So I just finished the beast now properly named, "John Henry" (First one to guess that name's source wins an Internet Cookie) and I need a kickass sound setup because engine's like CryENGINE and Source SDK aren't just supposed to look pretty, in a similar thread I outlined a scenario on the PS3 forums that would help me with a sound setup that could switch between my PC and Playstation, now that I have found a Logitech solution....

How the hell do I get 5.1 Surround to work properly with a Desktop that doesn't have the open space of a Home theater?

Well if you guys give a damn here's my room, and it is easily reorganizable, I R STRONG. However keep in mind my only power jack it to the right of the door, in the bottom right corner, so the bottom left corner isn't fun to try to get an organized cable to.

You could get a 5.1 system that has the rear speakers on tall stands,  that way you can fix the rear right to the wall and pull the rear left speak out on it stand whenever you need it.

Or you could go for some 5.1 Headphones, they arent quite as good as a propoer 5.1 system, but still alot better than a steroe system.

Get a 5.1 headset.

I agree with the headset Idea since you wont disturb anyone when you are playing your games or making SDK stuff; However I have heard bad things about multichannel headsets such as that they arent really worth the money since, because the speakers are arranged in such a cramped way in the housiing, you can really tell if the sound is coming from the top right or thet bottom right. Completely your call but just giving you what I saw based on my recent headset purchase.

dude!

http://www.trittontechnologies.com/products/TRIGA611.htm

i just bought these 5.1 headphone(with mic) that work with PC/PS3/360 and they are not just awesome.. they are ridiculously effing awesome. 5.1 surround, 4 speakers in each can, sound incredible (i have tried a lot of headsets). I replaced my 5.1 speakers with these, actually the amp in my speakers died (and now I am glad they did). Saves space too. They  come with their own little receiver/decoder.

What I did is get the headset, an optical switch and 4 optical cables.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=2946&seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022901&p_id=2765&seq=1&format=2

Hook up my pc, ps3 and 360 to the switch (I also have a usb switch in the mix), sit back and enjoy! I can elaborate on my set up a bit if you need but with limited space you will be hard pressed to find a better deal then these cans. They are only $150 on newegg. Can't recommend them enough. You will not be sorry with these!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235005

I concur, a great set of headphones is pretty hard to beat for immersion.  I generally find 5.1 speakers a bit of a let down unless the entire room has been designed with them in mind.

Blackbeard, you are the answer to all my Problems, I've been eyeballing the headset but the 2 giant plugs seem like a pain, and they are definitely in the ballpark but that switch is just what I needed, I'm gonna order that stuff from eBay tonight, then I'll look into the Tritton, what are your thoughts on the crazy Cable setup, and how does the mike sound??

Also could you elaborate on your setup? I don't have a 360 in the mix just a PC and PS3, also the main problem seems to me is how to split the microphone?

The mic sounds great and is very sensitive so you can speak at a normal volume. Very clear. The mic sound is sent over USB so this is where my USB switch (and hub) comes into play. I will diagram it and post it in a little while. My set up is a little complicated by that is only because I set it up so that I don't ever have to unplug things to switch between devices. I just have to press a few switch buttons... including my monitor which has like 5 different inputs on it. The cabling is actually not bad. There are a bunch of cables really just because how many devices there are but overall, the wires are almost entirely behind my desk so it does not ever bother me.

Do keep in mind that the headphones little reciever/decoder box only takes in an optical audio signal so (while the PS3 does this easily) just be sure you have optical audio out on your PC.

I will follow up with a post detailing my setup, hopefully a little later today.

What I have setup in my room is similar to yours, but I have my desk set parallel to my bed and the two rear speakers hung on the hall over my bed. That's an option for you if you still want to consider the speaker route and if you can move your desk 90 degrees.

So, here we go...

I will start with the monitor, it has various inputs and a 2 port USB hub with an additional USB B port on the back to go to another device (the USB switch). That way everything connected to the monitor via USB is shared by all devices via the USB Switch.

Computer to monitor via DVI
PS3 to monitor via HDMI
360 to monitor via Component

Headphone mic usb to keyboard
mouse to keyboard
keyboard in turn connected to monitor via usb which is in turn then connected to the usb switch (this way my keyboard, mouse and headphone mic is usable on my PC and the PS3 & 360... no need for chat pads here ;)

monitor connected to front of USB switch
PC, PS3 and 360 connected to back of USB swtich to gain access to the usb devices connected to the monitor.

PC, PS3 and 360 connected to back of Optical Switch
Headphone decoder connected to front of Optical Switch

Headphones connected to decoder and providing me with gaming audio bliss without disturbing anyone else in the house, or the neighbors :) )

If your monitor does not have usb ports you would likely need to get a additional usb hub into the mix if you need/want.

The USB switch I am using is

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10111&cs_id=1011101&p_id=2996&seq=1&format=2

Now all I have to do is switch inputs using the usb and optical switch... no more messing with wires. YAY! :)

I will take a picture of it later so you can see what it *really* looks like.

Dude, you have 2 beds in one room, what are you running, a fucking hareem!

I'm gonna try to wrap my head around this tomorrow when I get some of my optical cables and inFAMOUS in the mail from eBay tomorrow. I really appreciate the help and swift replies / MS Paint skills. Also I am neither Sheik nor Mormon, so no, it is not a Harem, only in my wet dreams I have in the 2 beds.

i cut up the images a bit to reduce the file size but here are two pics of it.

first is a close up of the two switches

Don't get a 5.1 headset, get a GOOD set of headphones. Ie: Sennheiser HD555's, or 595's...    You will get great positioning, and great sound as opposed to a gimmicky headset.

I have tried the Sennheiser cans too, and while audio perception is always a matter of personal opinion... these Triton 5.1 cans sound better... especially for gaming. The trittons have much better bass response and dedicated speakers for highs, mids, and lows, plus a sub speaker on each side. Ultimately the choose is your, butI love my Tritton headset! :)

This threads pretty much given me what I need, but I have one last question. If I buy a Soundcard with a Optical In port will I be able to transfer sound through the computer that has both the PlayStation and PC sounds going through the same speakers without having to deal with splitters? Not to mention listening to my MP3's and Call of Duty at the same time??

Edit: also thanks for all the help I think I'm gonna end up going with a Digital 2.1 setup, with a nice pair of Headphones that don't have all the gimmicks. I figure if I've been able to play PS3 on my desktop without sound for a week and still rocks the number of kills in a server, I can be fine without a over the top setup, I think I'd rather invest in SLI for my 285GTX. That said I am going to still use a Digital setup with a sound card as mentioned above or a TOSLINK Splitter.

Digital output isn't always better btw... If you had been going for a 5.1 setup, you would have to make sure the sound card can encode 5.1 streams using "DTS-Connect" or "Dolby Digital Live".  Many sound cards have digital output, but cannot encode a 5.1 signal, so DVD's will have surround sound (they come pre-encoded), but games won't.

Since your going 2.1, no worries. But depending on your sound card and receiver, digital ouput isn't always better. 

Before going to this setup I essentially used my computer as a receiver. I have a Creative X-Fi Fatality (with the front panel) which does optical in/out. You can plug your PS3 into the X-Fi optical in and do S/PDIF pass thru. So optical from PS3 into PC which then puts the sound out to your speakers/headphone potentially removing the need to have the optical switch in your set up (i need it because of the extra box, 360). You then can hear the sound from both your PC and PS3 at the same time, the X-Fi will properly mix them together. Thats works well too. Actually that gives me an idea... I want tro try something over the weekend... mwahahaha.

The only gotcha is that your PC and PC speakers would have to be on whenever you want to use your PS3. As long as the extra power drain isn't a problem you'd be golden.

The sound card is:

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Fatal1ty-70SB046600002/dp/B000B63KU0

which might be hard to get since it has been replaced by a newer model. the newer model seems to have lost some of the optical ports :(.

I was asked about what monitor stand I have so I figured I would post it here too.

http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Office-Suites-Monitor-Silver/dp/B0002LD01I