I'm looking for my first ever 5.1 sound system for my PC.

Hopefully not too expensive.

My cheap old 2.1 system died a death and I might as well replace it with something better.

My PC is running Realtek HD Audio Manager as stock, which says it has 7.1 capability.

However, as I mainly watch download movies, documentaries, live concerts etc, are they usually even in 5.1?

Any advice or recommendations?

Thanks.

Edited May 20, 201412 yr by thamteak

Most movies with multi-channel soundtracks are using a flavor of either DTS or Dolby encoding, so the first question is: can your soundcard decode these formats?

If yes, you'll need to find a surround system with discrete multi-channel inputs (rare).

If not, does it have a digital audio output (or HDMI) so decoding could be offloaded to the (new) surround system?

Edited May 20, 201412 yr by IMHO

Without these I guess that buying a 5.1 system is a bit pointless?

2.1 with 2 extra speakers split off to be behind you might be similar? as there's no 'surround' sound anyway.

Without these I guess that buying a 5.1 system is a bit pointless?

2.1 with 2 extra speakers split off to be behind you might be similar? as there's no 'surround' sound anyway.

2 extra speakers behind you, running the same signal as the front will "surround you with sound", but it's not the common definition of "surround sound" - that is normally used to describe systems where front, centre, rear, and other effects channels all have their own discrete signal

thamteak,

Why not just tell us the type of connections your soundcard or motherboard supports.

If it only supports a single Stereo Out (3.5mm out), an option might be to add a USB sound device that provides options for passing audio output to an external decoder (eg: S/PDIF Toslink optical digital output, or 4 x 3.5 mm jack for multi channel speaker set connection)

If you go the USB route, stay away from the under 500฿ devices as they are usually utter junk.

Without these I guess that buying a 5.1 system is a bit pointless?

2.1 with 2 extra speakers split off to be behind you might be similar? as there's no 'surround' sound anyway.

2 extra speakers behind you, running the same signal as the front will "surround you with sound", but it's not the common definition of "surround sound" - that is normally used to describe systems where front, centre, rear, and other effects channels all have their own discrete signal

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

If either the computer or file being played is not 5.1, then having a 5.1 speaker set up will just be as good as a 2.1 system but with extra speakers placed behind you.

So says common logic, any way.

thamteak,

Why not just tell us the type of connections your soundcard or motherboard supports.

If it only supports a single Stereo Out (3.5mm out), an option might be to add a USB sound device that provides options for passing audio output to an external decoder (eg: S/PDIF Toslink optical digital output, or 4 x 3.5 mm jack for multi channel speaker set connection)

If you go the USB route, stay away from the under 500฿ devices as they are usually utter junk.

Checking my soundcard properties it has options for 5.1 and 7.1.

Looking at the back of the computer it only has a 3.5mm headphone line out that I have my current cheapie woofer and speaker system plugged into.