Hello Gurus, I'm writing this on behalf of a friend. Sorry if I'm vague about specific model names, but you'll get the general picture. He's got a small HTPC without a soundcard which is hooked up via HDMI to his SONY TV monitor. He just bought a speaker setup to get 5.1 through the speakers. Problem is that the speaker system doesn't have an HDMI input jack; it only has a optical (digital coaxial) input jack. His PC doesn't have an SPDIF (digital coaxial) output. I suggested he keep the HDMI going to the TV and output the sound from his TV to the speakers with a digital line. However, he told me that he researched and found that the TV downgrades the audio to Stereo, so he'd be losing the 5.1 sound. There's no option for the TV to just "pass-through" the audio. Any clever suggestions other than getting a soundcard with SPDIF output? Is there some kind of splitter/converter that would work? And if the only solution is a sound card (for a tiny HTPC) which model would you guys suggest? Thanks a lot!
Yep, that is the best way to go, it is low profile for many HTPC cases and has full surround sound support, encoding IIRC and optical output.
Thanks guys. I'll check it out. I need to ask him what kinda slot he's got on the mobo to be sure it'll work. Also, it looks like this has an optical SPDIF output jack but his speaker system has a coaxial input. I have to ask him exactly what input jacks he's got on his speaker system... I'll report back. Thanks for your help.
Well if he need coaxial, He could also get a USB to coaxial converter. You can pick them up for about $25... They look like this-> LINK
Thanks ROBSCIX. It looks like that's a USB to female coaxial, no? So, he'd plug the USB into the USB port, a male coaxial into the converter and the other end of the male coaxial into the speaker system input jack? Would he need the above mentioned soundcard or if you do it this way onboard sound would suffice? Thanks for your help, m8.
If he got the USB unit, he would not need the onboard or the soundcard. Yes, USB cable tot he unit, then use a typical coax cable to the speakers. Simple as can be. I don't even think those units need drivers.