Run, don't walk, to the Headphone FAQ stickied at the top of this forum, and read everything you can about supposed "7.1" headset surround sound. Come back with questions: Happy to help! Boz
Maybe I missed it, but how does a new GPU solve your issue? Even with "real" HDMI it's not going to give you DDL or DTS Connect, so you'll still only get multichannel audio from DVDs, which you would get anyway with your current HDMI setup. I R confused. Boz
Your research is right: If you're sending a digital signal to your receiver an Essence STX is going to be overkill. A lot of the engineering behind the top-end cards goes into the DAC - which you won't use - and noise isolation - which you won't need. You'll want to consider either the ASUS Xonar DX or HT | OMEGA STRIKER. I haven't done extensive research into the individual models, but both support on-the-fly digital surround encoding for gaming. Do a little digging into both models to figure out which one has better driver support and customer satisfaction, and you'll be on your way. Happy gaming, Boz
In additional to online listings, and given your limited budget, have you tried a local pawn shop? I've bought from pawn shops before with mixed results, but you can sometimes find a steal. A boutique audio dealer; they sometimes have discounted used merchandise. You might also try a regular old Best Buy. Best Buy has a section of the store dedicated to floor models and returns, and you can often find a good deal there. I hope this helps! Boz
If you want on-the-fly digital surround encoding the least expensive option is either the ASUS Xonar DX or HT | OMEGA STRIKER. You'll have to do a little research to figure out which one you would prefer, since they're about the same price. Happy gaming, Boz
I'll be honest: I think he's wrong. Like Namelessplayer said, a two-channel PCM stream has enough bandwidth for a compressed multichannel audio stream (e.g. Dolby Digital). It won't get you discrete multichannel audio from games, but it will pass-through multichannel audio from DVDs. Just be sure you connect the SPDIF header of the sound card or motherboard to the input on the video card, and try the HDMI route: It's the cheapest possible solution, and you've got the least to lose by going down this path. This will not get you discrete, digital, multichannel audio from games on-the-fly, the only way to get that is via Dolby Digital Live OR DTS Connect encoding. In this case you will need an audio chipset that supports it via a new motherboard or audio card, but there are lots of mobos and cards that support one or the other, with HT and Creative going the Dolby route and Asus going the DTS route. Boz
[QUOTE="kraken2109"]I've read numerous sources that say different. How else are people getting sound from graphics cards over DVI? Unfortunately I just spoke to an nvidia live support guy, he said my 275 doesn't support more than stereo pcm anyway. I don't know what to do now. Hmm; as I said, standard DVI does not support an audio signal, but it would seem the GTX 200 series supports audio via the DVI to HDMI converter if you connect the SPDIF header on your audio card or motherboard to the two-pin connector on the card. This seems to be unique to this series of cards. I can't vouch for multichannel digital audio pass-through, but I can tell you that I get Dolby Digital from my GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 via its optical output, and it uses an ALC888 audio chipset. I'd connect the SPDIF header from your sound card to your video card and run it through your receiver and just see what happens, personally, since the information you're getting is kind of vague. Not the cut-and-dry answer I'd like to give, but I don't have much more time to research this. Maybe put a call in to Asus and just ask if it'll pass-through the digital audio from your DVD player. :? Boz
At that price you should be able to find a nice set of Energy or Fluance speakers. I know the Energy sets have won many budget awards, and I've listened to some of their higher-end stuff, which is great. You could also go with one of the budget Klipsch sets, though I think the Energy speakers are probably a better value. If you're willing to spend a little more, Definitive Technology has a speaker set that I've heard first-hand that sounds great for the price, but it's about $800, give or take. Totally worth it if you've got a good receiver, though, and it'd be my personal sub-$1,000 pick for a home theater set. Good luck, Boz
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