forget the name of it) so it becomes a moot issue, or there's always the whole transcode-on-the-fly option.

A Popcorn Hour seems like another reasonable solution, though I have no idea how it handles it's audio.

12/3/2008 8:46:42 AM

Quote :

"VLC doesn't seem to do it, though there may be a plugin. "

If you change the audio device in VLC, from the Audio menu, from the default to the one that ends with "encoded," it doesn't automatically do it?

12/3/2008 9:08:57 AM

Can't test at the moment, but I can't really say. Though Stereo sound works from my VLC, it chokes when I tell it passthrough, but I was probably doing something wrong.

To be honest, I just use a 360 as a media extender and play everything through that. There's a computer hooked to my TV, but it's much more a storage computer than a playback computer. Plus, the 360 converts everything to DD anyway, which makes sound very easy to deal with.

[Edited on December 3, 2008 at 9:23 AM. Reason : .]

12/3/2008 9:22:07 AM

I only mentioned SoundStorm as an example of a proper digital 5.1 source. There are most definitely discrete PCI cards that offer this functionality now, though I do not know which ones. An nForce2 with a 400FSB Barton has no problems at all playing 1080p content and in fact that's what the HTPC here is, but I digress.

12/3/2008 5:06:53 PM