Connecting 5.1 Ch Surround Speakers (Logitech Z906)

[rjbarker]

Hey folks...just connected my Z906 Surround System to my MXI E via SPDF Optical Cable (vs the included separate Audio Jack) ...will Digital Audio input still produce 5.1 Ch Surround Sound?

Cheers

[toronto699]

Test , Hope This Is Useful I Have Logitech Z5500 Speaker But Use Separate Audio Jacks For 5.1and a Realtek Audio Driver With Speaker Fill,
https://www2.iis.fraunhofer.de/AAC/multichannel.html

[rjbarker]

Test , Hope This Is Useful I Have Logitech Z5500 Speaker But Use Separate Audio Jacks For 5.1and a Realtek Audio Driver With Speaker Fill,
https://www2.iis.fraunhofer.de/AAC/multichannel.html

Thanks for that helpful link.....tested with just SPDF Optical and couldnt detect 5.1 Ch ........so unplugged that Optical Digital Cable and went with the cable that came with Z906 System...retested and defintely 5.1 Ch ........

.....I always thought the Optical SPDF Digital was better? But it doesnt seem so for 5.1Ch .....

...What am I missing here ? ....shouldnt connecting the MXI E to my 906 Surround System via Digital SPDF Optical out be better than regular Audio Speaker Jacks ?

[xeromist]

Depends on the encoding as there are multiple schemes. The PC has to send an encoding format the Z906 understands. IIRC, there are options in the optical output properties that allow you to enable and disable encoding schemes.

Also, whether it is better depends on the quality of Logitech's DAC and surround processing vs the onboard DAC and it's surround processing. When sending analog the conversion is done at the source and when sending digital the conversion is done by the destination device. For a high end home theater receiver I would absolutely use a digital connection of some sort. For a desktop speaker system it's debatable as onboard devices are pretty good these days.

[Guitarmageddon888]

I have the same speakers and have been down this road. If the encoding on the source is in dolby then it will be in fancy dolby 5.1. Most games nowadays dont encode in that format anymore though. So you just end up with "basic" 5.1 and not true positional audio. Also as mentioned, sending via spdif also means that the DAC on the receiver (i.e. the z906) does the processing. So if you hear the sound quality difference, then that may matter. I have just used the analog outputs and it sounds great so I stuck with that. Have you plugged it in and tested with some dolby encoded files?