5.1 Surround sound connection question

satolfea · 06-23-2009, 11:48 AM

Hi, first post, hope it's okay to just jump in and ask away...

I've got a Creative Labs sb0410 sound card, and some random 5.1 speaker system that's been lying around for years, it's just occurred to me to combine the two. When I tried, however, it seems there aren't enough spaces for all the wires I need! You'll have to excuse the very technical language that follows... At the back of the main speaker, where all the other speakers plug into, there are only 3 sockets - a left, right and some other one (I don't have the thing in front of me). There are spaces to plug the 5 speakers in, that bit's easy, but how do I connect this thing to my sound card to get more than 2.1?

What I've been doing up to now is just using a normal headphone jack, that splits into L and R, and plugging that into the back of the main unit from the headphone jack on the sound card, but surely there's a way... I'm further confused by the 4 different sockets on the back of the sound card, headphones, mike, ? and ?.

Thanks in advance!

yustr · 06-23-2009, 05:10 PM

First: welcome to TSF.

Sound card typically have two channels coming out of each of three jacks. So instead of stereo - as in headphones where you get L/R, in 5.1 you'd have one for L/R, another for surround L/R, and the third for Center/Sub. Connect these using three male/male mini-headphone stereo cables.

satolfea · 06-23-2009, 11:49 PM

Hi yustr, thanks for the help!

Will give that a bash.

satolfea · 06-24-2009, 11:49 AM

Bah - so I went to shop to get these cables (a male mini heaphone to plug into the soundcard on one end, an RCA on the other end to plug into the subwoofer/control unit (which I now discover to be an LG 3000AWE), all pleased that after years of having this stuff lying around, it's finally going to do what it's designed to, only to be told by the fellow behind the counter that this will never work. He's one of these super confident, very helpful type chaps, so I don't want to just say "give me the cables and let me try", so we end up in an hour long discussion that goes way over my head, and I walk out with no cables.

I just wanted to clarify, before I boldly march in there tomorrow and demand the cables of my choice - The cable I described at the beginning of this post is correct, is it? Also, I had a closer look at the back of the subwoofer - there is a RCA socket for R, for L, and another RCA socket labelled "coaxial". What I'm after is 3 separate cables, all the same, to go from each of these three sockets inot 3 of the mini headphone sockets on my soundcard?

Man, this is a baffling field to the ignorant layman.

Thanks for any help!

yustr · 06-25-2009, 12:00 PM

Let's go back a step. Your LG sub has decoding and amplification capability built in. I can't tell for sure from the LG site (crappy support for older systems) but it appears that you have to feed it a digital signal - co-axial - let it decode it and it will send that signal out to the 5 speakers.

If this is true, my previous advice is worthless.

For it to work you need a sound card that has digital surround output. If your sb0410 doesn't have one you're sol. (Also a crappy site - very hard to navigate).

satolfea · 06-25-2009, 02:21 PM

Sigh - doomed.

As I feared. Time to break out the credit card.

Thanks for your help yustr. Really appreciate someone taking the time to go searching crappy sites for no other reason than to help someone.

Go well, and have a nice day.

06-23-2009, 11:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
satolfea Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista	5.1 Surround sound connection question Hi, first post, hope it's okay to just jump in and ask away... I've got a Creative Labs sb0410 sound card, and some random 5.1 speaker system that's been lying around for years, it's just occurred to me to combine the two. When I tried, however, it seems there aren't enough spaces for all the wires I need! You'll have to excuse the very technical language that follows... At the back of the main speaker, where all the other speakers plug into, there are only 3 sockets - a left, right and some other one (I don't have the thing in front of me). There are spaces to plug the 5 speakers in, that bit's easy, but how do I connect this thing to my sound card to get more than 2.1? What I've been doing up to now is just using a normal headphone jack, that splits into L and R, and plugging that into the back of the main unit from the headphone jack on the sound card, but surely there's a way... I'm further confused by the 4 different sockets on the back of the sound card, headphones, mike, ? and ?. Thanks in advance!

06-23-2009, 05:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 5,971 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: 5.1 Surround sound connection question First: welcome to TSF. Sound card typically have two channels coming out of each of three jacks. So instead of stereo - as in headphones where you get L/R, in 5.1 you'd have one for L/R, another for surround L/R, and the third for Center/Sub. Connect these using three male/male mini-headphone stereo cables. __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.

06-23-2009, 11:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
satolfea Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista	Re: 5.1 Surround sound connection question Hi yustr, thanks for the help! Will give that a bash.

06-24-2009, 11:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
satolfea Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista	Re: 5.1 Surround sound connection question Bah - so I went to shop to get these cables (a male mini heaphone to plug into the soundcard on one end, an RCA on the other end to plug into the subwoofer/control unit (which I now discover to be an LG 3000AWE), all pleased that after years of having this stuff lying around, it's finally going to do what it's designed to, only to be told by the fellow behind the counter that this will never work. He's one of these super confident, very helpful type chaps, so I don't want to just say "give me the cables and let me try", so we end up in an hour long discussion that goes way over my head, and I walk out with no cables. I just wanted to clarify, before I boldly march in there tomorrow and demand the cables of my choice - The cable I described at the beginning of this post is correct, is it? Also, I had a closer look at the back of the subwoofer - there is a RCA socket for R, for L, and another RCA socket labelled "coaxial". What I'm after is 3 separate cables, all the same, to go from each of these three sockets inot 3 of the mini headphone sockets on my soundcard? Man, this is a baffling field to the ignorant layman. Thanks for any help!

06-25-2009, 12:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 5,971 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: 5.1 Surround sound connection question Let's go back a step. Your LG sub has decoding and amplification capability built in. I can't tell for sure from the LG site (crappy support for older systems) but it appears that you have to feed it a digital signal - co-axial - let it decode it and it will send that signal out to the 5 speakers. If this is true, my previous advice is worthless. For it to work you need a sound card that has digital surround output. If your sb0410 doesn't have one you're sol. (Also a crappy site - very hard to navigate). __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.

06-25-2009, 02:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
satolfea Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista	Re: 5.1 Surround sound connection question Sigh - doomed. As I feared. Time to break out the credit card. Thanks for your help yustr. Really appreciate someone taking the time to go searching crappy sites for no other reason than to help someone. Go well, and have a nice day.