Using PC Speakers as home stereo?

[agathodaimon]

Ok,
I have a friend that is interested in getting a new set of speakers for his computer... Something fancy because he likes to game a lot and listen to music quite often.

BUT, he would also like to be able to use those speakers for watching movies on their regular home DVD player and television.

Is there a sound card that would allow something like this?
I'm really kinda clueless, but he turned to me, as I'm the "techie" friend... Sort of.

I'm assuming you'd need a card that has inputs for DVD like RCA's or a digital coax/optical port?? Is that all I would need? (minus the cables)

[crazyray]

I'm unsure if I understand the question correctly. You can very definitely connect your PC to your stereo or home theater receiver. A cable with a male stereo mini-jack on one end and a pair of RCA males on the other is all that is needed. You can also use a digital out if your soundcard has one. I listen to music files on my stereo this way. Sound quality was greatly improved when I installed an M-Audio sound card but many will find even onboard audio acceptable.

[rgartner]

I think he would want to buy a recever and home theter specks that way the sound isnt being digitised so much before you hear it ,so then hook the comp. up to recever and dvd and tv and whatever else. Iit will sound the best thats how i got it from comp. to denon recever to klipch home theter specers that way you now wat it will sound like when you burn a cd/dvd some times the computer specers mask what an amp will produse not to intrude but sound is what i do too bad i cant spell

[simbob]

tell him to buy a surround kit, with the dolby digital decoder built into the subwoofer, and to make sure it has all of the following

optical
RCA
coaxial

he should be able to connect the pc and tv/dvd simultaniously, and have the option to switch between what output is being used

[Phibz//]

if u got the money, get a soundcard with an optical output, then a hometheater receiver, and connect ur computer to the receiver through the optical cable, my uncle did this and it's quite amazing to play games on his 5.1 system, he's got a nice little 15" 3000 watt sub =)

Placement of speakers is the only problem, since it's either the tv or the computer that gets a decent lpacement, the other one just has sound all over the place, my uncle has the tv set up for 5.1 and the computer is inbetween the front right and the back right speaker:P

[filipino]

you might also want to send pinipig523 a PM regarding sound system and such. (he is the best)

[pinipig523]

If you want to connect your DVD player to your computer speakers, what you need is a Digital decoder.

You can do this three ways (maybe more, but the alternatives escape me right now):
1. Get a receiver so you can integrate your pc and your dvd to feed audio signals to your receiver and then out to your pc speakers. The only problem here is that the speakers need to be connected to the receiver and I dont know of any PC-exclusive speakers that utilize an external amp (i.e. the receiver's amp) for power. Usually PC speakers use their own proprietary amp which is usually located in the sub. You may need to go with a HTiB (home theater in a box) speaker setup for this one or buy speakers separately (bookshelves or floorstanders from a speaker company's line, i.e. Klipsch synergy).

2. The easier way to do this is to get a speaker with a decoder included. This would include the Logitech Z680 and the Logitech Z5500 among a few. All you would do is hook up your PC to the control module of the speaker setup and also hook up your DVD's digital cable (coax or optical) to it as well.... and voila - you're done!

3. Easiest way is just to purchase a stand-alone digital decoder like the one Creative has... DDTS100. You should be able to connect ANY pc speaker and hook up multiple audio inputs into it and have it converge onto a single pc speaker set.

Here are links to a few PC speakers with a digital decoder included:

z680
http://cgi.ebay.com/Logitech-Z-680-Z...QQcmdZViewItem


z5500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121120


Creative Decoder (you can use this to hook up ANY PC speaker system and allow audio input from either a DVD player or your PC):
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Creative-Lab...QQcmdZViewItem


If I'm off in my suggestions, just let me know.

[pinipig523]

you might also want to send pinipig523 a PM regarding sound system and such. (he is the best)

You flatter me... I'm just another techimo-er, that's all. I'm very sure there are others who know more than me, maybe even those posting above me.

[Phibz//]

Sweet, never looked into the creative decoder, i'd prolly put my vote for that, seems to be the simplest way of goin, and possibly the cheapest depending on the speakers that will be hooked up also it would allow ur friend to upgrade speakers whenever he wants to do so =)

Hey, just a question for Pinipig523 that really don have anything to do with this thread, -> do you know how to record a vinyl to your computer? i heard about a creative interface that makes this possible? Would even separate the songs =) think it was suppose to be around 80 - 90 dollars....

Just cheking if you might know since it seems like you got the audio part down quite well =)

[paul9]

Phibz, if you have a decent record deck and amp, just plug the audio out rca jacks to the audio in 3.5mm stereo jack on your soundcard using an adapter cable, or to audio in rca jacks if your soundcard has them, and pick a decent program to record the sound. You may need to adjust the record levels to your taste. It is really easy to do, but you should find good software, and preferably record to .wav format rather than .mp3 for the best quality rip. If your soundcard is the 5.1 variety, you will probably have to use the manufacturers software utility to switch the audio inputs on, as they will usually be set as outputs for extra speakers by default.

[agathodaimon]

hey, thanks for all the replies! They've been a big help.
I like the way the Z680 speakers look, that's probably around his price range.
Being that he wants a NEW speaker system (he's got a 2.1 right now), those would work good.
But that decoder is pretty much exactly what I had in mind too. That would work nicely depending on what route he wants to go with his speaker choice.

He doesn't really want to purchase a receiver, so I'd have to go with either of these.

[pinipig523]

Sweet, never looked into the creative decoder, i'd prolly put my vote for that, seems to be the simplest way of goin, and possibly the cheapest depending on the speakers that will be hooked up also it would allow ur friend to upgrade speakers whenever he wants to do so =)

Hey, just a question for Pinipig523 that really don have anything to do with this thread, -> do you know how to record a vinyl to your computer? i heard about a creative interface that makes this possible? Would even separate the songs =) think it was suppose to be around 80 - 90 dollars....

Just cheking if you might know since it seems like you got the audio part down quite well =)

Just as the other guy posted, all you need to do is go from the audio out of your vinyl player (turntable) into the audio in of your soundcard.

That's the easy part.

The hard part is finding the soundcard that will record to your liking.

[pinipig523]

hey, thanks for all the replies! They've been a big help.
I like the way the Z680 speakers look, that's probably around his price range.
Being that he wants a NEW speaker system (he's got a 2.1 right now), those would work good.
But that decoder is pretty much exactly what I had in mind too. That would work nicely depending on what route he wants to go with his speaker choice.

He doesn't really want to purchase a receiver, so I'd have to go with either of these.

The 680s at ebay prices are a STEAL! They used to run about $350-400 about a year and a half ago just FYI.

[Phibz//]

Hey,
Talked to my uncle again, this is what i was talking about

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...07&product=154

It's the Creative USB Sound Blaster Digital Music "thing" hehe

It allows a much better wuality for the input, thus allows better recording .wav or .mp3...

Just found my parents collection of vinyls and thought it be kinda cool to get the "good ones" onto cd's

thnx for the help though =)

[Phibz//]

Some more info on the Digital Music thing:

Creative Smart Recorder

Creative Smart Recorder is is designed to help manage and perform all your recording tasks easily. Using Creative Smart Recorder, you can:

Record and convert your analog LP/cassettes into digital audio tracks (.MP3, .WMA or .WAV format) and even restore its audio quality with Creative
proprietary audio cleanup technology.
Schedule an unattended recording to start at a specific date and time.
Split a long recording into individual tracks automatically and intelligently, based on silence detection technology.
Easily set the optimum recording level with the automatic source level analysis feature.
SPECIFICATIONS



Feature Description
Interface USB 1.1
Output Format Analog Line Out, Headphone output, SPDIF Optical Output (PCM, AC-3, or DTS)
S/PDIF Sample Rate Optical Out 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
Bits Resolution 16 bits
Power USB Bus powered - approx. 160 mA

Connections and Controls

Audio Input:

Line In (Gold-plated, RCA pair)
Audio Outputs:

Line Out (Gold-plated, RCA pair)
Line/Headphone Out (Gold-plated, 1/8" - 3.5mm)
Optical S/PDIF Out
USB Connector:

1x Type ‘B' port (upstream), bus-powered
Controls:

Analog headphone volume control
Analog/Digital output selector
Indicators:

Power LED
+Supports Windows XP SP2

[iwishiwasafish]

he's got a nice little 15" 3000 watt sub =)

Oh yeah 15" is just tiny

But on another note i have a 12" MTX Car Sub connected to my computer.

[Phibz//]

Oh yeah 15" is just tiny

But on another note i have a 12" MTX Car Sub connected to my computer.

Hahaha,
I did the same thing, had a cheap JBL 12" 300 watt woofer (car sub) that a put under my couch, so when i watched movies i had a nice little vibration goin :P...

[iwishiwasafish]

Yeah i'm thinking of getting another one of these subs and using it as a rear woofer.......But i think new floorstanding speakers are on the menu next

[Phibz//]

Nice, ye just bought myself two Cerwin Vega V-12F, pretty damn nice, works good with my NAD c350 amp, unfortunatly ony stereo sound.....was planning on getting a cerwin vega classic 15" woofer to go with that...but since i live in an apartment i think that would just be asking for it....getting thrown out that is *lol*

[iwishiwasafish]

hehe i can only really use my sub when the house is practically empty.
My parents don't appreciate my music, only my little bro and sis

EDIT: Ok lets stop thread hijacking now