[cel4145]

Might as well try it and see if you like it. We can talk about this all day. But experimenting with it yourself--trying the different Windows and sound card configuration options, and then your receiver options--is more interesting, at least if it were me. I'd hook all the speakers up, and then connect the optical and the analog cables, and decide for yourself.

Which cables were you thinking of buying? You shouldn't have to spend tons of money. Those KabelDirekt cables I linked to above work well. So does the Amazon Basics. Monoprice makes decent cables that might even save you a few more bucks.

 

[IMPERIUS]

Might as well try it and see if you like it. We can talk about this all day. But experimenting with it yourself--trying the different Windows and sound card configuration options, and then your receiver options--is more interesting, at least if it were me. I'd hook all the speakers up, and then connect the optical and the analog cables, and decide for yourself.

Which cables were you thinking of buying? You shouldn't have to spend tons of money. Those KabelDirekt cables I linked to above work well. So does the Amazon Basics. Monoprice makes decent cables that might even save you a few more bucks.

 
I didn't look into them too much yet. But why is a more expensive cable better than say a 2eur worth one? Yes, the more expensive one is probably better all around but what about the sound quality?

 

[cel4145]

It's not hard to make a cable that works well. Super cheap ones might degrade audio quality or otherwise cause problems. But the ones I linked to are reasonably priced and work well. Not sure what is available to you, although some of the ones I mentioned are available on Amazon Germany.

 

[IMPERIUS]

It's not hard to make a cable that works well. Super cheap ones might degrade audio quality or otherwise cause problems. But the ones I linked to are reasonably priced and work well. Not sure what is available to you, although some of the ones I mentioned are available on Amazon Germany.

 
Aha I see. Yeah, I guess I'm going with some that you mentioned

 

[cel4145]

The ones I would avoid are the old style RCA cables (they've been thrown in with equipment as cheap interconnects for decades) that look like this:

 

[IMPERIUS]

The ones I would avoid are the old style RCA cables (they've been thrown in with equipment as cheap interconnects for decades) that look like this:
 

 
Thanks for the tip.
 
Setup:

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
So I guess I could only make use of the center speaker in games, but then I loose all other directions except the front which ain't really good. I guess I will go with the 2.1 setup. So the new cabling will go like this:
QQ\
From the orange jack on the soundcard to the "subwoofer" jack on the receiver, and from the "front" jack on the SC to the "front" jacks on the receiver (of course I will use rca-3.5mm adapters). Or just connect them all via 1 optical cable, right? Thanks guys!

 
I'd use the optical cable just to avoid the guesswork. AFAIK on 3.5mm stero jacks the center and sub signals are combined since each only takes up one channel, so you'll just end up not having a signal to the sub then going back to the rear panel to switch out the RCA plugs.
 
Note that if you output analog 5.1 from the soundcard make sure first that the center and sub are connected properly (as above), so test it at low volume first.
 
 
 
 

 
edit: or I could use all my 5 speakers for music even though I won't get surround sound from it but it will create that "music from all directions" feel

 

Or you can just set up all five speakers, and set the soundcard to output a digital signal as it is by default. So if you're playing music it outputs 2.0, and the subwoofer and main channels work (make sure you set this up first on the receiver's settings); then when you run a game with surround, then all five channels work. That's basically how people use their HT systems for music listening.

 

 

 

[IMPERIUS]

I'd use the optical cable just to avoid the guesswork. AFAIK on 3.5mm stero jacks the center and sub signals are combined since each only takes up one channel, so you'll just end up not having a signal to the sub then going back to the rear panel to switch out the RCA plugs.

But why would that happen? And if it does how should I switch up the connectors?

 

[cel4145]

But why would that happen? And if it does how should I switch up the connectors?

It's not hard. You gotta a 50/50 chance of being right the first time. You just switch the RCA plugs between the sub input and the center channel on the receiver.

 

[IMPERIUS]

It's not hard. You gotta a 50/50 chance of being right the first time. You just switch the RCA plugs between the sub input and the center channel on the receiver.

 
Lol that should be easy. Audio stuff is really confusing sometimes. But anyways, thank you for all your help

 

[ProtegeManiac]

But why would that happen? And if it does how should I switch up the connectors?

 

Your TRS plug can take two channels. Your multimedia speaker has a TRS plug on it just like the soundcard/mobo, and they're made so that the Center and Sub will take up what would normally be Left and Right channels. That normally isn't a problem since you have the same TRS socket on either end, but in this case, the receiver would have a separate RCA input for Center and Sub. The thing is, I have no idea which one is wired to what, so unless you have testing equipment to determine how they're wired, you'd have to start with trial and error. If you're hellbent on using the Center speaker then it might get a signal meant for the subwoofer, so it's best to test the cable on the subwoofer first.

 

Or you avoid all that altogether by just using the SPDIF digital output and input.

 

[cel4145]

Probably easier to do it the other way around. Plug in the center channel first. It should be pretty obvious if it got the subwoofer signal because there shouldn't be much/any mids and highs.

 

[konstantinosxxl]

Hello 
 
Personally I use the pc for music-movies and sometimes for gaming.
My system  a pair of bookself speakers hyperion audio -av amp denon 3805 7.1ch.
 
After experiments I found out optical cable works the best as far a person connects the pc with an av receiver  with no USB in.
 
The optical cable I use is from QED- hdmi from Supra and Black rodium speaker cables.
Even my blueray is connected with optical as I use it for cd player.
 
I hope I helped a little