If I have surround sound receiver and a pc - do I still need a surround capable sound card? (1 Viewer)

[chris2222]

I actually explained two channel surround sound.

Yes you did, sorry my bad.

In the end I'm on a GPU hunt. Dolby pro logic II can only get you so far. Just got myself a Pioneer HTP-076, now I just need the proper lines (looks like HDMI) to carry the right signals and I'll be good to go.

 

[Bill_S_25]

Right now I stream thru a pc and send to my sound bar that decodes AC3, DTS etc. My PC does no decoding. It's connected via HDMI using Windows std HDMI audio. You do need to use an app that will use audio pass thru though. Note Windows (or app) won't control sound level. I use either Kodi or MPC-BE {(both open source). Works okay for me

 

[JediFonger]

does your av receiver have hdmi? if not, you can even look for spdif cables that might pass lossy 640k dolby digital or lossy dts.

if your avr does have hdmi then best bet is geforce or radeon gpu with hdmi

 

[chris2222]

Let's see, my old Sherwood RV4050R .. nope

but the new Pioneer HTP-076 that I just picked up however, does have HDMI.

 

[JediFonger]

so your old avr you’d just pass the stereo to avr

but if your intention is to start using hdmi then a dedicated hdmi video card works wonders. it is how i have my htpc setup. geforce 1060 hdmi to avr

 

[chris2222]

The intention is to get 5.1 surround. My old stereo won't do that.
That geforce looks like the way to go, just checked the amazon price, it's pretty steep!

 

[JediFonger]

go in ebay any old gpu will
do.

 

[chris2222]

Hmm, I might go with the Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, but wow prices aren't sub $200 anymore. $390 cdn for that budget considered card Wow! - at least it's a good one. I've been out of the system for a while.

 

[JediFonger]

if you dont plan on upgrading to hdr tv nor game, go ebay and grab any “geforce hdmi” card i see a bunch between $20-50 including shipping.

if you do want hdr, then buy at least a geforce 9xx series. also radeons are pretty cheap. dont spend more than $50 imho

there is currently chip shortage so everything is sky high price wise

 

[DaveF]

Let's see, my old Sherwood RV4050R .. nope View attachment 123621

That does't even have SVHS! It does have a "CD" port so it might be from the 1990's.

 

[DaveF]

Hmm, I might go with the Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, but wow prices aren't sub $200 anymore. $390 cdn for that budget considered card Wow! - at least it's a good one. I've been out of the system for a while.

GPUs have been expensive the past several years because of cryptocoin and even shorter supply during the pandemic.

 

[chris2222]

Yeah, bitcoin mining I forgot that was the first thing that drove up GPU prices - that made me angry at bit coin miners because they bought thousands of GPU's just for mining - what a waste - next past time for them will be using those GPU's to break passwords.
One other question. There's only one HDMI out on the GPU. Do I need an HDMI splitter so one can go to the TV while the other goes to the audio? ....
Oh nevermind, looks like HDMI goes directly into the Pioneer HPT-076 and then I just HDMI out to the TV.

 

[chris2222]

I'm back again. So the 1050Ti will play 7.1 surround? Ok, so how about video. What would be a good one to support 4k? Is Asus better than MSI or Gigabyte or NVidia?

 

[Wardog555]

Yes it will do 7.1 if your source has it. Are you using the pc as a media player? Eg movies, TV shows. And then plugging into reciever?

 

[chris2222]

Yes I would be plugging the hdmi feed from the pc into a surround sound reciever.
Using it as a media player.