P4P800 deluxe and 5.1 audio

[nick]

Hi,
according to the Soundmax site (I'm using the onboard sound)
http://forms.analog.com/Form_Pages/soundMAX/soundMAXSupportFAQ.html#question1

"The audio on a DVD is encoded/decoded by an AC-3 coder using technology
from Dolby Laboratories Inc. SoundMAX does not contain an AC-3 decoder or
encoder. SoundMAX can only take the AC-3 digital signal and send it (in
SPDIF digital form) to digital speakers or a digital receiver which must
contain an AC-3 decoder."
I want to purchase a Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speaker system but it does not have
any decoding abilities. Would someone tell me the implications of this. Does
this mean I cannot reproduce the effects of Dolby sound off a DVD. Also, the
DVD drive has a 4 pin audio out and a 2 pin digital connection. Which should
be connected to the motherboard.
Or, alternatively, can someone tell me of a site that will explain all.
Many thanks for any replies,
Nick.

 

[Darkfalz]

Hi,
according to the Soundmax site (I'm using the onboard sound)
http://forms.analog.com/Form_Pages/soundMAX/soundMAXSupportFAQ.html#question1

"The audio on a DVD is encoded/decoded by an AC-3 coder using technology
from Dolby Laboratories Inc. SoundMAX does not contain an AC-3 decoder or
encoder. SoundMAX can only take the AC-3 digital signal and send it (in
SPDIF digital form) to digital speakers or a digital receiver which must
contain an AC-3 decoder."
I want to purchase a Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speaker system but it does not have
any decoding abilities. Would someone tell me the implications of this. Does
this mean I cannot reproduce the effects of Dolby sound off a DVD. Also, the
DVD drive has a 4 pin audio out and a 2 pin digital connection. Which should
be connected to the motherboard.

4 pin audio is for CD Audio. The mobo has no 2 pin digital molex input
(which is only for CD Audio anyway).

Ususally CD Audio is played digitally anyway.

Or, alternatively, can someone tell me of a site that will explain all.
Many thanks for any replies,
Nick.

Means no problems, you can also send out 5.1 digital PCM to those speakers
and use a software decoder. There is a free one from

http://ac3filter.sourceforge.net

Of course, even most 5.1 speakers don't have digital in, so you will have to
use the 3 analog sockets for this (stereo front/stereo right/centre+LFE).

 

[nick]

Thanks for your reply Darkfalz, picked it up on Google.
Nick.