5.1 Surround

[Moress]

Hi! I purchased the Logitech z506 5.1 surround system about 6 months ago and have been running it via the audio jack. When I test them it only works when I use the stereo setup. All of the speakers output but I'm assuming I'm losing quality since it isn't running in its appropriate settings.

My question is what would be the best option for me to be able to enable the full 5.1 settings. I know that I don't currently have the hardware since there is nowhere to plug in the right cables.

Should I purchase an internal sound card, is there an external solution, or am I missing something and would be able to use the 5.1 without any additional hardware.

[21rkosta]

you should be able to use  5.1 right now but still if you can upgrade to digital optical spid/f

[Moress]

1 minute ago, 21rkosta said:

you should be able to use  5.1 right now but still if you can upgrade to digital optical spid/f

When I plug in the audio jack and click on the 5.1 option it tries to run through the different speakers. When this happens it only works for the two main speakers as though the setup is stereo. But, when I play music or a video all of the speaks work, but I don't think they're getting the proper information to work as actual 5.1.
Is there something I'm doing wrong software side?

[Guest]

You need 5.1 audio out to use this system in surround. You need 5.1 channel material to get the benefit of the system.

[21rkosta]

possibly... but im not an expert in the topic... and heyyyyy 300th post!!!

[Moress]

3 minutes ago, SSL said:

You need 5.1 audio out to use this system in surround. You need 5.1 channel material to get the benefit of the system.

Is this something I could get with a sound card?

[StormEye]

4 minutes ago, Moress said:

Is this something I could get with a sound card?

Unless you have a source that is natively 5.1, all you will get from sound card is upmixing (even onboard should be able to do this).

[Moress]

2 minutes ago, StormEye said:

Unless you have a source that is natively 5.1, all you will get from sound card is upmixing (even onboard should be able to do this).

The source as in the video/music or my motherboard?

 

[StormEye]

1 minute ago, Moress said:

The source as in the video/music or my motherboard?

 

Video / Music (there are VERY limited numbers of music that is recorded with 5.1 in mind)

[Moress]

2 minutes ago, StormEye said:

Video / Music (there are VERY limited numbers of music that is recorded with 5.1 in mind)

Alright, so should I just stick with what I have already or is there a budget sound card that would be worth the buy?

[StormEye]

"Budget" sound card is never worth it unless you have no audio from onboard.

[Moress]

1 minute ago, StormEye said:

"Budget" sound card is never worth it unless you have no audio from onboard.

Well I actually know nothing about sound cards so how much are decent ones?

[StormEye]

17 minutes ago, Moress said:

Well I actually know nothing about sound cards so how much are decent ones?

Better ones are $150 range, but the issue you are having is not going to be solved by getting even $1000 device.

 

The problem is that you are not using source that is 5.1 natively. If you absolutely must have 5.1 all the time, the only thing you can do is enable upmixing on your onboard sound.