How to connect with optical cable and get 7.1 dolby surround sound for laptop

[ABeautifulDeath]

I am trying to get a siberia 840 which needs to be plugged in with optical cable for full performance and 7.1 dolby surround sound. Unfortunately my laptop does not have an optical out. Is there a way to solve this without losing any kind of audio quality?

 

[little_me]

only way to do it would be to use external sound card. This in itself wont really hurt the audio quality since I suspect that default laptop sound cards are not all that high in quality rankings. Thus the usb sound card will likely sound as good or better.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4M53SN6354&cm_re=sound_card_optical_out-_-29-111-007-_-Product
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102032&cm_re=sound_card_optical_out-_-29-102-032-_-Product

Or any other external sound card with optical output ability.

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

only way to do it would be to use external sound card. This in itself wont really hurt the audio quality since I suspect that default laptop sound cards are not all that high in quality rankings. Thus the usb sound card will likely sound as good or better.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4M53SN6354&cm_re=sound_card_optical_out-_-29-111-007-_-Product
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102032&cm_re=sound_card_optical_out-_-29-102-032-_-Product

Or any other external sound card with optical output ability.

My laptop is the highest end alienware 17 r4 laptop but yeah i don't have an idea about weither the sound card is dedicated or not.

The main question is will i get the 7.1 dolby surround sound like i actually plugged it in a pc with optical out. If yes it will be full performance are the products you recommended the best for the job? My budget is max 150$

 

[jsmithepa]

Yup, optical will do it. USB will do it too, but your AV Receiver has got to have a USB audio-in interface and you may have to load a driver on the laptop. U don't need to spend big dollars for this, good heavens, in fact any old cheapo thing that gives you Toslink will do. The Toslink interface just bring out the digital signal already present in the laptop, it's doing no processing whatsoever, spend your money on the "other side" of this cable. What 7.1 Receiver/amp do you have?

 

[little_me]

I fear my experiences with USB based sound cards is next to none. (I had one back in 2000)
The links I posted were meant more as "These exist and might do the job" than recommendations.
Long story short, on researching said things, seemingly only diamond claims to to support 7.1 (creative doesn't claim to support 7.1 so I doubt it)

What seem to claim to support it also:
https://www.startech.com/eu/Cards-Adapters/Sound/USB-Audio/USB-7-Channel-Audio-Adapter-with-SPDIF~ICUSBAUDIO7D
https://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Direct-External-Channel-SW-29545/dp/B004Y0ERRO/ They do mention that surround does not work on windows 10

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

Yup, optical will do it. USB will do it too, but your AV Receiver has got to have a USB audio-in interface and you may have to load a driver on the laptop. U don't need to spend big dollars for this, good heavens, in fact any old cheapo thing that gives you Toslink will do. The Toslink interface just bring out the digital signal already present in the laptop, it's doing no processing whatsoever, spend your money on the "other side" of this cable. What 7.1 Receiver/amp do you have?

I feel either i am wrong as usual or you got the question wrong. The main reason of the thread is that if i hook up the 840 siberia to my laptop with usb i will not get the 7.1 dts dolby surround sound. How did you say usb will do it too i am not really sure.. and i do not think that i have the answer to what 7.1 reciever/amp i have.

 

[jsmithepa]

Scratch that USB bit, was thinking of a 2.0 system, perhaps USB can't do surround although technically..... regardless, even if USB works, your receiver has to have that capability, which am gonna wager is rare or doesn't exists at all. STICK WITH OPTICAL my man.

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

i am definately going with optical or else i will not even buy the headset. I am trying to make sure if i can somehow plug in with optical, even though my laptop does not have a optical out atm. and doing so i want the same sound quality and features as dolby digital dts 7.1 surround sound which i will have if i straight up go and hook it up to my desktop which has a optical out. please someone help

 

[jsmithepa]

I have feeling we are not communicating.

I say optical because that's commonly used for surround playback and handled by lots of devices, but optical couldn't care less what kind of surround audio you are shuttling through it. What determine whether 5.1, 7.1, or whatever is the PLAYER box, because this box contains the the codec necessary to interpret the data sent.

Laptop ------ (optical) -----> PLAYER box.

So what PLAYER box do you have exactly?

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

by saying player box i assume you are asking me about the external sound card ? this is how i see it will be

LAPTOP>>>>>(probably with usb)>>> sound card >>> optical >>>>> siberia 840 headset transmitter >>> wireless to my ears with siberia 840 headset

at the moment i do not have any external sound card if that is your question

 

[jsmithepa]

Yup, the diagrammed should work, ASSUMING your playback material has discreet surround channels. If you are playing stereo source (like all youtubes are), then I don't know how the siberia responds. I have no actual experience with surround headsets.

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

https://www.pcnation.com/web/details/RG9654/SIIG-HD-Digital-7-1-USB-Audio-Box-CE-S70011-S1-0662774017037?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=164636465266&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&gclid=CPbAzquN-tECFZSIfgod8ecL0w

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1053131&gclid=CPb5ia2N-tECFUpNfgodadIENw&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051677682%2C&A=details&Q=

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2F83WK7176&cm_re=sound_card_optical_out-_-29-102-089-_-Product

what about these ones they seeem to be the best offering ones i found out there.. i will have a blue yeti pro by the way i believe it connects with usb. so something that will help both can be nice to.. or you can i guess always get a cable with usb out and 3.5 in

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

Yup, the diagrammed should work, ASSUMING your playback material has discreet surround channels. If you are playing stereo source (like all youtubes are), then I don't know how the siberia responds. I have no actual experience with surround headsets.

Can you help me to pick between the sound cards? I kind of narrowed it down to the last two which are;

Asus Xonar U7

SIIG HD Digital 7.1 USB Audio Box

If there is any other that is better within the 150$ price range i can consider. Please someone who has understood the situation give me a solid answer and get me ready for ordering

 

[ABeautifulDeath]

+++

Hello my good sirs i have been searching for days and decided i will go with the Siberia 840 wireless headset. My laptop is a Alienware new 17 R4 which is pretty much as high end as it gets.
The headset needs to be connected with optical connection in order to give full power such as the dolby digital 7.1 surround sound but unfortunately my laptop does not have a optical out. And i have heard the solution is getting an external usb sound card which i narrowed my options down to these 2 below. ( keep in mind i have 150$ budget if you have a better suggestion i will definately look it up)

ASUS Xonar U7 Usb Sound Card

SIIG HD Digital 7.1 Usb Sound Box

I hope you my good sirs can help me out with this matter. And do inform me of what you think about the solution i want to be %100 sure that i will get the same quality as if i were going to use the headset on my desktop and plug it right in the optical out. This is not important but if there is a better option that will boost my blue yeti pro that would be nice. Thanks in advance

 

[ssddx]

i'm not sure why you pm'd me requesting a response here as the correct response has already been given for both of your connectivity options, but i'll clarify a few things and list my thoughts.

i did not find a manual on the website online, so please consult the manual in the box to double check how they require connections. i did find this video https://support.steelseries.com/hc/en-us/articles/224942187-How-do-I-setup-my-Siberia-840-

it looks like for pc they suggest using usb, 3.5mm and power. i'm not sure if the usb is for mic or for an onboard soundcard. if its for mic, the below statement is probably. if its for the soundcard it may or may not be true. simple fact is if its analog 3.5mm input its not greater than 2.0 though if its usb i cant at a glance say without testing or knowing the specs.

i read a review on amazon about the 840 which suggests that using usb you only get dolby pro logic surround and that to get true surround you need to use optical. an example of pro logic is upscaling a 2.0 signal to 5.1 in a similar way to how virtual surround works but at the same time different and not quite the same. i'm not sure how true this statement is or if the poster has no idea what they are talking about since i dont have a manual, full specs or the headset to test.

while optical is suggested for consoles it is also possible to use it with pc. you may want to check about 5.1 support via optical on the 840 end but external soundcards with an optical jack with 5.1 support meant for home theater hookup would output it on the pc end. i believe the xonar u7 has ddl based on some comments i've read (do double check) and i'm certain there are many cheaper cards which do as well. if your headset supports 5.1 or greater via optical and you have a soundcard with said support things should work perfectly fine i would think.