How many audio port do you need for surround sound?

This has always troubled me because I never owned a surround sound speakers. How many ports do you have to have physically on the laptop to use let's say a 5.1 surround sound speakers? Also, is a audio card required, or will the onboard sound from my laptop do a good enough job?

 

it all depends:

theoretically, you only need one cable for 5.1 surround sound (if its digital audio, this is fiber optics and its pretty expensive, it also requires speakers that can decode digital surround sound). One cable can carry 6 channels of digital audio information. Its called TOSLINK, and your computer and or speakers may or may not support this.

for example, the macbook pro (laptop) has a digital optical out; the headphone jack has the capability to output a 5.1 digital signal, in addition to the analog stereo out that normal headphone jacks have.

however, 5.1 audio, and all audio for that matter, usually leaves the computer as an analog signal. that requires 3 physical cables, 6 channels of audio. each cable carries a stereo signal (2 signals). Front left/right, Rear left/right, and center/sub are the signals being carried. You will need 3 outputs on your computer to be able to do this, and 3 inputs into your speaker system hub (usually shared by the sub).

as far as onboard audio vs a dedicated audio card, it depends on what you are doing and the quality of your onboard audio. Onboard audio chips vary pretty widely in quality. Some are poorly shielded from the other components and that can introduce artifacts. In general, onboard audio should be fine for your listening needs, though. For music development and production, a dedicated audio card might be helpful. I think a lot of people (used to) get sound cards for gaming, to relieve the cpu of some stress.

If you run windows vista, audio is handled by the OS, and you definitely don't need a sound card for gaming. Integrated vs dedicated you could talk about forever...

 

Headphone/2/2.1 -> 1
4/4.1 -> 2
5.1 -> 3
7.1 -> 4

 

Thanks Materchief, and PJ@y.

I don't think the Vostro 1500 carries the digital output jack, so I will need 3 physical output on my laptop.
Is there anyway this can be accomplish (hooking up a 5.1 speakers with my vostro)? maybe a dedicated audio card?

 

Maybe it's because I'm cheap but I do this via headphone splitter.

 

Yes, you sould buy a dedicated audio card like USB/DACs (EMU 0404 USB) or X-Fi Xtreme Audio ExpressCard w/ 5.1 Cable

 

+1, this member knows where the stuff is at