Need advice on using PC as a 5.1 decoder for other source (PS4/PS5).

[lmaobrah]

Hi ASR,
I'm currently using PC, mostly for games and Netflix. On a 4.1 speakers (Phantom center) with Realtek on board sound card.
Planning to buy a new console (PS5 or XBOX?) and want to use the same audio system without too much cost.
Is there any external sound card/solution to do so, with minimal budget (<=$200)?

The PC upgrade should be able to:
> Decode 5.1 signal from Optical In or HDMI
> Comes with software configuration to be able to simulate phantom center (simulate center speaker with L/R channel)

Any suggestion is appreciated, thank you

 

[ernestcarl]

I don’t think so...

You’d need both:

https://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/product/evolve-ii-4k-hdmi-v2-0-multi-channel-dac/

https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/minidsp-10x10-hd

Or go with an all-in-one receiver:

https://outlawaudio.com/shop/index.php?id_product=23&rewrite=model-976&controller=product

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I'm assuming you currently route the analog signal of your soundcard to a multichannel poweramp? Or do you have some PC speaker set?

Getting Multichannel audio INTO a PC, is pretty much a PITA, since graphic card HDMI ports do not support the return channel.
Especially when you want to include uncompressed PCM and proprietary formats such as Dolby Digital/Atmos or DTS.

Save yourself the trouble and get a simple AVR.
Entry level models should not be that much beyond your budget.
EG: https://geizhals.de/yamaha-rx-v385-silber-a1802760.html

BTW: you do not need software to "simulate" a center speaker. Get quality speakers and route output the center channel to them. The Phantom center will be created automatically (make sure your place them symmetrically to your seating position). I use a predecessor of the above AVR and disconnected my center speaker as well. All I did was set "center = none" in the AVR and the information gets relayed to the main L + R speakers.

 

[lmaobrah]

I don’t think so...
You’d need both:

Thank you, looks like there's no easy and budget friendly way to make PC works as a home theater decoder.

I'm assuming you currently route the analog signal of your soundcard to a multichannel poweramp? Or do you have some PC speaker set?

Thank you for your input. Yes I currently use PC onboard DAC and run 4.1 analog into poweramps.
- 2x Mono block ICEPower amp for front L/R
- Stereo ICEpower amp for rear
- 1 active subwoofer
I kinda like the sound of current system already and thought it would be a way to use same system without discarding power amps.
Might also consider an AVR if there's no way to do via PC as you suggested. May be an AVR with pre out.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

May be an AVR with pre out.

Even if pre-outs are reserved for more expensive models (yay, dumb market segmentation!), I would never again buy one that didn't have them.
Especially if I already had good power amps lying around.

 

[lmaobrah]

yay, dumb market segmentation!

Agreed ..the least expensive is all in one AVR with amps, and the most expensive one is a pure decoder. RIP wallet.

 

[nqa3]

I have the same problem, but the reason is mainly that non-PC can stream higher quality AV from major providers due to content restrictions.

1. Have you tried the Evolve II-4K HDMI already? Does it add delay or degrade the sound (since you need ADC to get it back to PC) when used with miniDSP 10x10?
2. What about bluetooth aptx or aptx HD? PC can act as sink although it's problematic to get bluetooth sink working since Windows 10 dropped support from Microsoft's own stack. Bitrate of aptx isn't lower than optical 5.1 or HDMI ARC (not eARC)
3. Screen mirroring? Miracast seems carry surround sound in theory.

 

[Neddy]

Another option, using your PC soundcard, would be the Evolve II to decode HDMI to 8x analog, and then add an ADC to get that back into the PC.
PC (HDMI) -> EvolveII ->ADC/USB->PC audio (??)
Seems silly, and sound sync might/would be an issue...

I'm doing something similar, using an Oppo bluray player as the HDMI source/decoder/DAC, to a Motu ADC (older generation ones are not expensive) to the PC. (Older Oppo players are also not that expensive, either, so you could probably do both for around $400, maybe?)
But, I'm giving up a good bit of SQ this way (esp the Oppo103), and it IS audible, compared to audio straight out of the PC to an OktoDAC
It's also kind of a PITA configuration/use/wiring wise. Lip synch does not seem to be much of an issue with this route, though.

If this were my main/only system, I'd look at one of the less expensive Denon AVRs which Amir has tested and done 'ok'.

 

[nqa3]

Beside this, the last option I found is https://blog.benjojo.co.uk/post/cheap-hdmi-capture-for-linux Use a pair of cheap HDMI-to-IP extenders and app like https://github.com/benjojo/de-ip-hdmi to simulate RX side and capture packets from TX, which can then be decoded by mplayer/ffmpeg (hopefully). It requires a bit of programming and might be different for each brand. I don't know if it'd work for HDMI ARC or eARC yet.

If it doesn't work I'd go for the ADC approach... Is there some ADC only machine for like 6 or 8 inputs? Cheapest ADC/DAC I found still cost like 300 bucks: https://www.thomann.de/fi/esi_u86_xt.htm

 

[Neddy]

After a good bit of searching, I ended with a Motu 8pre USB. I paid less than $200 for it on eb.
https://motu.com/products/motuaudio/8pre
There are a few other 8ch pro ADCs out there, in the same price range, but the Motu seemed more 'common', thus sell for a bit less?
It has a lot of features/capabilities I'll never use, but has pretty good specs, and works well.
I spent more time than I should have futzing with DAW software before realizing (RTFM!) it self-detects if it's being used as a simple USB ADC, was detected by W10 and works directly with JRiver as is.
Watched Master & Commander though it last night, and sure can't complain about it's ability to feed canon fire audio to my sub!
(Sound synch did NOT seem to be a problem, interestingly enough.)

 

[nqa3]

BTW if OP can accept optical Dolby digital 5.1 in with no future upgrade possible, I learned Creative Sound Blaster X7 supports that officially and it also has a simple direct optical to analog mode. The price is quite high for a sound card though (more than $300 vs $500-$600 for cheapest Yahama AVR with HDMI eARC and 7.1 pre outs).