P4P800 Deluxe and 5.1 sound ??

[eric]

Will these speakers work for 5.1 sound with the onboard sound on the P4P800
deluxe?

http://www.hardextreme.org/?m=show&id=448&page=1

It says you need a 5.1 soundcard. Is the onboard soundmax a 5.1 (6 channel)
sound device?

I'm confused about how to get 5.1 sound from the p4p800. Do I need an
add-on card or is the onboard sound capable? Note that ASUS says this about
the onboard sound:

AUDIO (6-channel digital audio)
AI series motherboards employed the world's first intelligent audio CODEC.
The 6-channel AD1985 audio CODEC automatically detects and identifies what
types of peripherals are plugged into the audio I/O jacks and notifies users
of inappropriate connection, meaning there will be no more confusion of
Line-in, Line-out and Mic jacks.


So it appears to be 6 channel. If so, shouldn't the speakers in the link
above work as 5.1 speakers with no add on sound card?

 

[Paul]

Will these speakers work for 5.1 sound with the onboard sound on the P4P800
deluxe?

http://www.hardextreme.org/?m=show&id=448&page=1

It says you need a 5.1 soundcard. Is the onboard soundmax a 5.1 (6 channel)
sound device?

I'm confused about how to get 5.1 sound from the p4p800. Do I need an
add-on card or is the onboard sound capable? Note that ASUS says this about
the onboard sound:

AUDIO (6-channel digital audio)
AI series motherboards employed the world's first intelligent audio CODEC.
The 6-channel AD1985 audio CODEC automatically detects and identifies what
types of peripherals are plugged into the audio I/O jacks and notifies users
of inappropriate connection, meaning there will be no more confusion of
Line-in, Line-out and Mic jacks.


So it appears to be 6 channel. If so, shouldn't the speakers in the link
above work as 5.1 speakers with no add on sound card?

Yes.

Check your P4P800 manual for this table. It is in the section
of the manual with the numbered picture of the motherboard -
the table is next to item 23 that explains the microphone jack.

Rear panel audio ports function variation
Headphone/
2-Speaker 4-Speaker 6-Speaker
Light Blue Line In Rear Speaker Out Bass/Center
Lime Line Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out
Pink Mic In Mic In Rear Speaker Out

The alteclansing.com site is a good source of information:

Wiring diagram:
http://www.alteclansing.com/downloads/251 QCC.pdf

So-called user manual (wiring diagram is better):
http://www.alteclansing.com/downloads/251 Manual.pdf

HTH,
Paul

 

[eric]

Ahh, but that is not dolby digital 5.1 sound right?

Do games you dd 5.1 or just 5.1 surround?

 

[Paul]

Ahh, but that is not dolby digital 5.1 sound right?

Do games you dd 5.1 or just 5.1 surround?

Any time "Dolby Digital" is involved, there is a licensing fee.
Nobody wants to pay that fee, so you don't get that as a free
feature. Something has to decode the Dolby, and it might be
a DVD player program or some other kind of multimedia program
that has this built in. Dolby decoding could also be in the
speaker system, if, for example, it had an S/PDIF digital input
and decoding hardware. But, you'd see the Dolby trademark
prominently displayed if that was the case. (Whether a
hardware or a software company paid the fee, they'll want to
use the Dolby trademark to promote the fact that they paid
for the right to use the Dolby decoder.)

On the computer side, when sending digital, you might see
mention of "passthrough for AC3" mentioned. This means
the computer doesn't interpret the data, and just passes
the data to some other device for interpretation.

So, on a computer, your choices are:

1) Multimedia source with Dolby content (maybe a DVD?) +
player program with Dolby decoder + analog 6 channel speakers
2) Multimedia source with Dolby content (maybe a DVD?) +
sound driver with passthrough + AC97 codec with S/PDIF out
connector + digital speakers with Dolby decoder in hardware.
3) (Plus any other methods for passing sound digitally to an
external Dolby decoder. Maybe someone makes a USB speaker
systems that does this ?)

There are other ways to generate 5.1 sound - there are various
algorithms for creating sound queues from a stereo stream, and
these methods are more likely to be part of a driver package
for a sound chip or card. (Soundmax has something called "virtual
theatre', for example. Don't know what that does.) Some games
will also have their own custom sound systems for generating
multichannel sound. Any algorithms like this are a form of
DSP (digital signal processing) and will load your processor,
unless the chipset has DSP built in to do that processing.

http://www.soundmax.com/products/faqs/SMAXfaq21ch2.html

Just a guess,
Paul

 

[Eric]

So no real reason to buy 5.1 computer speakers then. Anything not DD 5.1 or
DTS are generally not "discrete" channel information. DSPs are just okay --
I have a sophistacated Onkyo Home theater receiver for my big screen TV and
surround sound setup. Anything other than Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS (i.e
DVDs or HDTV broadcasts in dolby digital) sound merely okay (i.e, prologic
II or any other DSP in my Onkyo receiver). On the other hand, DD 5.1 and
DTS sound phenomenal.

So from what you are saying -- buying 5.1 speakers for a computer (used for
gaming and web surfing) is a waste. Unless games start using Dolby Digital
5.1 or DTS, I don't see a real need for 5.1 channels for my computer, where
the channels would be non-discrete (i.e, bastardized signal processing).
Maybe I'll stick with my 2.1 setup for now. Unless Doom 3 will be dolby
digital 5.1 (I thought I heard it might be).

 

[Paul]

So no real reason to buy 5.1 computer speakers then. Anything not DD 5.1 or
DTS are generally not "discrete" channel information. DSPs are just okay --
I have a sophistacated Onkyo Home theater receiver for my big screen TV and
surround sound setup. Anything other than Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS (i.e
DVDs or HDTV broadcasts in dolby digital) sound merely okay (i.e, prologic
II or any other DSP in my Onkyo receiver). On the other hand, DD 5.1 and
DTS sound phenomenal.

So from what you are saying -- buying 5.1 speakers for a computer (used for
gaming and web surfing) is a waste. Unless games start using Dolby Digital
5.1 or DTS, I don't see a real need for 5.1 channels for my computer, where
the channels would be non-discrete (i.e, bastardized signal processing).
Maybe I'll stick with my 2.1 setup for now. Unless Doom 3 will be dolby
digital 5.1 (I thought I heard it might be).

I notice the Dolby website has some information:

http://dolby.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/dolby.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php

"Pro Logic vs. Pro Logic II vs. Dolby Digital 5.1"

Any method that preserves full channel information, rather
than the matrix encode/decode described on the Dolby page,
should sound good. For example, a game that has its own
panning logic for sound effects can have any separate the
game writers want.

I cannot really say, cause all I own is a stereo (i.e. 2.0
I have to imagine what the other four channels sound like.

Maybe you could experiment, by plugging the P4P800 into the
Onkyo ? There is an S/PDIF output on there somewhere.

Paul

 

[Eric]

Onkyo's downstairs (2 floors below).

I notice the Dolby website has some information:

http://dolby.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/dolby.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php

"Pro Logic vs. Pro Logic II vs. Dolby Digital 5.1"

Any method that preserves full channel information, rather
than the matrix encode/decode described on the Dolby page,
should sound good. For example, a game that has its own
panning logic for sound effects can have any separate the
game writers want.

I cannot really say, cause all I own is a stereo (i.e. 2.0
I have to imagine what the other four channels sound like.

Maybe you could experiment, by plugging the P4P800 into the
Onkyo ? There is an S/PDIF output on there somewhere.

Paul