getting into HTPC: audio formats? (1 Viewer)

[EricW]

i will be getting into HTPC with my next tv, and using it also as a monitor, so i'll be doing more PC games. my question is do most games use DD5.1 as surround? if not, will i need to get a new receiver to decode something else? i was hoping to simply connect the pc to my existing HT pioneer receiver to get 5.1 surround.

 

[Darryl]

The format of surround sound from your PC to your receiver depends on your sound card. The most common is to send it as analog signals that require a set of multi-channel analog inputs on your receiver. There are also some sound cards that do real-time encoding of surround sound to either Dolby Digital or DTS. Make sure you get a card that does real-time encoding, not just pass-through. The pass-through only works if the original source was DD or DTS, such as a movie. The digital pass-through doesn't work for games.