OK, my current HTPC rig is an i3 530 on an MSI H55-GD65 motherboard. I have it connected directly to our main living room TV and then an optical toslink cable from the TV to a soundbar with sub. I am in the process of updating the rig as it also serves double duty as a network share dump space and a full time transcoding machine for all 5 extenders it serves.
So my question is this. On the current system sound is handled directly through the HDMI cable. On the upgraded systems I will be running with either an MSI Xpower Big Bang or Asus P6x58-E WS as the motherboard (I have both just haven't decided which I want) Would I be ok purchasing a toslink cable long enough to run from the motherboard directly to the soundbar? Or would recommendation be to purchase a video card that supports sound over hdmi? I ask because I know my current sound system is NOT high end - it is at best a 2.1 system... but if there is a marked difference or issue it might behoove me to go for the gpu. But if it is not necessary I would rather go with the cheaper route of the two... (aka the toslink cable)
Thoughts?
Upgrading but a question about SOUND
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werds
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richard1980
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If you were running an older 5.1/6.1/7.1 audio system that didn't have HDMI support and your TV didn't support Dolby Digital or DTS pass-through (HDMI to S/PDIF), then S/PDIF output from the PC would be advantageous. But in your case, there is no advantage to outputting audio from the PC over S/PDIF.