Ideal Audio set-up for 5.2 Surround from Computer to Receiver

[daniellagoe]

Yes I know there are tons of these, but I always see suggestions for budget systems etc. as well as I'm somewhat confused on how to do this correctly even after reading the other posts.

It's going to take me some time, but I'm look to get the ideal set-up for 5.2 surround sound.

My PC:
Asus Hero vii
GTX 970 SSC

What I was looking at was getting two pairs of the Wharfedale Diamond 220's, a single Wharfedale Diamond 220c (center speaker), and two of the 10 inch Wharfedale subs.

Running it would be a 5.2 receiver. Haven't decided yet on which one, any suggestions welcomed. (Budget: <$500)

Okay now for the questions.

1. For the wiring I would run an HDMI from my GPU to the receiver input or would it be better to go optical and change the optical settings to 5.1?

2. For the set-up would I use Direct Sound on receiver and set-up Dolby on PC (I understand I need to download a driver from Dolbys website to do so is that correct?) or run the Dolby surround enhancements from the receiver and change settings on PC?

3. Big question. Is there any way to use my monitor speakers I currently own with a 5.2 set-up without getting audio lag? I tried doing it before and it was lagging the audio even though they were all plugged into the receiver. NOTE: the monitors were playing from Zone 2 preamps. Would I need an audio receiver that has preamps for front speakers that doesn't send them to Zone 2? I was thinking that would work, but haven't tried it.

4. Would it be worth it to get a better sound card? I saw people going back and forth on this question in the other posts. I was thinking I wouldn't need it, but want to confirm.

Thanks so much to anyone that helps me!

 

[ssddx]

what country? since you said wharfdales i'm guessing UK.

1. hdmi.

2. auto-surround on receiver in most cases. for some cases you may swap it around to ext stereo, pro logic. no, you will not need to download anything special from dolby's website.

3. you may want to specify why you want to use the monitors at the same time as the 5.2 set and why lag is an issue. if you explain what you want to do someone here may be able to help.

4. no real point to do this.

 

[daniellagoe]

what country? since you said wharfdales i'm guessing UK.

1. hdmi.

2. auto-surround on receiver in most cases. for some cases you may swap it around to ext stereo, pro logic. no, you will not need to download anything special from dolby's website.

3. you may want to specify why you want to use the monitors at the same time as the 5.2 set and why lag is an issue. if you explain what you want to do someone here may be able to help.

4. no real point to do this.

I'm in the US. After a lot of looking around for speakers I narrowed it down to those ones.

What I'm planning on doing with the system is switching from watching movies, listening to music, and playing games to recording and creating music in various programs. When gaming the audio lag can make it harder to play. The movies I can offset with VLC, the music is fine, but when producing it makes it impossible to get the sound I need at the right time.

NOTE: It helped when I turned everything off and did Direct Sound on the receiver.

Thanks for the response!