# just need a little clarification..



## meccalli (Aug 25, 2008)

ok...well..to start off...in order to get 7.1 surround sound..you definitely need 7+sw channels..so..i currently have motherboard and im going to buy an msi kn9n6gm..this board supports HD audio and has onboard 7.1 channels.well..my receiver is a kenwood vr-60-rs .but obviously if im not going to be running the speakers from the board but from the reciever.....to the reciever 's single input i need a single channel containing the entire audio bandwidth along with surround and sw to be processed by the receiver ..what do i do.?...i hope i wasnt too confusing..ill be thankful for all the help i can get..thanks..brandon.


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

Does the motherboard have digital optical or co-ax output?

If so, you should probably be good to go with the appropriate cable. Just hook the output of the motherboard to the appropriate input on the receiver, and you have all 7.1 channels coming in through 1 pipe.

If not, you either need a different motherboard with the above outputs, or a receiver with 7.1 analog inputs.


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## meccalli (Aug 25, 2008)

i see..sadly i dont have either ....illl have to look at some souncards to see iuf they have...thanks anyways.


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Normally you would need to hook up 8 audio interconnects from you motherboard's 1/8" minijack outputs to your AVR's analog multichannel input. Digital optical Toslink or coax S/PDIF can only carry two (one stereo pair) unencoded linear PCM channels. For S/PDIF to carry 5.1 channels it must use lossy compression of Dolby Digital (AC3) or DTS. 

A very few of the newest motherboards (like those with the Intel G45 on-board video) can output 7.1 channels over HDMI to an HDMI audio input capable AVR.


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

Bob, his AVR has no multichannel analog ins. No HDMI either.

Something has to change to get multichannel sound from his PC, and the easiest way to do it, (please notice I didn't say best) is to get a sound card with co-ax or optical.


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Most MSI motherboards have a header connector that you can cable to an RCA panel jack for output of coaxial S/PDIF audio. This PC I am using now with an MSI mother board does. Just a matter of hooking up to the header connector on the motherboard.

That does get you 5.1 multichannel output with a straight passthru out to the AVR of audio on a DVD or recorded video that uses AC3 or DTS.


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

Any idea where he could get the rca panel jack and cable? Do they normally come with the motherboard, or are they an option or aftermarket?

I was not aware that MSI had that capability, but then I don't try to keep up with all the stuff they put on motherboards anymore.


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

It can look like this:


















from: http://www.frontx.com/cpx106_2.html

But vendors of motherboards often carry similar versions. Some have the RCA jack on a card slot cover bracket. Some even have the conversion to optical Toslink. 

Google:
*MSI Motherboard S/PDIF Digital Coax Audio Out cable*

and you get a bunch of eBay hits.

Or you can make your own.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Correct me if I am wrong but I do believe that the most you can get is 5.1 over coax or Optical. There is not a single DVD that has 7.1 audio and very few BluRay DVDs and for any of the uncompressed audio formats you must use HDMI. So I would not bother with 7.1 from a PC at all stick to 5.1.


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> Correct me if I am wrong but I do believe that the most you can get is 5.1 over coax or Optical. There is not a single DVD that has 7.1 audio and very few BluRay DVDs and for any of the uncompressed audio formats you must use HDMI. So I would not bother with 7.1 from a PC at all stick to 5.1.


Yep. I tried to say that earlier about S/PDIF -- 5.1 is the max channels and that requires lossy compression with legacy audio codecs (DD or DTS).


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

bobgpsr said:


> Yep. I tried to say that earlier about S/PDIF -- 5.1 is the max channels . . .


Yep, I knew that about 5.1, but wasn't thinking about that when I posted.

Hopefully the OP will let us know if he got it working.


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## meccalli (Aug 25, 2008)

whoa...i dont reply in one day and all this??>>>lol...thanks guys very helpful but thankfully my friend hooked me up with an asus that has all 7.1 outputs,coax and digital....i guess i really was looking for the wrong thing now i have all three i think however i will be going with the digital out to my receiver's input ..thanks alot again.!


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## meccalli (Aug 25, 2008)

oh i was also wondering ..will all my files play through (mostly mp3's and sound from vidz) digital out?


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

meccalli said:


> oh i was also wondering ..will all my files play through (mostly mp3's and sound from vidz) digital out?


If the player application software (Windows Media Player for example) does the normal default decode to stereo (LPCM) and the S/PDIF digital output is enabled by the Sound setup in Windows Control Panel -- then they all should.


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## meccalli (Aug 25, 2008)

thanks!!..ill keep that in mind


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