[BigTerminator]

For a 2.1 setup use 2 channels for audio and 5.1 for analog out. The whole goal is for the same stereo sound, just with the subwoofer added. 

 

[Solarium]

  For a 2.1 setup use 2 channels for audio and 5.1 for analog out. The whole goal is for the same stereo sound, just with the subwoofer added. 

Does this setup allows 7.1 surround simulation still? Games like CSGO I put 5.1 in the sound setup, I'm not sure if I'm getting all channels through.
 
Also, the volume seems to be a lot lower when I put 2 channels instead of 8 channels.

 

[BigTerminator]

You can still use the surround sound DSP's but I would urge against it as you want the sound to be pure. I game with my 2.1 setup without any DSP's and can locate all the enemies, even behind me. If it makes it better than use it but I personally don't.
 
You can use 8 channels but it might mess with your music and regular sources that are stereo. 
 
The honest truth, if you have your speakers positioned correctly with your listening position, the soundstage and imaging should be good enough for gaming without the use of DSP's to give you fake surround sound. I would say run it in Hifi mode (unless you want the eq), 2 channel in, 5.1 channel out. Adjust your speakers to give you accurate imaging. 
 
The DSP's make the sound from my speakers unnatural. For headphones it helped, but for speakers it ruined it. 

 

[vourt]

Just needs a short advise if the 7.1 connections can be connected to a regular 5.1 speakers system (Morel MT2) by taking the cable from each speaker into this sound card?

 

[BigTerminator]

It will do 5.1 if you plug in all the speakers via RCA. You do not have to run it in 7.1 mode. 

 

[Solarium]

  You can still use the surround sound DSP's but I would urge against it as you want the sound to be pure. I game with my 2.1 setup without any DSP's and can locate all the enemies, even behind me. If it makes it better than use it but I personally don't.
 
You can use 8 channels but it might mess with your music and regular sources that are stereo. 
 
The honest truth, if you have your speakers positioned correctly with your listening position, the soundstage and imaging should be good enough for gaming without the use of DSP's to give you fake surround sound. I would say run it in Hifi mode (unless you want the eq), 2 channel in, 5.1 channel out. Adjust your speakers to give you accurate imaging. 
 
The DSP's make the sound from my speakers unnatural. For headphones it helped, but for speakers it ruined it. 

Does your volume get lower when you change the channel from 8 to 2? My volume gets unnaturally low when I set it to 2 channels, not sure why

 

[BigTerminator]

It sounds identical. Check the volume mixer. Also when I switch channels sometimes the audio track has to be refreshed otherwise it won't work. If you are still getting loud enough volumes then what is the big deal. Is your setup generally working with the sub?

 

[vourt]

  It will do 5.1 if you plug in all the speakers via RCA. You do not have to run it in 7.1 mode. 

I see, but will it have enough power to drive 5.1 regular speakers that are not powered? (satellite + sub speakers).
 
Thanks

 

[BigTerminator]

  I see, but will it have enough power to drive 5.1 regular speakers that are not powered? (satellite + sub speakers).
 
Thanks

This is not an amp, it is a DAC. No power is going through. 

 

[Solarium]

  It sounds identical. Check the volume mixer. Also when I switch channels sometimes the audio track has to be refreshed otherwise it won't work. If you are still getting loud enough volumes then what is the big deal. Is your setup generally working with the sub?

I played with a mixer a little bit to increase the default 76 to 86, and now the 2 channel sounds like the same volume as the 8 channel setup. Although when I revert back to the 8 channel, it still sounds louder when using the same mixer settings. I'm not sure why is the case, the sound also is a bit different. Otherwise, the sub is working perfectly with the FlexBass, and generally the music sounds a WHOLE lot better than plugging in both speakers and sub with a splitter into the front R/L RCA's. This is a huge upgrade for me from the Titanium HD.
 
BTW, how do I check whether all 5.1/7.1 channels are coming out to the front R/L speakers when I play games or movies using 5.1/7.1 output?

 

[BigTerminator]

When I first got my H6 to use with my sub, some games had no dialogue. It did this because I had no center channel, so I was missing all that information. When I installed the drivers and disabled upmixing I could hear the game normally. You can play with stereo output and 5.1 to see if you are missing any information. Usually you can tell if the movie or video game is trying to run a 5.1 signal. It will sound quieter and dialogue will be axed away. Keep the card in 2 channel mode, keep the volume at 76 unless you NEED the extra volume, 76 is a 0db signal which is what you want. 

 

[Solarium]

  When I first got my H6 to use with my sub, some games had no dialogue. It did this because I had no center channel, so I was missing all that information. When I installed the drivers and disabled upmixing I could hear the game normally. You can play with stereo output and 5.1 to see if you are missing any information. Usually you can tell if the movie or video game is trying to run a 5.1 signal. It will sound quieter and dialogue will be axed away. Keep the card in 2 channel mode, keep the volume at 76 unless you NEED the extra volume, 76 is a 0db signal which is what you want. 

2 channel mode does get a bit quieter, I would have to increase my main windows volume from 50 to 70 or so to keep the same loudness. So far I don't think I'm missing any sounds with 2 channel/5.1 output.
 
One thing though, is there a way to save your settings for speakers and headphones? Whenever I have to use headphones, I have to change the 2 channel to 8 channels, the 5.1 to headphones, and the FlexBass off, so it's kind of a hassle. Is there a way to save the settings to one of those DSP settings to change it with just 1 button?

 

[BigTerminator]

It does not have profiles so yes you have to switch all that stuff around. 

 

[Renfield1217]

Just a heads up, You might want to try the XonarSwitch they are beta testing on the UniXonar site. Seems it allows you to set profiles that you can change on the fly.
I personally have not tried it, but here is the url.
 
http://maxedtech.com/xonarswitch-beta-testing/

 

[PeterMac]

I'm using Essence ST with HD600 does it worth to upgrade to STX II ? How about jitter on STX II compare to ST ?