Recommendations Please, Receiver to PC Surround Sound

[tsho]

Hi

With the intent of hooking a receiver to my PC, I recently purchased a Kenwood VR-705 receiver, complete with a
non-multimedia ( 4 satelittes, 1 midd and a 10" sub), speaker set (harmon/kardon's).

A very detailed picture of the back of the receiver can be seen here, as I'm wondering if I have the right inputs for
surround sound from the PC.. (

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...=XL#morephotos )

I have listed the specs for the receiver at the bottom of this message, for your convenience..

On techtv's ( http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/pr...338088,00.html ) website, they discuss 'going
digital' using an s/pdif input on the back of the receiver. My new kenwood does not have this input. Does it need to have
it in order to get digital or true 'surround sound' ? -Is- there ' true' surround sound capabilities for pc's? I mostly play
mp3s and CD's.. not much gaming at all. I would like quality surround sound out of all 5 speakers, and do you think can this be
achieved with the above receiver?

I've been doing weeks worth of research on the internet, concerning the digital receiver-to-pc's set ups, and frankly the
more I read, the more confused I become'. heh. --Analog, Digital, DTS, ProLogic, RCA, S/Pdif ..Can I buy a vowel please?

I have not yet purchased the appropriate sound card for this setup... I am waiting/reading/researching to see what is the
best option. Your forum has been Very helpful in this.
Your opinions on a sound card would be much appreciated. Even though I love soundblaster (my first soundcard
purchase 4 years ago was a soundblaster, and it's treated me very well), I did recently purchase however, a sb Live! 5.1
value, and after 3 days of attempting to find drivers for this card (creative no longer supports that specific model), I have
decided to ditch that effort (ugh!), and purchase another one.
The top of the line Audigy 2 is getting rave reviews in the forums I've visited, but frankly at this point, I dont know if my
checkbook can handle another large expense plus now I'm a little 'gun shy' where creative is concerned.

I'm going to attempt to run this into my older secondary computer, which is a PIII, 500MHz RAM 196mb, win98SE.
I use the old computer for just my music related things.

This set up I felt was the best route for me, I hope in the near future to buy other components and slowly add to the
receiver to create a total rack system. ..possibly even a cassette deck, so that I might record my cassettes into mp3s (and
yesss, I still have cassettes) hehe ;-) Another wonderful feature is the fact that a receiver and/or rack system, will work
totally independently of the computer, if in the future I choose to just buy multimedia speakers for my pc, and move the
rack system elsewhere in my home.

Thank you so much for your time, and my appologies for the lengthy reading.

------Kenwood VR-705---------------------------------------
KAM-1™ Power Amplifier
Active EQ by DSP
Dolby Pro Logic II: 5.1-Channel Movie and Music Modes
24-Bit Crystal Semiconductor DSP Processor
Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound
24-Bit Resolution, up to 96kHz Sampling Rate Digital to Analog Converter
Stereo Power: 100 Watts per Channel (FTC, Left/Right, 40Hz - 20kHz, 0.7% THD, 8 ohms)
Surround Power (Center): 100 Watts (40Hz - 20kHz, 0.7% THD, 8 ohms)
Surround Power (Left/Right): 100 Watts + 100 Watts (40Hz - 20kHz, 0.7% THD, 8 ohms)
Surround Power (LSurround/RSurround): 100 Watts + 100 Watts (40Hz - 20kHz, 0.7% THD, 8 ohms)
Adjustable Analog Input Sensitivity: with Individual Source Memory
24-Bit Resolution, up to 96kHz Sampling Rate Analog-to-Digital Converter
5 Audio DSP Listening Modes (Arena, Theater, Jazz Club, Stadium, Disco)
Automatic Analog and Digital Signal Format Detection & Selection
Full Digital Bass Management
Loudness Control using remote
Midnight Theater Mode
Tone Controls: Bass, Treble
Bass Boost
AC Accessory Outlets: 2 Switched
Audio Muting
Auto Function One-Touch Operation
Display Dimmer
Dot Matrix Display with Volume Indication: 8-Character
Dynamic Rotary Encoder Volume Control
System Control Connections for Kenwood Components: 2 SL16 Format
Video Inputs: 3 Composite (Total)
Video Monitor Outputs: 1 Composite
Video Record Outputs: 1 Composite
Digital Audio Inputs: 2 Coaxial, 1 Optical
Headphone Jack
Subwoofer Preouts
One-Touch Speaker Connectors
Automatic and Manual Tuning
Direct Preset Call: with Remote
Quartz PLL Synthesized Digital Tuning with 40 AM/FM Station Presets
Direct Input Source Selection
Universal Pre-Programmed Remote

[pinipig523]

it's right there!

the orange inputs and the optical input are all spdif/digital inputs.

use those.

i use a yamaha rxv530 receiver (connected to an audigy2zs) to power my yamaha speakers and infinity subwoofer so i know most of what i am talking about ... anyway, if u have any other questions, just pm me.

[tsho]

Would this be the appropriate digital cable for this setup? :-)


http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=15%2D1597

~~Thank You PiniPig523 for your quick reply on my 'Recommendations Please' thread.

Oop..forgot to add that I purchased the Audigy2 ZS soundcard (standard edition).
:-)

[pinipig523]

that is a GREAT plug... i never saw that before... i never knew they came like that.

i use a regular digital coaxial cable - and i have it hooked to the coaxial digital input on the receiver (orange) and have it hooked to the audigy2zs (standard... no need for the platinum since the receiver has all the inputs and outputs i need ) via an adaptor that goes from regular coaxial to 3.5mm miniplug.

anyway... isnt the audigy2zs great?? i especially like the thx speaker setup software... much much better than creative's original clunky version.

are you using this setup for gaming?

if so, you may also think about using the 6channel input... it allows for eax3.0 (and above) to be sent to the receiver, thereby, giving you the ability of awesome gaming sound.

the use of the digital out does not allow for eax signals to the speakers... digital out allows for higher bitrate (awesome for music) and decoding of digital multichannel formats (i.e. dts and dolby digital).

using the digital out, you can play games using dolby prologicII... but it still doesnt sound as good as eax.

my suggestion to you, if you do indeed game... is to use the 6channel inputs on your receiver (basically hook up EACH analog output from the audigy using a Y-connector - with a miniplug on one end and a R and L coaxial on the other end - and hooking them up to the appropriate 6channel inputs on the receiver).

[tsho]

Yea... Great plug/cable, with a great price.. lol
I went to Radio shack last night and picked up that cable ($40.00 plus tax), andddd... it didnt work. haha.
Oh well, a refund should be no problem.

No, as my original post stated, I dont do any gaming on that old computer, just cd's and mp3s.

This digital coaxial cable that you spoke of.. do you have a link for that by chance? I'd love to take a peek at it (and then hopefully someone here locally will carry it).. I'll sure try it.

Thank again PiniPig... Youre a jewel !

[pinipig523]

i got this digital coaxial wire:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...t%5Fid=15-1089

i got this 3.5mm adapter to hook to the audigy2ZS:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D897

it took me a while to get those from radioshack.com.... panting....

hope that helps!

[LnxMad]

I got a couple questions. First, I have the ZS Platinum and i was wonder, what output do you hook it to on the back? The Digital one? I have an output SPDIF in the front bay drive, but i dont want a wire sticking out of it all the time. One more thing. Does the adaptor from Coax to the mini plug decrease the quality? Thx

[pinipig523]

the digital one in the back is fine.

[LnxMad]

thx

[LnxMad]

Umm i just got a new reciever and when i hook it up to coax through the digital output in the back of the card i only get stero mode and i cant have dts or dolby digital. there is also only 2 spearkers working (R L) when i have a 5.1 system=\ can anyone help me?