HELP! 5.1 sound with new headsets problem! (Sharkoon x-tatic pro)

treyu86

Hello guys. I have bought a Sharkoon X-tatic pro 5.1 headsets, which comes with a decoder for surround (I don't really care about surround) with many connections, as you can see in the image:

 

 

The headset has 4 speakers in each "ear". My motherboard soundcard (ASUS P7P55D PRO) has optical output, as well as the normal 6 color jacks for analog, these are the specifications for my motherboard soundcard:

VIA® VT1828S 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Absolute Pitch BD192/24 featuring ENVY HD
- DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC                     
- Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-Retasking
- Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O

Following manual instructions, I have connected the headsets to the decoder, and the decoder to the PC using the optical audio cable. The thing is, that when checking and configuring my audio options in windows, I can only hear sound when selecting the "SPDIF Interface (TX1) option. I don't see any optical option, which is wierd cause I thought my PC could use optical sound as I had the connector in the back. When choosing that sound output I can't press the "Configure" button, i can just select it and click the "Test", where I hear two sound, one in each ear of the headset (I thought I would be able to do the test where you hear different sounds on different positions). Does that mean that I won't be able to hear using 5.1, just stereo? If that is the case, why does my motherboard soundcard comes with an optical output? Could I use the 5.1 by connecting the decoder with the 3 analog outputs to my PC?

Resuming, could anyone with knowledge in PC sound (I have zero lol) explain me what my possibilities are? If the only way to using 5.1 I have is buying a non-integrated soundcard, could you recommend me the cheapest one that would serve me fine? thanks in advance hope someone can help me soon!

Ridelynn

SPDIF is optical.

It stands for Sony/Phillips Digital Interconnect Format. It's those little squareish fiber optic cables.

Aside from that, I would bet on your lack of surround sound being a Windows Sound control panel configuration issue.

treyu86

So how do I know if I am really having 5.1 sound? I can't do any tests. When I use the optical output, I do hear sound, but I don't know if that is 5.1 or not (I thought I could configure it and test with Window with that panel that show you in the middle and you select the front, rear, back etc speakers, but I can't do that test, that is why I think I am not having 5.1 and why I should get the 3 analog cables (green, orange and black). any thoughts?

Reckloose

You'll need to use the three analog lines to get surround sound (they are referred to as 6 channel direct), and you'll need to configure them as 5.1 in the sound control panel.

As for your optical connection, you actually cannot get surround sound through that. In order for the digital channels to use surround, the signal has to be encoded into either Dolby Digital or DTS. Your motherboard doesn't have the support for this. But that's ok, because the encoding process takes additional CPU overhead, and there is a bit of loss in the signal, so using 6 channel provides the easiest, fastest, and highest quality signal.