SPDIF output always on? or never?
My motherboard supports 6-channel analog and digital sound using the
Realtek ALC655 chip. The digital output is SPDIF, and I have both optical (TOSlink) and electrical (RCA) output connectors. I've never used them, but I'm thinking of hooking up a Creative Labs 5500D speaker system which supports digital input. My ignorant question: what sound signal (if any) normally comes out of the SPDIF output? Does it normally output a PCM version of the 2-channel sound coming out of the analog stereo outputs? On the Realtek control panel the only relevant item I see is a checkbox which says "SPDIF only", which I think implies that sound normally comes out of both analog and digital outputs unless this is selected. I think I understand correctly that it *should* be able to output the AC3 Dolby Digital sound track played from a DVD, but does it need to be enabled in some way? Is it automatically supported by DVD player software? I think I also understand correctly that the computer doesn't have enough hardware or software computing power to encode a real-time Dolby Digital signal from 6 discrete channels. I assume therefore that the only way to get 6-channel sound from games or other sources which aren't already encoded is via the analog outputs? |
FelixC wrote:
My motherboard supports 6-channel analog and digital sound using the Realtek ALC655 chip. ..... My ignorant question: what sound signal (if any) normally comes out of the SPDIF output? Does it normally output a PCM version of the 2-channel sound coming out of the analog stereo outputs? On the Realtek control panel the only relevant item I see is a checkbox which says "SPDIF only", which I think implies that sound normally comes out of both analog and digital outputs unless this is selected. Answering my own question after experimenting with an outboard digital decoder: The digital audio output from the ALC655 on the motherboard is "always on", at least on my system. The various check boxes don't seem to affect it at all. The equalizer controls in the Realtek driver also don't affect the digital sound output - only the analog. There's no significant difference in quality between the analog and digital outputs, putting aside the controllable volume and equalizer settings possible on analog. |
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