Connecting a 5.1 to my laptop?

Hi all,

I currently have a Z-5300 set of logitech speakers (5.1), and will be getting my laptop soon. It is a Latitude D630.

Is there any way to connect my 5.1 speakers to the laptop? Please advise!

 

Not without a PCMCIA or Expresscard sound card. your audio setup takes 3 plugs to run in true 5.1, and your notebook doesn't come stock with those plugs (orange, green, and black)

You can however use an adaptor that should have been included with your speakers/subwoofer that merges the 3 cables into one, but you wont get true 5.1 sound.

 

Hmm I don't think it came with an adaptor.. or I never noticed.

Is there any way I can just run it in 2.1? Or 2.0??
I don't wanna purchase anything more.

 

Check the manual for the speakers, they should work in 2 speaker configuration.

 

Does your speaker set take S/PDIF input ?

 

Sorry I'm not sure what that is.
I found a picture of the back of the subwoofer though.
On my desktop PC I connect the three lower ones to my sound card, and the top 5 to the satellites.
There's a switch for what kind of sound card you have (2, 4, or 6-channel)... so I think it can fake 5.1?

 

From the pic it seems the speaker set does not support S/PDIF input.... So I guess you cant connect the whole speaker set to your laptop.... Try connecting only the front channel or center channel to the headphone jack of the laptop and set the speaker mode in 2.1 using the back switch....

 

Thanks that worked great. I actually just figured that out on my own right before you posted it. One question though, under Control Panel / Sound and Audio, should I set my speaker setup to "stereo speakers"? Or 5.1 or...? Since it's emulating 5.1 I'm not too sure.

 

Yours is sorta like mine, and in that case, just flip it to 2.1 and use just the green jack. If you only hear sound out of the subwoofer and two speakers, not all 5, then you will need the adaptor though.


So you got it all fixed? all 5 speakers working now?

 

Yeah all 5 speakers work. I only tested in playing music... didn't have any kind of 5.1 source I could use to try it out. Either way it's much better than the laptop's speakers so it all works out.

 

Hmm I really dunno what that option in Windows is actually for since I havent tried it so far.... It must be just some virtual emulation for 5.1 sound.... Try turning that on and see if you are able to see any difference