Optical SPDIF/out question

madrerik · Oct 19, 2013

Hello people,

I've got a set of 5.1 Logitech Z906 speakers and I've got them connected to my computer through optical spdif/out and in the Realtek HD Audio Manager I can't set them as 5.1 audio, in fact I can't set them as anything, stereo, etc.

My question is, do optical spdif/out only outputs stereo or can it output 6 channels?

The speakers brought with them some cables (black/green/orange) but I'm not sure if that can output a better quality signal than optical.

Thanks!

ssddx · Oct 20, 2013

in windows sound settings ..... configure

do you now have the options?

----

optical can have 5.1 just not "uncompressed"

those cables are for connecting to the 3 3.5mm connections on souncards. not superior to optical but they will work.

madrerik · Oct 20, 2013

Thanks for answering -- no, I don't have the options in the windwos sound settings>configure. I'm gonna guess that I might have a faulty optical port or glitchy sound driver.

ssddx · Oct 20, 2013

just to be completely sure...

what windows version are you running?

in windows 7 you right click the sound icon on the taskbar far right, click playback devices. click on your device and on the left there is a configure button.

madrerik · Oct 21, 2013

ssddx :

I'm using Win7 and in the Playback devices window I cannot configure my speakers, the button is there, but I can't click it.

ssddx · Oct 21, 2013

hmm...

play a dvd movie with surround sound or a game with surround sound...

are you only getting stereo sound or do you get sound out of all speakers?

madrerik · Oct 21, 2013

ssddx :

Whenever I play files that are encoded in 5.1 audio my speakers decode light turns on and I hear the surround perfectly. The only thing that I am having a problem with is setting the audio signals in the Realtek HD Audio Manager because in games (BF3) I am not getting surround, only stereo but I enhance it through virtual surround and the audio signals aren't that good, I can hear bullets (mid and highs) through the subwoofer while at the same time the subwoofer is outputting the lows (explosions) and I think this is due to the fact that the computer board is registering my speakers as stereo and is sending all the signal as such. Prior to this new MB I got, I was able (through optical spdif/out) set as 5.1 and get crystal clear, independent channel audio.

ssddx · Oct 21, 2013

i have two recommendations then.

-buy a sound card and use the spdif output on it. likely your motherboard has some issues in regards to the onboard sound (i hate realtek audio since its so buggy)

-use the three 3.5mm cables to connect instead of spdif on your motherboard. while definitely a drop in terms of audio quality it shouldnt be very noticible at all. likely your own onboard sound would be more of a limitation than those cables would.

as far as bullet highs and mids being processed through the subwoofer you can turn that down with the knob on the rear of the subwoofer. personally i only like the lows going through the sub. you also may be onto something with the sub firing more due to it being recognized as stereo. hard to say.

madrerik · Oct 22, 2013

ssddx :

Here's what I tried:

I disconnected my 5.1 speakers (spdif/out) and connected my headphones through front input jack (green) and the Realtek HD Audio Manager detected the headphones and allowed me to set it up as stereo, quadphonic, 5.1, etc. I then updated my audio drivers and connected my speakers again (with the headphones as default device) to see if it would recognize them (the speakers) as a new device but it didn't, it just automatically detected the device without asking me if I wanted to configure them as headphones, etc. and if I wanted to set it up as stereo, quadphonic or 5.1.

My conclusion is that I might have a faulty optical port. Haven't tried yet using the 3.5mm cables to see if it works, if they don't then I dunno what else to do... I don't want to update my MB to avoid any glitches with installations (not like updating fixes anything with the ports I think).

Again, thank you for your follow up on this thread.

ssddx · Oct 22, 2013

you could also just get a soundcard for like $20-30

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