How do I get 5.1 sound from a single 3.5 mm line out?

[Syntek79]

Hello everyone. I'm starting research for a new build. While looking at Mini ITX motherboards, I noticed a lot of them have just a single audio line out jack (plus the standard mic and line in). I've never done an ITX build, so I didn't know if this was new or standard. They also say they support 5.1/7.1 surround sound. As far as I know, you can't get 5.1 sound from a single analog connection. So, here is my problem. I have a 5.1 surround sound system with the standard 3x3.5mm jacks for the 6 speakers. How do I go about connecting this system to a motherboard with only one analog line out connection?

 

Here is one of the mobos I was looking at that made me wonder about this.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130929 

[Electronics Wizardy]

usb audio adapter?

 

hdmi audio?

[mariushm]

You have 3 connectors in the back, stereo out, microphone, line in.

From the sound card's configuration application, you can reconfigure microphone input and line in jacks to outputs, so that you'll have 5.1 sound ( 3 x stereo jacks: front left+right, center+sw , back / side left + right)

 

Also, there's usually an AC'97 or HDAudio front panel connector which allows you to connect the headphones and microphones jacks on the case to the motherboard... on most motherboards those can also be configured to some degree... for example to have the headphones out as the two extra speakers in 7.1 (side left+right i think)

 

tl:dr The most modern sound chips are fully configurable from software, you can change the role of each audio jack to match your needs.

[Droidbot]

why h110? get a cheap z170 board for like $30 more

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188179

 

or another architecture: 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128907

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132720R

 

[Syntek79]

5 minutes ago, mariushm said:

You have 3 connectors in the back, stereo out, microphone, line in.

From the sound card's configuration application, you can reconfigure microphone input and line in jacks to outputs, so that you'll have 5.1 sound ( 3 x stereo jacks: front left+right, center+sw , back / side left + right)

 

Also, there's usually an AC'97 or HDAudio front panel connector which allows you to connect the headphones and microphones jacks on the case to the motherboard... on most motherboards those can also be configured to some degree... for example to have the headphones out as the two extra speakers in 7.1 (side left+right i think)

 

tl:dr The most modern sound chips are fully configurable from software, you can change the role of each audio jack to match your needs.

I was wondering if that was possible. I've always stuck to the mobos that had all the audio connections I needed, so I've never had to do any configuring. Thank you for your help mariushm. I didn't want to buy any mobo without knowing if I would need to buy something else to meet my needs.

[Syntek79]

8 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

why h110? get a cheap z170 board for like $30 more

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188179

 

or another architecture: 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128907

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132720R

 

I looked at those boards as well. I just noticed other boards with the single line out and was curious on how I would make that work if I chose one. I'm still in the early research phase. I'm waiting on AMD to release their Ryzen cpu before I make any final decisions.