i recently installed a dvd player in my computer and it came with a digital audio cable to hook up internally. but because i do not have a sound card i didnt hook it to anything. what im wondering is if i were to get a surround sound audio system and attach it the the headphones jack with the rca cords will i still be able to get dolby surround sound from the dvd or divx file?
also if i get a sound card that is desined for surround sound, will i get surround sound from the sound card (considering the digital audio cable not attached on the dvd player).
A sound card designed for surround, should have analog outputs as well as digital. So yes, you should be able to get surround anyway. I'm not sure how true it is, but I've heard that if you're running XP, you don't need to hook up the internal digital cable. I have the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum card installed. I get great surround from it. Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1 come through very well. It's a $200 card at Best Buy and Circuit City. You can get cheaper ones. Remember too.......... when you get a card and speakers hooked up, you'll still need a software dvd player that supports surround. I wasn't able to find a free one. Others have said that there are free ones though........ Good luck!
ok anolog surround sound input still exists, thats right, thanks. software surround sound issues is an interesting thought i hadnt considered i was planning on using powerdvd or win media player 10. so ill try searching web and see if i can find anything on that.
does the headphone jack on a computer with only integrated sound hardware only have 2.0 stereo audio rather than surround sound?
Don't know about the headphones. I don't see getting very good surround from just two speakers. Maybe they have a way of "Fooling" your ears into thinking you're hearing surround? You can go here: http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/WinDVD_Profile.jsp and download a 21 day free trial of WinDVD 7. It supports DD and DTS surround. I use WinDVD 6, and I like it a lot.
Any time you take 2 channel sound and make it into serround sound it is just simulated. So yes you should be able to hook the pc soundcard to your home theater amp, but you will get the same serround sound effect as hooking a VCR to a home theater amp. It sounds fine to the untrained ear, or people who just dont care. But if you are a true home theater nut you will be upgrading to a better sound card in the very near future. Both my dvd drives have NOT got the audio cable connected internally and they output digital sound just fine through my on board SPDIF connection.
