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From: ShadowTek on 6 Feb 2010 14:13
I am trying to find a way to hook up my PC's audio outputs to my 5.1
receiver. The receiver (RCA RV-9978) works great, but it only has 2 RCA
inputs, one for left and one for right. My motherboard (Gigabyte
GA-EP43-UD3L) uses a Realtek ALC888 with 8-channel outputs, 1x S/PDIF
optical, and 1x S/PDIF coax.

I looked at a few sites, but I haven't seen any sort of adapter that
will convert a PC output to 2 RCA inputs that *also* carry the complete
5.1 with it.

Has anyone seen a product that can do this?

Also, I should note that I'm using a Linux OS, so I need to avoid junk
that requires closed-source software in order to function. Along those
lines, I'm currently content with onboard audio, so I'd like to find an
external solution, such as a cable adapter, if possible.
From: VanguardLH on 6 Feb 2010 14:49
ShadowTek wrote:

> I am trying to find a way to hook up my PC's audio outputs to my 5.1
> receiver. The receiver (RCA RV-9978) works great, but it only has 2 RCA
> inputs, one for left and one for right. My motherboard (Gigabyte
> GA-EP43-UD3L) uses a Realtek ALC888 with 8-channel outputs, 1x S/PDIF
> optical, and 1x S/PDIF coax.
>
> I looked at a few sites, but I haven't seen any sort of adapter that
> will convert a PC output to 2 RCA inputs that *also* carry the complete
> 5.1 with it.
>
> Has anyone seen a product that can do this?
>
> Also, I should note that I'm using a Linux OS, so I need to avoid junk
> that requires closed-source software in order to function. Along those
> lines, I'm currently content with onboard audio, so I'd like to find an
> external solution, such as a cable adapter, if possible.

Regardless of what output layout is possible from your receiver, it
obviously only has stereo inputs (left+right). So connect the left and
right outputs from the mobo's sound output to the left and right inputs of
your receiver. No conversion is needed. Just go PC right-channel output to
receiver right input and PC left-channel output to receiver left input. No
conversion is going to undo that the receiver only has stereo inputs. This
receiver does not provide relaying and reamplification of 4.1/5.1/6.1/7.1
inputs. No matter how you managed to combine the 5.1 outputs of the
computer via software or cables, your receiver will still see the combined
mess as just left+right stereo input.

RCA RV-9978 manual
http://157.254.235.130/public/15333040.pdf
Look at page 4
ALL inputs are stereo.

Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L manual
http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-ep43-ud3l(us3l)_e.pdf
Page 19 - Backpanel connectors
Connect to the Line Out (green) and split to RCA jacks for left & right to
your receiver. Use a stereo plug to RCA plug adapter cable, like
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3452165.

If you want to use the 5.1 outputs from your computer, you'll need to get an
externally powered 5.1 speaker system. You cannot use your receiver as a
substitute. There might be an amplifier that takes 5.1 inputs to power your
5.1 speaker setup but it won't be your stereo-input receiver doing that.
From: ShadowTek on 6 Feb 2010 21:08
On 2010-02-06, VanguardLH <V(a)nguard.LH> wrote:
>
> Regardless of what output layout is possible from your receiver, it
> obviously only has stereo inputs (left+right). So connect the left and
> right outputs from the mobo's sound output to the left and right inputs of
> your receiver. No conversion is needed. Just go PC right-channel output to
> receiver right input and PC left-channel output to receiver left input. No
> conversion is going to undo that the receiver only has stereo inputs. This
> receiver does not provide relaying and reamplification of 4.1/5.1/6.1/7.1
> inputs. No matter how you managed to combine the 5.1 outputs of the
> computer via software or cables, your receiver will still see the combined
> mess as just left+right stereo input.
>
> RCA RV-9978 manual
> http://157.254.235.130/public/15333040.pdf
> Look at page 4
> ALL inputs are stereo.
>
> Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L manual
> http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-ep43-ud3l(us3l)_e.pdf
> Page 19 - Backpanel connectors
> Connect to the Line Out (green) and split to RCA jacks for left & right to
> your receiver. Use a stereo plug to RCA plug adapter cable, like
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3452165.
>
> If you want to use the 5.1 outputs from your computer, you'll need to get an
> externally powered 5.1 speaker system. You cannot use your receiver as a
> substitute. There might be an amplifier that takes 5.1 inputs to power your
> 5.1 speaker setup but it won't be your stereo-input receiver doing that.

I was confused about the type of surround sound used for this receiver.
It only uses Dolby Pro Logic, and I wasn't familiar with the fact that
the surround effect was encoded over a stereo signal.
It seems that what I need to do is configure my audio server to transmit
in Dolby Pro Logic.

Thank for the detailed response.
From: Wolfgang Draxinger on 6 Feb 2010 21:08
ShadowTek wrote:

> I looked at a few sites, but I haven't seen any sort of adapter that
> will convert a PC output to 2 RCA inputs that *also* carry the complete
> 5.1 with it.

That reciever is for the old crappy Dolby Surround method, which uses some
signal processing tricks to mix some sort of low quality surround into a
stereo signal.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Surround>

If you really want to take leverage of your 5.1 system you gonna need a new
amplifier. Dolby Surround is just a poor substitute.

> Has anyone seen a product that can do this?
>
> Also, I should note that I'm using a Linux OS, so I need to avoid junk
> that requires closed-source software in order to function. Along those
> lines, I'm currently content with onboard audio, so I'd like to find an
> external solution, such as a cable adapter, if possible.

There are LADSPA plugins that can create a Dolby Surround signal from 5.1
source but the quality will be inferior to true 5.1


Wolfgang

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