Edifier S760D and ZXR soundcard

[MelvinGonzo]

Good evening everyone, first of all please assume I know very little about high end audio, and thank you for time and patience.

I'm trying to get the best audio quality out of my S760D 5.1 speakers(http/www.edifier.com/us/en/speakers/s760d-5.1-gaming-speakers), they do not have a HDMI out, so I think a receiver if out of the question?

My sound card is the Soundblaster ZXR (https/us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-zxr) please spare me the unworthiness of soundcards speech.

I'm also gonna be connecting my Fidelio X2s to this soundcard (https/www.usa.philips.com/c-p/X2_27/fidelio-fidelio-headphones)

Alright, so how can I get the best audio out of my speakers? By my understanding, if I use an optical spdif cable, then my soundcard is bypassed and the DAC on my speakers do everything, but if I use the Red/White RCA cable(front left and right) and yellow/green 3.5mm jacks(rears, center and subwoofer) and connect them to my soundcard(analog) then my soundcard's DAC does the job, yes?

The soundcard supports DTS and Dolby Digital, same with my speakers.

Since my motherboard might be a factor, it's a z370 Gigabyte Gaming 7. Please let me know any other details you might need to be able to help me.

Thank you so much for reading and taking time out of your day to help out a stranger.

 

[americanaudiophile]

You could use an AV preamp processor or receiver with 5.1 preamp outputs with the Edifier.
If you had gone with an AV receiver and speakers I would have said that the receiver would do a better job than the PC or speakers at surround processing with more modes too. Easier to upgrade the speakers later.
You are correct in where the processing is done based on the connections. There is no way to tell which option will sound better except to try them both.

 

[MelvinGonzo]

You could use an AV preamp processor or receiver with 5.1 preamp outputs with the Edifier.
If you had gone with an AV receiver and speakers I would have said that the receiver would do a better job than the PC or speakers at surround processing with more modes too. Easier to upgrade the speakers later.
You are correct in where the processing is done based on the connections. There is no way to tell which option will sound better except to try them both.

First of all thank you very much for taking the time to try to help me out, I really do appreciate it.

I've had the soundcard for a long time so selling it and upgrading to a nice receiver is def an option, It's just that I heard the best way to get the best audio is connecting your speakers through HDMI to a receiver, but my S760D don't have an HDMI out, so in layman's terms how would that work? And maybe you have some reccomendations, I have a ~$500 budget for a receiver.

 

[MelvinGonzo]

You could use an AV preamp processor or receiver with 5.1 preamp outputs with the Edifier.
If you had gone with an AV receiver and speakers I would have said that the receiver would do a better job than the PC or speakers at surround processing with more modes too. Easier to upgrade the speakers later.
You are correct in where the processing is done based on the connections. There is no way to tell which option will sound better except to try them both.

Okay after researching your suggestion a bit more, I think I've kinda grasped the concept. If I used an AVR with preamp outputs, that would mean the AVRs amplifier is bypassed and the subwoofer's amp would be used instead? In this situation, the AVR would just be a decoder right? Is there no way to let the AVR do all the work with these speakers? And what would be the benefit of the AVR in this situation?

I'm sorry for all the questions.

 

[MelvinGonzo]

You could use an AV preamp processor or receiver with 5.1 preamp outputs with the Edifier.
If you had gone with an AV receiver and speakers I would have said that the receiver would do a better job than the PC or speakers at surround processing with more modes too. Easier to upgrade the speakers later.
You are correct in where the processing is done based on the connections. There is no way to tell which option will sound better except to try them both.

I'm still trying to get educated in the world of Hi Fi, but please tell me if this setup would work at all or not.
DisplayPort cable out of my GPU to my monitor just for video output (Gsync, 144hz so DP is needed).

HDMI out of GPU to an AVR just to transfer lossless 5.1 audio, at this point the AVR does the decoding and will also be my amplifier.

Speakers connected with analog into the AVR. The finished product (decoded and amped) travels through the analog connected to the speakers. Voila?