Acer Aspire 7720 + 5.1 Creative Inspire P580 problem

Dear friends,

I am trying to resolve an issue that I have my new 5.1 Surround system.Problem is that I'm not bable to get all 5 speakers + woofer to work.I am no expert for sound cards,so I don't even know do I have support for 5.1 sound.On specification of notebook it sayss I have,but I can't do it.I tried on W7 OS to set 5.1 sound but I had only option for stereo sound.I think the problem is in drivers,since I had reinstal OS to XP and installed Realtek HD Audio driver,but even when I select 5.1 speakers,I get no output on them.Can someone explain detail by detail how to connect this,and set up software.I really appreciate any help,since I am newbie in this forum,and also sound newbie

Thanks

 

Hello mracni, and welcome to the forums!
I know a little bit about the surround sound setups on Aspires, so maybe I can help.
How are you connecting your 7720 to the Inspire P580 - three RCA cables, optical, or HDMI?

 

Hello,

cables that I got with p580 are 3.5mm audio jack( TRS connectrors)-black,green,pink color.

 

Can you confirm the information I found that Aspire 7720 uses ALC268 audio codec?
If so you are not going to be able run 5.1 config via 3.5mm jacks ( Realtek specs)

 

Yes,I just checked,it uses ALC268 codec.Does this mean I can't connect these speakers at all and get 5.1 sound?Is there any other way of connection?
How good solution is extrernal sound card for EXPRESS Card/54 slot?

 

It says on Acer's website here that the 7720 does have S/PDIF capabilities for outputting 5.1 Dolby and DTS streams.
If it's the same as my 6920G, the headphone jack doubles as the S/PDIF output jack. You'll need an optical cable to make the connection - TOSLINK for the P580, and mini-TOSLINK to fit in the headphone jack and activate the optical LED.
Then switch your output device from Speakers to "Realtek Digital Output," and you should be good to go!

You can also look into a Creative sound card for USB or ExpressCard.

 

Ok,I will try to find this cable here,and then get back to you.What do I do with three 3.5mm cables from p580.Do they go in some converter to conect with toslink,or what? What cable do I use from p580 to mini-TOSLINK?As I understod you,I need TOSLINK one end from cable for speakers +miniTOSKLINK that connects it with laptop,but what type of connector is to p580 system?

this is the picture of back of woofer:


Is it possibile that exist converter or cable which makes one TOSLINK form three 3.5mm jacks?

This cable connection is I presume most cheapest thing,since USB or Extren card are much more expensive...

 

Oh drat, forget everything I said. The Inspire P580 doesn't have an optical input, which means it can't use the TOSLINK optical cable anyway. If you had a surround sound receiver between your computer and the speakers, then you could use the TOSLINK optical cable to send the 5.1 sound properly.

You'll need to get a USB or ExpressCard sound card in order to get real 5.1 sound, or the aforementioned surround sound receiver. Sorry!

 

Ok.Thank you very much .

 

Can you give me example on what kind of sound receiver I need to buy.Maybe some DVD player that has analog output,and digital input? Would any DVD player aux digital input do the job?

 

I was thinking more like this; something that will sit between your DVD/BD/laptop and your TV and speakers, and handle all the processing and decoding.

 

Oki,thank you.