I've built many PC's, low and high end. However I've never built an HTPC and I'm considering building one for my Den. I already have a fairly new but inexpensive 5.1 surround sound receiver. It has digital audio optical in, digital audio coax in, or 6 RCA jacks for analog audio in. It does not have an HDMI in or out. I also have a mid-range quality five speaker set with a powered subwoofer. This sound system is currently connected to my HDTV via the digital audio coax out from the TV. All my devices, (Xbox 360, standard DVD player, Dish DVR, etc...) are connected to the TV via HDMI cables. In this way I can just change the input on the TV to the desired device and then the TV outputs the digital audio signal to the reciever/amplifier connected to my 5.1 speaker system. I'm not really interested in changing my audio system, I just want to build an HTPC that will output 5.1 surround sound to my existing audio system.
I already have a fairly new LG Blu-ray drive to put in the HTPC along with some other components, but I will be buying the CPU, mother board, memory, sound card, and video card new. I also have the full version of PowerDVD 10 which I understand plays Blu-ray and 5.1 surround. My question is, what is the best way to go about this? As I consider this build, I know that the video card I buy will have an HDMI out for the video, but as far as I know the audio will have to come separately from a sound card. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure modern PC's transfer the audio signal generated by the optical drive over the PCI bus. Does the optical drive send all the channels for 5.1 surround to the sound card in a single data stream over the PCI bus and then the sound card decodes it? This is where I'm not sure I understand what is happening to the audio in the PC, which components would be best for my existing equipment, and how to set it up correctly. I understand that with my low end receiver/amplifier I may have to give up some sound quality. That's OK as long as I get true 5.1 surround with positional audio and subwoofer effects. Any information and advice is greatly appreciated.
I already have a fairly new LG Blu-ray drive to put in the HTPC along with some other components, but I will be buying the CPU, mother board, memory, sound card, and video card new. I also have the full version of PowerDVD 10 which I understand plays Blu-ray and 5.1 surround. My question is, what is the best way to go about this? As I consider this build, I know that the video card I buy will have an HDMI out for the video, but as far as I know the audio will have to come separately from a sound card. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure modern PC's transfer the audio signal generated by the optical drive over the PCI bus. Does the optical drive send all the channels for 5.1 surround to the sound card in a single data stream over the PCI bus and then the sound card decodes it? This is where I'm not sure I understand what is happening to the audio in the PC, which components would be best for my existing equipment, and how to set it up correctly. I understand that with my low end receiver/amplifier I may have to give up some sound quality. That's OK as long as I get true 5.1 surround with positional audio and subwoofer effects. Any information and advice is greatly appreciated.