How to connect a PC to 5.1 home theater?

[Trucko]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and I would like to ask you a question.
How do I connect my PC to my 5.1 home theater?
I have ASUS H170 Pro motherboard and LG HT762PZ home theater.

https/www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo/full?photo_id=9215524456
This is the back of my home theater.

And this is the back of my PC.

I have GTX970 graphic card but I could not get it working with HDMI cable, maybe it has something to do with HDMI Out thing?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

I was just studying the manuals for both of these components and I would use RCA type jacks to hook these two items together. From your motherboard use the blue and green jacks for your stereo output and then hook them to the aux. input of your stereo. That should do it.

 

[Trucko]

I was just studying the manuals for both of these components and I would use RCA type jacks to hook these two items together. From your motherboard use the blue and green jacks for your stereo output and then hook them to the aux. input of your stereo. That should do it.

I connected the green jack on my PC with R and L aux input, that way I'm getting only stereo sound, what about 5.1? If i connect my blue jack on my PC where should I put the other end of the cable?

 

[ssddx]

unfortunately you have a HTIB (home theater in a box). often they have combined dvd players and amplifier components. many of the cheaper ones lack very many inputs at all and even if you have the right inputs, many are limited to 2.0.

your only options for connections are:
optical input
rca red+white input

using rca, you will be limited to 2.0. you can not get 5.1 this way. green 3.5mm -> rca red+white input on htib. there are no other inputs for additional channels

using optical (would need a soundcard, hdmi/optical or usb/optical adapter) you might be able to get 5.1 if both devices support it (called dts-c or ddl generally on pc.. but basically dolby digital compressed audio support over optical). in many cases, cheap htib units do not support more than 2.0 but you could get lucky (read the manual to see if it says anything). by default many cheap adapters do not support it either unless it specifically notes 5.1. remember, both need to support it or it will only be 2.0.

my thoughts are that you have a cheap htib and its unlikely that you will get 5.1 from anything but the included dvd player. this is quite common and one reason why i loathe htib sets and always recommend receivers. some of the higher end units are not as limited (but still have many limitations).

your best bet if you only have 2.0 input is to use a sound mode like dolby pro logic to "fake" 5.1 audio. its not great but might be better than nothing.

 

[Rocky Bennett]

In order to get STEREO sound out of your stereo, you need to connect both the blue and green jacks from your computer to your stereo (page 9 of your manual). Your stereo has a built in decoder to create 5.1 effects, but it will not be discreet, (page 22 of your manual).

 

[Trucko]

unfortunately you have a HTIB (home theater in a box). often they have combined dvd players and amplifier components. many of the cheaper ones lack very many inputs at all and even if you have the right inputs, many are limited to 2.0.

your only options for connections are:
optical input
rca red+white input

using rca, you will be limited to 2.0. you can not get 5.1 this way. green 3.5mm -> rca red+white input on htib. there are no other inputs for additional channels

using optical (would need a soundcard, hdmi/optical or usb/optical adapter) you might be able to get 5.1 if both devices support it (called dts-c or ddl generally on pc.. but basically dolby digital compressed audio support over optical). in many cases, cheap htib units do not support more than 2.0 but you could get lucky (read the manual to see if it says anything). by default many cheap adapters do not support it either unless it specifically notes 5.1. remember, both need to support it or it will only be 2.0.

my thoughts are that you have a cheap htib and its unlikely that you will get 5.1 from anything but the included dvd player. this is quite common and one reason why i loathe htib sets and always recommend receivers. some of the higher end units are not as limited (but still have many limitations).

your best bet if you only have 2.0 input is to use a sound mode like dolby pro logic to "fake" 5.1 audio. its not great but might be better than nothing.

If i get good sound card that supports optic will I be able to play 5.1? Or even better, I can use the same speakers but on a different home theather that has the plugs?

 

[Trucko]

In order to get STEREO sound out of your stereo, you need to connect both the blue and green jacks from your computer to your stereo (page 9 of your manual). Your stereo has a built in decoder to create 5.1 effects, but it will not be discreet, (page 22 of your manual).

Yeah I tried some different options and finally all speakers started working, I don't like the sound thought...

 

[Rocky Bennett]

Yeah, I have to agree with ssddx and say that with your system you are going to run into some limitations. (I think that I said that politically correct.)

 

[ssddx]

as for powering the speakers on a different receiver, yes it is possible although i would suggest finding one which lists 4ohm impedance support, otherwise it may run too hot. you can of course use an easier to find model with 6/8ohm impedance support but do read the various articles and guides on doing this regarding risk before doing that.

standard speakers are 6 or 8 ohm and receivers generally handle that. htib sometimes branch out with nonstandard equipment.

why would you connect both the green and blue output on the pc? the green jack handles BOTH left and right audio. a simple 3.5mm stereo to 2x rca red+white cable (each is mono) is what you would need. the blue jack is generally aux input on the pc not an output.

will you get 5.1 support if you get optical? maybe. that is the best answer i can give. read your manual to try and see if it mentions 5.1 support. if it does, there is a good chance you can get it working. if it doesnt then its a 50/50 shot. likewise make sure any soundcard has dts-c or ddl support. i'm thinking the answer is likely "no" but given how bad the manuals are for htibs its hard to call it across the board without really looking into it (and even then, sometimes the manual simply doesnt tell you).