Audio Interfaces and 5.1 Surround ?

Anything about hardware musical instruments.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hi all.

I'm doing some research for a friend of mine looking for an audio interface.

He has a Intel i5 PC with 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD and 1TB hard drive.

My friends is not a professional musician/producer, it's more of a hobby for him. He doesn't need to mix in 5.1 he just want to be able to connect his 5.1 surround system to the interface for everyday stuff like listening to music or watching a movie and use it the same way he used the surround system with the onboard soundcard.

The rest of what he wants/needs:
1) Price: 150$-250$ (Possibly used/refurbished).
2) Has a midi input for his digital piano
3) Can record vocals/guitars etc.

Thx in advance,
ZBBZ.
CPU: i5 3470
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Hard Drives: WD 1TB Black, 500GB Green, 160GB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Sonar X2, Native Instruments Komplete, VSTs...
Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
Casio CD-120 Digital Piano

Post

Presonus Firebox

Post

Don't most audio interfaces allow spdif pass through? - so you can output DTS directly to a surround amp that will then play in 5.1.
I believe every thread should devolve into character attacks and witch-burning. It really helps the discussion.

Post

Suloo wrote:Presonus Firebox
Because it has 3 outputs? only one of them is amped and the other are lineouts. is it OK?
ericj23 wrote:Don't most audio interfaces allow spdif pass through? - so you can output DTS directly to a surround amp that will then play in 5.1.
Don't know nothing about that. can you explain further?
CPU: i5 3470
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Hard Drives: WD 1TB Black, 500GB Green, 160GB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Sonar X2, Native Instruments Komplete, VSTs...
Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
Casio CD-120 Digital Piano

Post

The 5.1 amplifier will have a digital input - so there is a fair chance the person's computer already has an spdif output - this will allow them to use the computer to play music through the amp without adding a sound card at all.

If his computer does not have an spdif out he should buy a sound card that has all his ins and outs and a digital out

i.e Tascam US-144 MKII
I believe every thread should devolve into character attacks and witch-burning. It really helps the discussion.

Post

OK. a lil' update:

The 5.1 system has 3 mini PL outputs. meaning that currently there's 3 mini PL cables going into the onboard soundcard.
So it seems I need an interface with at least 3 outputs(total of 6=3 lefts and 3 rights) right?
and than use some adapters to get the 6 PLs connected to the 3 mini PLs?

and after all that I need an interface that has a driver that can handel incoming audio in surround format from any regular software like VLC media player or Firefox/Chrome(youtube)...

also: do all the outputs need to be amped? or will lineouts will do?

Anything like that on the market for about 150$-250$ ?
CPU: i5 3470
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Hard Drives: WD 1TB Black, 500GB Green, 160GB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Sonar X2, Native Instruments Komplete, VSTs...
Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
Casio CD-120 Digital Piano

Post

zoobooboozoo wrote: also: do all the outputs need to be amped? or will lineouts will do?
Why? Does he only have 6 speakers with no amplifier?
If not, he should get a decent AV Surround amplifier.
If he has one, he should replace the old one with a new one, that accepts digital input.
There's no need for an audio interface for surround playback.

Post

zoobooboozoo wrote:My friends is not a professional musician/producer, it's more of a hobby for him. He doesn't need to mix in 5.1 he just want to be able to connect his 5.1 surround system to the interface for everyday stuff like listening to music or watching a movie and use it the same way he used the surround system with the onboard soundcard.

The rest of what he wants/needs:
1) Price: 150$-250$ (Possibly used/refurbished).
2) Has a midi input for his digital piano
3) Can record vocals/guitars etc.

Thx in advance,
ZBBZ.
Some other thoughts:
- Get a basic audio interface and connect the outputs to the input(s) of the onboard audio chip.
- Get a cheap small analog mixer to mix the output of the basic audio interface with the front outputs of the onboard sound.

Though I still think the idea in my previous post is the best one. You didn't say which 5.1 surround system he has? Is it really old? Or is it just some cheap crappy 'multimedia' set with 2W per speaker?

edit: 1x1 usb midi interfaces are really cheap, it shouldn't be a 'must have' on an audio interface.

Post Reply

Return to “Hardware (Instruments and Effects)”