hello everyone, hope you're doing well.
i am trying to understand how a multichannel digital signal can be generated from a stereo audio file, and what software & hardware is needed.
my goal is to feed a digital 2.1 signal into a receiver from a computer (music only, currently foobar2000 as a player) thus bypassing the subwoofer crossover of the receiver.
(similar to using the multichannel analog input on a receiver, but using the coax or optical input, such as playing a surround dvd where each channel is already preset)
as i understand, using an interface w/ usb input and optical/coax output transmits the bits from the pc to the receiver w/ no digital to analog conversion taking place.
i also understand i could use an EQ on the pc, BUT could i also split the signal into L +R + subwoofer (software crossover)?
do i need a multichannel interface for that in addition to some "crossover software" installed on the pc?
or is there a product capable of "generating" a 2.1 digital output signal (w/ the option to set the crossover point) when playing stereo files?
apologies my lack of knowledge/terminology, i hope i managed to explain myself and i would really appreciate some help in getting educated on this topic.
thank you very much, wish you all all the best.
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extra clarifications:
i am currently using a behringer uca202 to feed a digital signal 2.0 (stereo L+R) to the receiver and then use an analog EQ/crossover (from the analog receiver L + R signal outputs) to feed an analog signal to a sub. the receiver acts as the DAC, the uca202 acts as an USB input, optical output interface between the pc and the receiver, the EQ/crossover acts as the low pass filter for the subwoofer.
i do not use the receiver's or subwoofer's crossovers for two reasons: i need both a lower crossover point and a steeper filter than what receivers offer (i have a collection as a hobby).
i am aware there are analog solutions for my needs (such as minidsp, motuM4, the ultracurve deq2496, etc) but i would really enjoy using a digital signal with my preferred subwoofer crossover point included and have the receivers do the decoding (L,R, Sub) and the digital to analog conversion.
i am trying to understand how a multichannel digital signal can be generated from a stereo audio file, and what software & hardware is needed.
my goal is to feed a digital 2.1 signal into a receiver from a computer (music only, currently foobar2000 as a player) thus bypassing the subwoofer crossover of the receiver.
(similar to using the multichannel analog input on a receiver, but using the coax or optical input, such as playing a surround dvd where each channel is already preset)
as i understand, using an interface w/ usb input and optical/coax output transmits the bits from the pc to the receiver w/ no digital to analog conversion taking place.
i also understand i could use an EQ on the pc, BUT could i also split the signal into L +R + subwoofer (software crossover)?
do i need a multichannel interface for that in addition to some "crossover software" installed on the pc?
or is there a product capable of "generating" a 2.1 digital output signal (w/ the option to set the crossover point) when playing stereo files?
apologies my lack of knowledge/terminology, i hope i managed to explain myself and i would really appreciate some help in getting educated on this topic.
thank you very much, wish you all all the best.
=========================================================================================
extra clarifications:
i am currently using a behringer uca202 to feed a digital signal 2.0 (stereo L+R) to the receiver and then use an analog EQ/crossover (from the analog receiver L + R signal outputs) to feed an analog signal to a sub. the receiver acts as the DAC, the uca202 acts as an USB input, optical output interface between the pc and the receiver, the EQ/crossover acts as the low pass filter for the subwoofer.
i do not use the receiver's or subwoofer's crossovers for two reasons: i need both a lower crossover point and a steeper filter than what receivers offer (i have a collection as a hobby).
i am aware there are analog solutions for my needs (such as minidsp, motuM4, the ultracurve deq2496, etc) but i would really enjoy using a digital signal with my preferred subwoofer crossover point included and have the receivers do the decoding (L,R, Sub) and the digital to analog conversion.