I bought a Tritton 720+ headset and am looking to hook it up to my PC to get surround sound. After testing the headset (I'm new to headsets and surround sound) I see that for the headset to output the dolby digital signal, it has to receive one. Otherwise, it uses ProLogic II to make an "expanded stereo" effect. So I need to get my PC to output a dolby digital 5.1 signal.

I found that Turtle Beach makes something called the Micro II that allows a usb port to convert to an optical out and output Dolby Digital 5.1 signal.

My question is, has anyone used the Micro II with success? If not, is there another recommended method that I could follow to have my PC output a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal?

Thanks!

@mordecaix7: I had the same problem when I got my PX5, I ended up getting a used Creative sound card with a Digital out and Dolby Digital codec. The way your talking about sounds alot cheaper and less installing drivers. Not sure if that thing actually gives you true Dolby Digital or just the same deal as Pro Logic II

Doesn't your Motherboard have a S/PDIF port or whatever? I have 2 on my PC and I have no use for either.

@AlexW00d said:

Doesn't your Motherboard have a S/PDIF port or whatever? I have 2 on my PC and I have no use for either.

I don't think it does. I'm gaming on an old Optiplex 745 so I don't think it has the S/PDIF port. I did a search for specs on my pc this morning (not at home right now) and didn't see anything about the proper port. I would imagine though, even if I had the proper port, I'd still have to have the PC output a 5.1 signal through that port. Otherwise I'd still end up with the expanded stereo effect.

Technically, I have the headset hooked up to my PC through my TV (TV has optical out with 5.1 pass through meaning the Xbox and PS3 push the DD signal through to the TV) but since the PC is only pushing a normal stereo signal through a 3.5mm jack, the headset is just doing Pro Logic II on the PC audio.

@AlexW00d said:

Doesn't your Motherboard have a S/PDIF port or whatever? I have 2 on my PC and I have no use for either.

If he's using it for games it doesn't matter even if he does. Games can't output Dolby Digital (at least over optical) so you need an audio card to get surround sound.

@Chavtheworld said:

@AlexW00d said:

Doesn't your Motherboard have a S/PDIF port or whatever? I have 2 on my PC and I have no use for either.

If he's using it for games it doesn't matter even if he does. Games can't output Dolby Digital (at least over optical) so you need an audio card to get surround sound.

Huh, what's the point in supposed gaming headsets using it then? Either way, as long as the game has decent sound, stereo is all anyone ever needs anyway. FOOTSTEPS.

@AlexW00d said:

@Chavtheworld said:

@AlexW00d said:

Doesn't your Motherboard have a S/PDIF port or whatever? I have 2 on my PC and I have no use for either.

If he's using it for games it doesn't matter even if he does. Games can't output Dolby Digital (at least over optical) so you need an audio card to get surround sound.

Huh, what's the point in supposed gaming headsets using it then? Either way, as long as the game has decent sound, stereo is all anyone ever needs anyway. FOOTSTEPS.

Headsets that use USB usually have a built in soundcard for it I think. Don't know otherwise. It's been ages since I looked this all up cause I was so confused why I was only getting stereo over optical on my 5.1 Panasonic Home Theatre thing.

Ok, so I picked up the Turtle Beach Micro II and I was incorrect in what it's function was. From my research, I thought it would output a 5.1 signal when you installed the special drivers from their website. In reality, it simply allows a 5.1 connection to pass through with the drivers. The key being I have to have something that actually makes 5.1 sound to pass through the usb dongle.

As @Bourbon_Warrior said, I'll need to get a sound card. One that does Dolby Digital Live processing.

@mordecaix7: just grab a 2nd hand one, the only function I really use the sound card for is the Dolby Digital Live, I got a Creative X-Fi Titanium for quite cheap, comes with heaps of apps but I did a custom installation and only picked dolby\dts codecs, audio drivers and creative console launcher as that is all you need.