Need Help on Audio for PC

[Shmister]

So ive been looking around and decided to go with RW-12d Subwoofer and RB-61 II Bookshelf Speakers and Pioneer Receiver (undecided on model type at the moment). I was wondering if these items together would work for PC use?

 

[hang-the-9]

Once the sound leaves the PC, anything will work that has the proper inputs. Which a receiver would. Just use the line out instead of the headphone jack if you have one of those.

 

[ssddx]

yes... two bookshelf speakers, one subwoofer and one receiver will work with your computer.

as far as the best hookup... there are two options i would recommend.

first you need to look at your system and note a few things.
-are you using a pc monitor or tv as your screen? (yes,no)
-what is the video input method you will be using on the screen? (dvi,hdmi,etc)
-what are your video output options on your soundcard? (dvi,hdmi,etc)
-are you using a fairly new graphics card? (yes,no,)
-if yes it probably supports sound out via dvi if it has the port, check (yes,no)
-do you have a soundcard with optical spdif output? (yes,no)

with such things considered the two best ways to hook the system up are either via an optical cable from soundcard to receiver or via a dvi-to-hdmi cable to the receiver with your video signal being passed through untouched to the screen. hdmi-to-hdmi might work as well but i havent personally tried it.

 

[Shmister]

Thanks for the replys
-I will be using my dual monitors rather then a tv.
-I have them connected via DVI input to my gpu
-I have the MSI Lightning Extreme GTX580 so i have DVI/HDMI
-Yes as stated above ^
-Yes i believe it supports sound out via dvi
-I have no soundcard on my pc build because my motherboard (Asrock z68 Extreme7 Gen3) supports onboard 7.1 Ch HD Audio.
Outputs supported include HDMI/Optical TOSlink/DVI/Regular Analog

Which would be the best way to output the sound if i dont want Video along with it. Keep in mind this is just a 2.1 stereo setup at the moment.
I Appreciate the help

 

[ssddx]

well since you have two monitos connected via dvi i would have to say that spdif optical out from soundcard to receiver is your best option.

remember that you will need to speficy spdif optical output in your sound devices as the default device in order to get sound and the receiver you choose will need optical in and you will need to have it on the right input (duh!) to hear anything.

 

[ssddx]

addition...

there are probably other ways to connect but hdmi and spdif are commonly considered "the best" options available.

 

[Shmister]

Thanks ssddx, would i benefit any from using HDMI for my monitors or is DVI just as good? And as for my audio im using an Optical TOSlink for my surround sound headset so i would just switch the cable over to the receiver since the settings are already changed to play out of SPDIF optical. Unless ofcourse i use HDMI for video and Audio

 

[Shmister]

Best answer selected by Shmister.

 

[ssddx]

i've always preferred dvi for my monitors as they have screwposts to avoid anything coming undone and all of my video cards supported dvi only.

however since you have both options available either would work. personally i'd rather not swap cable ends and just have hdmi-to-hdmi or dvi-to-dvi instead of a crossover unless you have to for other reasons such as those i listed prior.

since you already have your monitors set up as dvi i wouldnt bother to change them. no use fixing what isnt broke. the quality level is no better on hdmi than dvi.

 

[Shmister]

Thanks man, Always a great help here on the forums