Dolby Digital Sound Cards

Im looking for a new sound card to replace my onboard sound.

I will be hooking up Logitechs Z640 5.1 surround speakers to it.

I would also like to hook up my stereo system to the computer with a optical cable.

Looking around on Newegg. I found cards that i liked. Most way out of my price range. Which is about $50. I found this card.

Can i use 5.1 speakers on a 7.1 card?
Does having Dolby DTS make a difference?

Reason i ask is. I found this , and this Both are cheeper then the one above, but do not have Dolby.

I would like to get away with a cheeper card. I am not looking for something great like a Audgy ZS, but just a replace ment for my 6 channel onboard sound. Which is choosing not to work.

Please. any input is greatly appreciated.



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Oh yes.

Will the Dolby, DTS be applied to the optical out too?



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http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/soundcards/comparisons.asp

i might note that the santa cruz card has more features than the catalina ... only if you need the optical, 7.1, higer quality SPDIF(whatever the point of that is) or the DVD software would i get the catalina ... though from what i hear the best for gaming is a creative card

from my experience ive had some problems w/ the santa cruz though it does it's job and I see no reason to upgrade unless EAX 4 becomes absolutely necessary

 

the dolby digital/dts will not be applyed to the optical out. it sends the raw pcm digital signal that needs to be decoded by your dolby/dts receiver.

 

Thanks to the both of you.

The Riveria Card looks appealing. I am going to look around some more.

Also do you know of a program that i could use to check my speakers? i.e. send a sound to each one individually?



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One more question.

Will haveing Dolby have any effect on my sound? Will it sound any differnt with or with out it?



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in games that support dolby digital => yes
in games that doesn't support => no

in dvds => yes

in general => yes if your source is encoded in dolby digital