[merigoldsass]

i have logitech z906 speakers  however i want to step up pc audio in the following department. i also have Yamaha NS-SP1800BL 5.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker System that I have not used yet.  I am also covered in the headphone department as i have sennheiser hd598, klipsch x10i, beyerdynamic dt 880, and a few other high end headphones.
 
Main goal is to have the best support for dts, dolbly digital, dolby headphone, all or most of the other dolby / dts features (sorry there are so many things regarding sound formats that sometimes my brain explodes), to watch movies with 5.1 or eventually 7.1 sound and other important thing is to be able to game on pc at 2560 x 1600 (which I already do and as of now I believe only a dvi-d cable can do this - which does not transfer audio)

1) i have 5.1 yamaha speakers that i want to use with a receiver with a pc. can anyone recommend a good 7.1 receiver? if the receiver has dolby headphone mode that would be good as well. i would like to spend under $300.  i have amazon prime and live in FL  (free shipping no tax hopefully i can stay under $300 or $350 at the most).  
1.5) I might buy 2 speakers for 7.1 sound, which speaskers would be good with the yamahas and do most pc games support 7.1 sound or how do you know if the game does.

2) from what i have been told is that hdmi will carry over your 1080p and full surround sound in one cable (gives better sound than optical or coaxial cables). here is my problem (a good problem) i use  dvi-d cable out of my gtx 680 for 2560 x 1600 gaming, with that set up what should i be connecting the pc to a receiver with for the the best sound?   should i go with optical, coaxial, can hdmi only do audio if you want, something else........?  sorry extremely confused.

3) would a sound card benefit me in my situation of wanting to use a receiver or is it useless?  what is a good sound card if i should get one (i used to use a claro plus card but it does not fit in my new motherboard - asus z77 sabertooth )

4) if i want excellent headphone sound for gaming and possibly videos, should i plug into the reciever, the pc, or buy a separate amp that plugs into the pc, or use a separate amp that plugs into the receiver?


thanks for your help

 

[PurpleAngel]

Yamaha receivers come with Silent Cinema, Yamaha's own version of Headphone Surround Sound.
Right now Amazon has a Yamaha RX-671 "used like new" receiver for $216, nice receiver, I have one.
Run HDMI from PC to receiver, then HDMI from receiver to TV/monitor.
HDMI will carry full 7.1 Blu-ray audio
 
My RX-V671 does a great job of driving my DT880s (both Pro 250-Ohm and Premium 600-Ohm).

 

[cel4145]

With multichannel audio, HDMI can carry lossless HD (blu-ray) audio in 5.1/7.1. Optical and coaxial cannot. They can carry Dolby Digital 5.1 (not sure about 7.1) surround, which is the lossy audio standard used with DVD, and I think maybe regular (non-HD) DTS. However, with an entry level receiver and your Yamaha HTIB speaker set, you might not be able to tell the difference at all. Certainly, it would be minimal.

I'd jump on the Yamaha RX-671 that PurpleAngel listed. That's a good deal

 

[merigoldsass]

do i still need a good sound card for my pc to take advantage of a receiver?
 

 

[cel4145]

Does your motherboard have optical or coaxial out?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Do I still need a good sound card for my PC to take advantage of a receiver?

Usually when a computer is outputing thru HDMi, it's audio is bypassing any sound card in the computer.
So you really have no need for adding a sound card.
 
S/PDIF (optical and coaxial) connection from computer audio to receiver is a second best connection.
but S/PDIF is more like music or 5.1 (6-channel) DVD level audio quality, and I believe S/PDIF can not pass 8-channels (7.1) audio.

 

[merigoldsass]

Quote:

Usually when a computer is outputing thru HDMi, it's audio is bypassing any sound card in the computer.
So you really have no need for adding a sound card.
 
S/PDIF (optical and coaxial) connection from computer audio to receiver is a second best connection.
but S/PDIF is more like music or 5.1 (6-channel) DVD level audio quality, and I believe S/PDIF can not pass 8-channels (7.1) audio.

can i have only audio pass through one of my GTX 680 video cards though hdmi and video pass through the dvi-d cable so that i can have hdmi audio and 2560 x 1600 video?  or am i stuck with optical and 2560 x 1600 resolution?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Can I have only audio pass through one of my GTX 680 video cards though HDMI and video pass through the dvi-d cable so that i can have HDMI audio and 2560 x 1600 video?  or am i stuck with optical and 2560 x 1600 resolution?

Not sure, if audio thru HDMI and video the DVI-D setup would work?
But why even use DVI-D for video when you can use HDMI?

 

[merigoldsass]

Quote:

Not sure, if audio thru HDMI and video the DVI-D setup would work?
But why even use DVI-D for video when you can use HDMI?

the reason i want to use dvi-d for video is because i have a 30 inch dell u3011 monitor which supports 2560 X 1600 which with pc gaming looks  much better than 1080p gaming, this is why i prefer dvi-d over hdmi. i am pretty sure only dvi-d can support 2560 X 1600.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

The reason i want to use DVI-D for video is because i have a 30 inch dell u3011 monitor which supports 2560 X 1600 which with PC gaming looks much better than 1080p gaming, this is why I prefer DVI-D over HDMI. I am pretty sure only DVI-D can support 2560 X 1600.

From my best understanding, the video signals carried by HDMI is same that is carried by DVI.
So my best guess is HDMI should be able to carry 2560 X 1600.
 
The new 4K (UHD) resolution is 3840 X 2160 and I'm sure that HDMI can carry that video signal.

 

[cel4145]

can i have only audio pass through one of my GTX 680 video cards though hdmi and video pass through the dvi-d cable so that i can have hdmi audio and 2560 x 1600 video?  or am i stuck with optical and 2560 x 1600 resolution?

I think you are asking the wrong question. The question to ask is what would the alternative cost? Entry level AVRs don't provide multichannel analog input for connecting a sound card. So to be able to get better than optical if the HDMI from your other card doesn't work, you would likely have to (a) buy a good bit more expensive receiver and (b) buy a good sound card that can output 5.1 channel analog. I would imagine you'd probably have to spend several hundred (or more) to accomplish that. Meanwhile, for a budget of several hundred more, the better SQ for your setup would probably be to still get that Yamaha receiver and also upgrade your front three speakers (and maybe the sub), not buy a better receiver and sound card.

 

[merigoldsass]

Quote:

From my best understanding, the video signals carried by HDMI is same that is carried by DVI.
So my best guess is HDMI should be able to carry 2560 X 1600.
 
The new 4K (UHD) resolution is 3840 X 2160 and I'm sure that HDMI can carry that video signal.

i agree that hdmi is probably capable of 3840 X 2160 however i think that is only with movies/ video (the current small amount of "4K" stuff that is out there to buy).  DVI-D is different from DVI , from my understanding DVI-D the only cable that can produce true 1080p stereoscopic 3d gaming pc gaming  (better than the crap the current consoles produce with 3d gaming). DVI-D also from my understanding is the only cable that can produce gaming  resolution higher than 1080p,  such as 2560 X 1600. I am not sure about display port capabilities.   If there was a tv that supported DVI-D cables above 1080p I would buy it in a second. have not found one yet.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

i agree that hdmi is probably capable of 3840 X 2160 however i think that is only with movies/ video (the current small amount of "4K" stuff that is out there to buy).  DVI-D is different from DVI , from my understanding DVI-D the only cable that can produce true 1080p stereoscopic 3d gaming pc gaming  (better than the crap the current consoles produce with 3d gaming). DVI-D also from my understanding is the only cable that can produce gaming  resolution higher than 1080p,  such as 2560 X 1600. I am not sure about display port capabilities.   If there was a tv that supported DVI-D cables above 1080p I would buy it in a second. have not found one yet.

The signal that movie videos use and gaming should be the same signal.
DVI (all versions) are going to disappear some day, leaving HDMI.
If you get an HDMI cable that is version 1.4, I would think it would provide the picture your looking for.

 

[merigoldsass]

Quote:

The signal that movie videos use and gaming should be the same signal.
DVI (all versions) are going to disappear some day, leaving HDMI.
If you get an HDMI cable that is version 1.4, I would think it would provide the picture your looking for.

i spoke with pny the video card company of both my gtx 680 video cards and they said no matter what hdmi cable version you use you will not go beyond 1080p for gaming. he did say display port will support over 1080p.  what i just mentioned is probably why , as of know, sony and microsoft will not support 4k or anything else above 1080p in regards to gaming. sony has announced that it will only support 4k video (bluray, etc...)  not 4k gaming. we will see if somehow this changes.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

i spoke with pny the video card company of both my GTX 680 video cards and they said no matter what HDMI cable version you use you will not go beyond 1080p for gaming. he did say display port will support over 1080p.  what i just mentioned is probably why , as of know, Sony and Microsoft will not support 4k or anything else above 1080p in regards to gaming. Sony has announced that it will only support 4k video (blu-ray, etc...)  not 4k gaming. we will see if somehow this changes.

As they say 1080 is the maximum for gaming, then you can not game at 2560 X1600, so why even try gaming above 1080 if that does not work?