Recently I just purchased a Logitech X-530 set of speakers --for a very cheap price. At first I was happy with my purchase, but when I connected the sound card, it turned out that the center speaker did not have sound at all. It seems that the X-530 requires a discrete, 5.1 source input for all speakers to play.
Furthermore, what I've read on this site merely confirmed my suspicion:
"....the 530s do not have a built in sound expander......" Gyah! No wonder I can't using all 5 speakers when using four-channel sound card.If you only have a stereo or four channel sound card, the 530s do not have a built-in sound expander so you will not be using all 5 speakers.
Well, the obvious solution is replacing my sound card with 5.1 sound card --one that can provide discrete, analog six-channel output. There are even 7.1 sound cards out there. However, that's not an option, since this is for a Windows 98 legacy system. I need a sound card "old enough" to work with Windows 98 and DirectX 7 (don't ask, I need DirectX 7 for my Voodoo2). Consequentially, my sound card should be likely a four-channel sound card (same generation with Diamond MonsterSound MX300, etc).
So my questions are:
(1) What computer speakers have "sound expander", so I can drive all the 5.1 speakers with my four-channel sound card?
(2) Alternatively, what if I use a 5.1 surround receiver? You know, that thing usually found in a home theater setup. I know this solution is probably too overboard, but is a surround receiver typically equppied with a "sound expander", so I can drive all speakers using four-channel sound card?
See, all 5.1 surround receivers I found have six-channel analog input (just like the X-530 speakers I described above), but do they equpped with "sound expander", so I can drive all speakers even with four-channel sound card?
(3) If I'm using plain stereo sound card (like Sound Blaster 16, or AWE32), I have no problem with connecting to 5.1 speakers, because I can use adapter like this one. The Logitech Game Console Adapter converts plain stereo input to six-channels required to drive a 5.1 speakers. So I can easily drive all speakers when using plain stereo sound card (as opposed to four-channel sound card).
Furthermore, if I'm using surround receiver with plain stereo source, I think I won't have any problem of driving all speakers, since all surround receivers I know always have at least plain stereo input, with capability to "upmix" the plain stereo input into 5.1 output, using various methods like SRS or Dolby ProLogic.
So you see, it seems I'm gonna have less headache with plain stereo sound card. My question is; how about four-channel sound card? Is there any adapter that can convert four channel to six-channel (5.1), as the Logitech Game Console Adapter does with plain stereo? Or is there any 5.1 surround receiver that can receive four-channel source, as it does with plain stereo source?
Thanks,
:thumbsup