5.1 via optical out Xonar DGX

[dk_lightning]

Is it possible?

Ive been messing with the settings etc but i cant seem to get 5.1 from the optical out witch is what i want

[GenClaymore]

Xonar DGX is a PCI-E ver of the DG, Both do not have DD live or DTS connect encoders, Its the DS/DSX that has the Encoders for getting 5.1 audio in games over optical.

[dk_lightning]

Oh, well either way it turns out its working fine.

Movies with 5.1 audio play fine and SC2 is also playing in 5.1

[Tacoboy]

Originally Posted by dk_lightning

Is it possible?

Ive been messing with the settings etc but i cant seem to get 5.1 from the optical out witch is what i want

I believe the optical out on the Xonar DG is only 2-channel PCM, but I'm going to double check that.

When you enable SPDIF out in the Xonar control panel, what options does it offer?
Is the optical cable plugged into the Xonar DG or the motherboard?
Make sure in the Windows control, under Sound, in the playback tab, that "Speakers Asus Xonar DG" is default, not the S/PDIF or HDMI.

[dk_lightning]

Here is a screen shot.

Note the output for the PCM says 5.1 but I dont think its actually working, I think its doing some sort of "virtual" 5.1

http://gyazo.com/b11a50b43162387037f4d02822054732

[GenClaymore]

Starcraft 2 is getting 5.1 because of virtual 5.1 that being used, The sound card is up mixing the audio from 2 channels into 5.1.

The only way to get 5.1 in your games without up-mixing is to use the Encoders which encodes the 5.1 analog signal into Digital 5.1. So games will output in actual 5.1 over Digital.

The encoders is only needed for any thing that not encoded already, Movies do not need the DD live or DTS encoders, because they are already encoded in 5.1.

[Tacoboy]

Originally Posted by dk_lightning

Here is a screen shot.

Note the output for the PCM says 5.1 but I don't think its actually working, I think its doing some sort of "virtual" 5.1

http://gyazo.com/b11a50b43162387037f4d02822054732

What is the optical going to? a receiver or DAC/Amp for headphones?

Audio Channel is set to 2-channel, so everything is being processed as 2-channel stereo, needs to be set to 6-channel to process anything in Dolby Headphone surround sound or to output 5.1 to analog speakers.
Analog out is set to 5.1, which should would only effect analog speakers hooked up to the Xonar DGX's line-outs (green, orange, black).
SPDIF Out is set to PCM, which is 2-channel (uncompressed) stereo audio only.

[gamerk2]

The DGX is fully capable of spitting out 5.1 Dolby/DTS streams, providing the audio source is already encoded to either format. The DGX does NOT have the encoders to Dolby/DTS, so you can not convert a 5.1 PCM stream to Dolby/DTS in realtime.

And like all SPDIF implementations, 5.1 PCM over SPDIF is impossible.

You can output virtualized 5.1 via Dolby Headphone over SPDIF, because the audio stream is really 2.1, just virtualized.

[Tacoboy]

Originally Posted by dk_lightning

Here is a screen shot.

Note the output for the PCM says 5.1 but I dont think its actually working, I think its doing some sort of "virtual" 5.1

http://gyazo.com/b11a50b43162387037f4d02822054732

What does the optical signal go to once it leaves the DGX?

If you want Dolby Headphone surround sound.
set the Audio channels to 6
set Analog out to Headphone.
Leave SPDIF enable and set to PCM.
This will feed (PCM 2-channel) a pre-processed headphone surround sound thru the optical cable.

If you switch to the Xonar DX or D1 sound card (used $50), you can send 5.1 (6-channel) audio thru the optical cable, using DDL (Dolby Digital live).

Does your motherboard come with optical output (SPDIF) it might come with DDL.

[ade_01]

Just been reading this thread as I purchased a Xonar DGX card yesterday to finish building my HTPC.
I fitted the card and it all installed ok, but I`m having the same issue as the OP.

I`m connecting the card to my Pioneer amp via the optical cable and I was getting sound, however, when I run the test on each speaker I was getting nothing through the center or rear speakers.
The first time I played a film I did get sound through the center and rear, and now it has stopped. But from what I can gather it shouldn`t have worked anyway.
I need to go back and check ( at work now ) but I wonder if I had the audio channels set to 2 and the analog out to 5.1.
Currently I have the audio channels set to 6 and analog to 5.1. If I had the audio channels set to 2 then would this be why I got the center speaker working to begin with? Because in my current setup ( 6 and 5.1 ) I get no sound from the center speaker hence all films have no dialogue.
I`m really a noob when it comes to PC audio cards!

I saw that someone recommended the Xonar DS which is PCI Express, however my motherboard is Micro ATX and only has one PCI Express slot which is taken up by a bog standard Nvidia 610 card so I can get an HDMI output. The only other socket I have left is PCI Express x1 - the small stubby one. The card also has to be half height as I`m using a desktop case so it fits in my TV cabinet.

I looked at the DX/XD card in the hope that one would work. It says it has optical out, but if I look at the photo it seems to just have 5 3.5mm outputs on the back. I cant see anywhere that the optical cable would plug in.

I`m totally at a loss as to how I`m going to get this to work. My PS3 and my main PC ( has optical out built in to motherboard ) work fine and I get proper full 5.1 through an optical cable. I need to achieve the same thing on my desktop PC but it has to be PCI Express x1 and low profile.

Could one of you lovely experts out there please enlighten me so I don`t make the wrong purchase. Looks like I need to send the DGX back then.

[Mufflore]

This is what its about.

The card cant encode 5.1 to AC3.
But it can pass audio that is already 5.1 AC3 encoded.

What this means is that games and Windows 5.1 sound etc cant be encoded to AC3 so are passed as stereo, but movies that already have a pre-encoded 5.1 AC3 soundtrack are passed straight out to the amp.

Thats why 5.1 movies work and games/windows dont.

[ROBSCIX]

If you want a card to send out 5.1 S/Pdif for games, music and movies, you require a card with a DTS-C or DDL encoder. Aside from that you will get normal 2.0 PCM stereo unless the source has already been encoded such as a Dolby Digital or DTS movie.
So, if yo are building a HTPC and require these features ( I would) take that card back and get one that has 1 or both encoders.

[GenClaymore]

You need the Xonar DSX which has the Encoder.