Getting 5.1 sound from an M1330

I understand that the M1330 HDMI output outputs both the sound and picture. The HDMI output is fine for the picture as I can run the HDMI cable directly to my TV, but I would also ideally like to run 5.1 sound from the laptop to my A/V receiver.

Is the only way I can do this through the usage of some external sound card such as the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage or Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live?

 

or you can do a direct connection through the three headphone jacks... get a 9.5mm to stereo converter and plug in each channel independently. Other models had spdif with the advantage of digitalaudio out. Or you could just run the HDMI to your receiver if it has it, then have the receiver convert the video to whatever your HD tv takes.

 

I'm not sure that would give me dolby digital 5.1 sound though? Wouldn't I need a digital output (as with one of those USB sound cards?)

My receiver doesn't have HDMI.

 

I will gladly try this through my Rote 1057 reciever, x2 hdmi.

 

Well let me explain what is happening. I know you want to preserve the "pure" digital signal and you are. The receiver is just being taken out of the picture. Actually your computer is a DTS/DD receiver as well, and all you are doing is letting the computer do all the decoding, then pass the decoded analog audio through the receiver so it can convert it and pass it on to the speakers. Its not like your receiver sends a digital signal to your speakers... this is the same thing, albeit you might be introducing some interference because dell headphone jacks aren't the greatest.

But this is why the old spdif was better... coax digital out and digital video out all in one little plug. HDMI... I don't like it. So few receivers have it and its such a ... fickle technology. I really wish hometheaters stuff would stuck to PbRbRg or w/e and coax out. All the other stuff us utter BS and is meant to confused and cost the consumer increasing amounts of money.

 

I still think I need an external USB card. The M1330 only has 2 headphone output jacks - not three. Even if it had three outputs, the three corresponding analogue inputs (front, centre and rear) on my receiver are already taken up by my DVD-Audio/SACD player.

> HDMI... I don't like it.
I quite like it. One cable for sound and vision. I just wish the M1330 also had a digital output as well as HDMI - as my DVD player and Satellite box do. It then enables the device for backward compatability with older devices.

 

Third is the microphone jack. You should be able to configure it as an output when using 5.1 mode (at least that is how 5.1 works in XPS M1210 and most other 5.1 cards with 3 connectors).

 

Aha. Interesting.

Thanks for your help guys, but I still think I need an external sound card as the analogue inputs are already taken on my receiver.

 

you must not have a reciever with Direct In... those aren't the analog inputs that you would plug into (cd/tv/etc) you have a direct in for each speaker (FR/FL/BR/BL/C/SUB)

 

I have an spdif cable with minijack adaptor all ready.. This is standard way of getting 5.1 from these type of systems.. the headphone jack socket is multistandard... Im not sure how you would do it if you wants optical coax dont think its poss... spdif only.

 

> you have a direct in for each speaker (FR/FL/BR/BL/C/SUB)
And as I said, those are already taken.

> the headphone jack socket is multistandard
That's interesting. So, I just plug one end of a SPDIF cable with mini-jack adapter into the notebook and the other end into the coax input in the receiver? Do you have a picture of what one of these cables with mini-jack adapter looks like?

 

Oh well yes I didn't realize the m1330 had spdif or I would have just suggested that, I thought the HDMI bumped it off. And on a second look at images taken of it... I don't believe it does.

The adapter is http://reviews-cdn.dell.com/2341/310-8272/reviews.htm by the way.

 

The M1330 doesn't have SPDIF.

> The adapter is http://reviews-cdn.dell.com/2341/310-8272/reviews.htm
> by the way.
That adapter is for an SVideo output. The M1330 doesn't have an SVideo output. The above link says the SVideo adapter also includes an SPDIF adapter, but the link doesn't provide much details.

 

Go for the card then if you dont have HDMI, dont wanna use the headphone jacks. Just make sure it has optical or coax digital out.

 

I use a SB Audigy ZS notebook card for my 5.1

 

Looks like most of the features (such as Dolby Digital) don't work under Vista with the SB Audigy ZS.

Anyone know of an external USB sound card for a notebook that supports all the features such as Dolby Digital under Vista via an optical or coaxial input?

 

Balls.. I was under the impression it was supported with intel HD audio as standard..

 

I'll share my experiences... I spoke with a dell tech support guy and asked if there was any way to get digital audio out from any of the ports besides hdmi. It was kinda impressive that he searched this forum and sent me links to a few posts from here, but in the end he didn't think it could be done... hdmi is the only way to get digital out.

I tried hooking up the m1330 to my 1080p Samsung TV with HDMI. My TV is connected to my receiver by toslink. I could hear system beeps through the hdmi but could not hear the movie sound. Either my TV does not pass dolby digital, or for some reason none was getting sent over the hdmi connection. I made sure that the "dolby digital" checkbox was checked in the hdmi section of the sound control panel.

I suppose next step is to bring this into a store where I can test with a HDMI receiver, but given that nobody has reported dolby digital output (not analog) from the m1330 I am not encouraged.

 

You can just buy an Audigy 4 ExpressCard and put it in the side of your laptop, and buy necessary adapters to convert the plug into whatever you need.

edit: I mean X-Fi expresscard

 

If you are using Vista, make sure that HDMI is selected as your default Playback Device. To do this, double click the speaker icon in the systray and right click on HDMI and select "Set as Default"

 

Gefen makes exactly what you need. I have one....

It's a box with HDMI in, and then outputs an optical audio out and a DVI out for the video.

 

You don't need an external sound card. I connected my XPS M1330 to my HDTV with an HDMI cable(bought for 5 bucks on newegg). Then connected 5.1 speakers to the audio out of the TV, and all 5 speakers and the subwoofer work flawlessly. Of course you should change the audio output settings to 5.1 in your notebook.

 

Most TV's will not decode HDMI to 5.1 DD on digital audio... the output on digital audio is either disabled or will send out 2 channel when HDMI is selected... but there are exceptions.

 

I've decided I'm just going to get a Soundblaster Live External soundcard for $49 which will provide SPDIF optical and digital, from the USB connection. It will also provide a place for me to plug in a headset and microphone at my desk without having to unplug/replug them whenever I take the laptop away. The fewer the cables into the laptop the better.

One review on amazon said the Soundblaster Live External drivers have been improved so they don't require uninstalling the laptop sound drivers. Can anyone confirm this on their m1330? Also there are some who report problems getting it to work with Vista (and some who have no probs on Vista). I'd like to hear any firsthand reports of users who have used the Soundblaster Live External with an m1330.

 

I've heard horror stories about Live External support on Vista... I think a lot of the features might be disabled in Vista. Check on the Creative website before buying. They list a lot of features and say Vista compatible but have a little footnote (or used to have) which said a whole bunch of the features don't work in Vista. There are also reports of poor sound quality in Vista... which may or may not be true.

 

same situation here. my setup is the same. i also got dell tech support...still waiting for an answer.

i'm glad you know what you're talking about. many posters in this thread don't.

in my case, my windows dolby digital test tones don't work. i get "windows failed to play test tone".

 

I'm really interested in getting 5.1 sound using the three chanels. Where can I get aWhere can I foudnd 9.5mm to stereo converter?

Thanks!