P-7805u FX Sound Card

Is the sound card in the P-7805u FX capable of transmitting 5.1 surround sound?

 

I don't think so. Maybe I am wrong though.

 

yes it can but only if the audio is encoded as dolby digital or dts audio (for example a dvd movie). even then it can only be passed though by either hdmi or optical toslink.

 

Well, I'm planning on getting a gaming headset that has 5.1 surround sound and I want to take full advantage of it. What do I need to get to make this happen? Are there USB sound cards that convert to 5.1 or do I need to get an actual soundcard to put in the laptop?

 

your better off just getting a pair of headphones that support dolby headphone like for example the logitech g35 or razer megalodon. of those two i would recommend the logitechs they are of much higher quality and more comfortable. sound cards for laptop are currently mostly garbage because most if not all process the audio by software which means you cpu is still doing all the work and the audio itself wont sound that much better if at all. additionally i dont know of any sound card for the laptop that will output game audio in surround sound most of them are just passthrough so unless the game will encode the audio into dolby digital or dts you wont get the 5.1 audio. for movies they are already encoded into 5.1 so you dont really need to worry about those

 

Hmmmm... Not really speaking from 'experience' here, but more from 'research' (though hopefully research -> experience as soon as $$$ allows =) ):

1. Surround headsets seem to fall (more or less) into 3 categories:

• USB-based -- In this case, the headset actually IS the soundcard... and as such, will appear as a completely independant audio device, not just an 'output' of your built-in sound card. Pros: Often lower cost, and less bulky. Cons: Reliance on drivers... can be a nuissance, with certain OS's and software. Can't use on non-PC platforms (read: Consoles).
  
• SPDIF- or COAX-based -- In this case, the headset has a module which accepts a standard SPDIF optical output (or copper coaxial output), and indepenantly does the digital -> analog conversion of the signal. Pros: Universally compatible (read: NO DRIVERS) with any device that outputs sound in this manner (such as our beloved P-7805u, or gaming consoles, etc). Cons: bulky control box, and less portable (More gear to lug around), and Cost.
  
• Pure analog surround -- In this case, the headset has a different analog plug (3.5mm or RCA) for each of the channels, and can interface to anything that outputs independant analog surround channels. Pros: can be cheapest, and arguably, the most-compatible. Cons: these days, not many things do independant analog surround channels... such as our laptops, gaming consoles, etc. Also cumbersome physical connections.

2. Since the focus of your query is our laptop, we have basically only to 'built-in' options (without resorting to a 3rd party "laptop sound card," in addition to a headset):

• HDMI -- Great, because it can do the full digital surround ... but I haven't seen a single set of "HDMI headphones".... and only a couple adapters, if I recall, which can strip out the digital audio to be used with Coaxial-based devices... and even this, in theory, would potentially require some additional trickery beyond the obvious physical hackery. Pros: great for use in home theater, connected to surround receiver! Cons:...but more or less out-of-the-question for headset.
  
• Optical Out -- Ok.. this was a shock to me too, because I very plainly could not find it anywhere visible in any information I read prior to purchase... but apparently, the 3.5mm jack used for the headphones on our P-7805u also sports an OPTICAL output...! If the right adapter is used. (Monoprice.com sells them for a VERY reasonable price, in both cable form and adapter form: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10229&cs_id=1022902&p_id=1557&seq=1&format=2 (cable) and http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10423&cs_id=1042301&p_id=2671&seq=1&format=2 (adapter->Toslink) ) I WILL confirm this works, and post =) Pros: Great for use in home theater, and POSSIBLE to use with headset. Cons: Hmmm... headset or device needs to support optical (digital via COAX still not possible).

Bottom line? -- for me, the choice is somewhat clear... if I want to use it for JUST laptop gaming, I'd probably go with the USB-type headset. If I want something that I can apply to ANY of my gaming systems (360, PS3, Gateway, or even use with my home theater), I'd choose an optical-based one.

Hopefully that info helped/helps! Like I said... just contributing what I've found in MY research. If anyone has anything to add, fire away!

 

thats all fine and dandy but what you dont realize is that even though our laptops have hdmi and spdif optical out is that these solutions are really only useful for movies with pre encoded surround such as dolby digital. our laptop for some reason have a pretty terrible onboard audio in which the soundcard doesnt even support dolby headphone much less dolby digital live (this one takes multi surround inputs and converts them to dolby digital which is very useful for games via optical) dts neo would be even better because that converts anything into dolby dts multichannel so even 2 channel stereo will be 5.1 ( it does a really good job at it too again over optical)

also basically anything done over optical can be done over the hdmi also. just an fyi the hdmi is only 1.2 compliant not 1.3 (this sucks and i really dont understand why they did this)

oh the optical thing you mentioned above does work all you need is a mini toslink to toslink adapter or cable. it only outputs the light from the port when the cable is fully inserted and audio is being played back. so if you plug it in and no light comes on dont worry just play something and itll come on. it is great for movies as i use it all the time

 

The HDMI on your 7805 is 1.2? I thought it was supposed to be 1.3 compliant in the 78XX series... dang

 

well im going off what the specifications page on the p78 series says but to be honest i dont think that spec sheet it entirely accurate so i would have to test a hdmi 1.3 feature on it but for that i would need a bluray drive. although im not aware of all the features hdmi 1.3 adds so maybe i could test something that wont assassinate my wallet