S96j HD Realtek (I want 5.1)

I have an Asus VBI s96j laptop. It comes with an annoying onboard sound card (HD Realtek).

I was going to buy some 5.1 logitech speakers today, and I realized, it's probably not compatible with just my headphone jack. I need good sound for my video games (mostly LOTRO), movies (some streamed), and music.

What are my options to get true 5.1 surround sound going? I did hours of research today. It appears I can get an external sound card or possibly some adapters.

I browsed some external sound cards and they use words like "virtual 5.1", it costs extra money, adds more crap on my laptop,..which may not be what I'm looking for. I have no clue about the adapters (rca type converters possibly).

If i just buy the speakers and hook it up.. i'm pretty sure I won't have all the jacks.. and um.. it'll play in 2.1.

Could anyone confirm, or enlighten me here? Maybe with my newly updated Realtek drivers it'll run 5.1? No?

Also, I called the company I bought this from (Ken from Gentech), and he said everything should work.. which may or may not mean the speakers'll work in 2.1.

Thanks, big post, lotsa info., will definetly being checking post periodically.

 

For 5.1 you need either 3 or 4 (? cant remember) analog outputs or a digital output like optical or digital coax. The s96j has neither, although it used to have an optical out located inside the stereo jack asus in their infinite wisdom decided to remove it from newer versions.

The best you can get is 2.1 from the stereo jack. There are usb soundcards, they usually arent as good as their desktop variants but get the job done.

 

You most likely need a converter to a spdif jack. The realtek is 5.1 capable, using the spdif through the headphone jack.

 

Or you could do what I did and buy a creative audio sound blaster live! 24-bit external card (more like a box but whatever). It has all the jacks for 5.1 as well as SPDIF and even an optical output and support for a remote control.

 

I bought my s96j less than a year ago, but i figure they did the optical out redesign before then.

the sound blaster 24-bit external sound card got some not so good reviews on newegg. i'd probably rather avoid an external sound card.

An SPDIF converter sounds great. has anyone tried plugging one in so that all of the speaker jacks hook-up? If that gave me 5.1 surround.. well it'd be a must have for most s96j users.

 

well here's an update months later haha.

the headphone jack got worse and worse, which seems to be common in s96j laptops. only one side of my headphones was working and when i tweaked it, sometimes the second side would play sound for a second; it was ugly. so i opened up the laptop and unsoddered the headphone jack.

the springs had become loose inside. the model of the headphone jack was foxconn 664la. i've been looking for a replacement jack but i can't find any resources to find one with similar pins. i've tried pc recycle stores, connector stores, and I called asus, who would only sell me a whole new motherboard. also, ebay doesn't seem to have any.

anyways, it looks like it's time for an external usb soundcard.