pc audio to home theater reciever help! no surround sound.

[prpledoggxii]

ive been trying on and off for months to get my pc to play in 5.1 surround sound. all my drivers are up to date. all my equipment and components are working properly and tested. ill start off with a list of relative information.

my equipment and components
asus sabertooth z97 mark 1 mobo
http/www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_Z97_MARK_1/
asus gtx 780 directcu ii oc
http/www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/GTX780DC2OC3GD5/
rca rt2911 home theater receiver
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CJax7e7L4L8CFQUFaQodVi8AVg&Item=N82E16882125529&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Home+Theater+in+a+Box-_-N82E16882125529&ef_id=U8XF4gAAAFCI9TCe:20140725134217:s
Hisense 46" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV LTDN46V86US
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889290002
windows 7 64bit

ive tried everything that i found in other posts such as updating drivers, triple checking the sound options and realtek settings and checking the reciever options. but it seems that the only ports on my computer that allow surround sound are the 3 hd 3.5mm jacks on the back of the mobo. according to the windows sound options and realtek options none of my other ports do, including my spdif optical port on the mobo, and various hdmi ports including the one on the 780 gpu. ive double checked the properties on each of the outgoing audio sources and checked for settings that i could change but i found nothing. ive also tried various audio output configurations like gpu hmdi to tv hdmi then tv coaxial to receiver ; gpu hdmi to reviever hdmi input then a seperate hdmi to tv ; mobo optical out to reviever input (current setup). i get stereo perfectly and sometimes the surround speakers will become emulated and play stereo sounds through them, especially when i use pandora. but with this setup it refuses to play in surround, ive tried playing bf4 in surround sound mode and no sound at all through the rear speakers. so with all this being said its clearly a software limitation somewhere on my pc that i cannot find. sorry to ramble on but im really frustrated with this situation becuase i love to play action games and horror games and i bought all the proper equipment and they just dont play well together. so if anyone has any ideas please do respond, im just looking for a cheap way to get my equipment to work in hd 5.1 surround sound. im open to anything as long as it works. PLEASE HELP. ask me if you have any questions.

the back of my reciever
input : 3 hdmi, optical, coaxial, 2 rca stereo
ouput : 1 hdmi
https/www.dropbox.com/s/eqrymfxow6s8cx9/2014-07-25%2006.34.25.jpg

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Your speaker jacks are analog signals... it could be expensive and un-reliable, and you would be like turning digital to analog back to digital agian ( LAG TIME )... try a Certified Standard Audio Card that matches what your reciever Certified Standard needs... or see if the realtek driver mod will get the standard you need.

 

[prpledoggxii]

well im not to knowlegable on audio but as far as i know my reciever is dolby digital, prologic 2 and digital sound processor compatible. ive read up on a few things such as ddl dts and dolby formats. so if i wanted to buy a sound card for my current pc and reciever, what should i buy or look for in a sound card? any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Minstedmaz]

I would suggest you this one:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132053

 

[prpledoggxii]

well correct me if im wrong but wouldnt i need a sound card that has an spdif out and dolby compatibility to match my reciever?

 

[Cristi72]

well correct me if im wrong but wouldnt i need a sound card that has an spdif out and dolby compatibility to match my reciever?

The card Minstedmaz suggested has SPDIF optical out, you just need to use the jack-to-optical adapter included in the box.

 

[prpledoggxii]

you are correct cristi72. thanks and now i feel dumb lol. but im still curious about my second question in that same post. will that card be compatible with my reciever? please keep in mind that if i do buy a sound card i would prefer it to be a quality build and good sound quality so i dont mind paying a little extra(if i have to) to get a good card for 5.1 surround sound. im only saying this becuase i read a really long confusing post about the subject and they were arguing over "real" surround sound vs "emulated" or "simulated" surround sound and i just want good accurate sound. if anyone could church me up on the subject that would be awesome becuase im sort of clueless when i comes to software related audio.

 

[Minstedmaz]

From what I've heard the Xonar DX is a very good card in the 70+ dollars range, the next one would be a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z Card, they should have really good output, the thing you have to be sure is that it works with your surround, I think the ebst you can do would be to do try it first with a borrowed sound card with Dobly DTS or LIVE, because from what I see, your receiver might not even work with it, because from what you have tried, it doesn't work with the Digital audio that comes with the HDMI input, it might not even work with the DTS signal through SPDIF, I really don't think it won't work but there is a small chance it won't. That's why I suggest to try to get a card to try out first, it it works then you can even buy an Asus Xonar Essence card or a Phoebus.

 

[dannyhefc69]

I have the z97 pro and the opitcal port definitely supports full 5.1 surround sound as im using it right now. Do not connected to the tv then tv to amp. Connected your gpu to tv and your mobo sound (optical cable) to amp and make sure you check mobo audio as default. You cant get 5.1 from your tv if its coming from your pc