[BuckyOH]

Hello,

I have now set up:
PC with echo audio gina 3g (Surround sound support: 5.1 & 7.1 output w/ delay management; AC3, DTS, & WMA9 output over S/PDIF) , connected through SPDIF to my Onkyo tx-sr604e ( https://0.allegroimg.com/original/0c5993/c1f9006747c8b8fd57cdc9d9cca0 ) and manual ( https://www.eu.onkyo.com/downloads/1/1/8/7/8/21514467_499775d37a.pdf ) and magnat speakers ( like these http://static.hifi-forum.de/produkte/28568231/large/magnat-monitor-990.jpg) .
My pc is further connected to my 42 inch sony bravia through my nvidia gtx 1070ti with a HDMI cable.
I'm gonna move to a new home where my pc isn't gonna be in the same room anymore. I am gonna use my laptop to connect to my tv to use as a streaming pc for games on steam and watching movies and series. I now use VLC with Spdif passthrough.

I was wondering how to connect my laptop to my receiver. I was thinking of buying a usb soundcard. Something like the soundblaster omni 5.1. Would sound over hdmi be better quality for watching movies and series? Should I invest more on a soundcard? As I was used to the high quality of the echoaudio .

 

[Zenvota]

ya hdmi is usually better, as its capable of transmitting lossless audio. a multi channel soundcard would work and it looks like the avr has analog inputs, you just need to be careful not to overdrive them by turning the pc volume up to high. does the laptop have hdmi?

 

[BuckyOH]

The laptop has hdmi yeah. But that would only do good for audio from a source with spdif sound right? I notice in vlc that it only uses spdif pass-through in some videos.
The av doesn't have multichannel inputs
So, I think making a combination of a soundcard and hdmi. Cuz, wouldn't the sound be horrible on a serie without spdif pass through if you put it over hdmi?
Also, what soundcard to get. Is the omni any good? As im used to a nice AI. Or buy another production AI again with high quality da converters?

 

[Zenvota]

But that would only do good for audio from a source with spdif sound right?

Im sorry I'm not sure what this means. You should be able to connect the laptop and pc to the avr via hdmi with no issues, thats how i connect all my pcs to receivers. Spdif passthrough would be bitstreaming? as in the encoded audio(dolby digital, dts) is being sent over spdif to the receiver which is decoding it.

Before you do anything, try hdmi directly from the laptop to the avr, this is best for sound quality.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hello,

I have now set up:
PC with echo audio gina 3g (Surround sound support: 5.1 & 7.1 output w/ delay management; AC3, DTS, & WMA9 output over S/PDIF) , connected through SPDIF to my Onkyo tx-sr604e ( https://0.allegroimg.com/original/0c5993/c1f9006747c8b8fd57cdc9d9cca0 ) and manual ( https://www.eu.onkyo.com/downloads/1/1/8/7/8/21514467_499775d37a.pdf ) and magnat speakers ( like these http://static.hifi-forum.de/produkte/28568231/large/magnat-monitor-990.jpg) .
My pc is further connected to my 42 inch sony bravia through my nvidia gtx 1070ti with a HDMI cable.
I'm gonna move to a new home where my pc isn't gonna be in the same room anymore. I am gonna use my laptop to connect to my tv to use as a streaming pc for games on steam and watching movies and series. I now use VLC with Spdif passthrough.

I was wondering how to connect my laptop to my receiver. I was thinking of buying a usb sound card. Something like the sound blaster omni 5.1. Would sound over hdmi be better quality for watching movies and series? Should I invest more on a sound card? As I was used to the high quality of the echoaudio .

HDMI carries up to 8-channels of PCM (uncompressed) 24-bit/192K of digital audio
S/PDIF (optical/coaxial) is normally 2-channels of PCM audio, 24-bit/96K or 24-bit/192K.
But using encoding/compression (bitstream?) 6-channels (5.1) digital audio is carried, but max audio quality is 24-bit/48K.