Ddl/dts vs pro-logic II z-5500

[nojagr6869]

i just ordered the z-5500 and im trying to get the best sound out of them. i have a x-fi xtremegamer sound card and i want to use my digital cord. my main question is should i use the ddl/dts encoder on my sound card or should i let the speakers receiver do the encoding to pro-logic II. from what i understand the encoder on my sound card will compress the 5.1 sound so it fits on the digital cable. im not sure if it is better to send a lossy encoded ddl/dts signal over the digital cord or the regular stereo signal and let the receiver encode it.

 

[gamerk316]

To get 5.1 out of digital, you have to pass through either a Dolby Digital or DTS stream, as uncompressed 5.1 audio is too large to carry over a digital connection. So yes, you either have to have you're sound card encode using DDL/DTS-C, or use pro-loigic on you're Z-5500's to upmix.

I tend to favor DDL/DTS-C. Yes, its lossy, but so is almost every other container format that PC's use anyways, and the majority of the time, you wouldn't notice the diminished quality. Using DDL/DTS-C to stream the actual 5.1 stream as opposed to virtualizing via Pro-Logic tends to give more accurate results as well, especially in FPS gaming (although Pro Logic does very well, all things considered).